Efforts Of Hundreds Ends In Sorrow

The desperate work of hundreds of volunteers who searched for Rachel Carver ended in abrupt disappointment late Thursday.

For two days, before the missing 9-year-old’s body was found, Spokane residents banded together to find her.

A 16-year-old boy produced a flier about Rachel Carver and put it on the Internet.

A Realtor checked vacant houses for the missing 9-year-old girl and suggested that other Realtors do the same.

A retired accountant who lives down the street from the school Rachel attended searched parks and yards on Wednesday looking for clues.

Throughout the city, residents worked to find the red-headed third-grader who disappeared as she walked to Ridgeview Elementary School on Wednesday for her last day of class.

At least 300 volunteers searched neighborhoods, malls and parks for any sign of Rachel. Neighborhood groups from all over the city joined North Side residents in the search.

Police said it was one of the largest searches in recent years for a missing child.

Ryan E. Gallagher, who just finished his junior year at Shadle Park High School, learned of the girl’s disappearance and went to see whether any fliers were completed.

Plenty of fliers had been made Wednesday, but Gallagher wasn’t satisfied with their quality.

He worked for hours with his friend, Darrell McDowell, using a computer to make a more eyecatching flier. He put it on the Internet so people all over the world would learn of Rachel’s disappearance.

Jim Whitaker, a Spokane Realtor, checked vacant homes. “Somebody hiding with someone might pick a vacant house,” he reasoned prior to the discovery of Rachel’s body.

Frank Barber, 71, talked to neighbors, checked yards and helped distribute fliers. The retired accountant lives near Ridgeview Elementary.

By Thursday night, there was no more work for Barber and other volunteers.