Missing Wayne Co. man’s mother pleads for answers in son’s disappearance

WAYNE COUNTY/PULASKI COUNTY, Ky. (WTVQ) —  Search efforts in Pulaski County continued for a man reported missing last July.

The family of Ricky Griffis continues to look for closure.

“I depend on God. My family and prayers do is what gets me by each day, each and every day because we have been doing, we’ve been working and talking and calling every day and then out in the woods,” says Alice Mabe, Ricky’s mother on how she’s been able to live day by day with the disappearance of her son.

Ricky Griffis was reported missing on July 5th of last year, nearly one year later, his mother, Alice, stills recalls their final conversation.

She asked Griffis if he was going to come home that night, to which Ricky said no.

Little did she know, he never would.

“It’s hard, it’s harder every day because we’ve done everything possible in our power. But we turned it over to God’s power and things are starting to happen,” she adds.

The Wayne County Sheriff’s Office says the last message Ricky texted his family told them he was lost in the woods.

His mother says otherwise, “We never received any text messages, the last time I sent him a message was on 4th of July.”

Mabe says Ricky never had an easy life, getting into alcohol and painkillers.

She says Ricky suffered an accident that almost claimed his life, a period in which he was introduced to a variety of drugs. He later went to rehab and managed to also go to recovery.

“What I miss most about Ricky being in our lives is his love that he showed his family, the love he showed his friends, you know, the, the battles he fought and he fought hard to go get out of some of his battles. He was fighting and he did. God brought him back to us a better man,” added Mabe.

As the family inches closer to the anniversary of Ricky’s disappearance, “I just feel Ricky’s come to me and he said, thank you mom and he held on tight to me. So I’ve already felt his spirit laying right here. He come and held me and said, thank you mom because he know mama won’t never give up,” added Mabe.

The Cajun Coast Search and Rescue Team is also aiding in the search efforts and have committed at least two weeks to the case.

The search and rescue team works out of donations since most members are volunteers, for more information or to donate click here.

Alice also pleads anyone with information to come forward especially if they have a possible location they can search in.