Paula and Brandon Wade: Mother and son missing for 21 years

(NewsNation) — Law enforcement officials are releasing age progression photos in a new push to solve the 21-year-old mystery of a mother and son who disappeared, leaving family and friends baffled.

Paula and Brandon Wade vanished in 2002. Paula was 25 and by all accounts excited about an upcoming move that would bring her closer to family.

More than two decades later, she and her son are still missing. Her family still thinks of then-3-year-old Brandon as “munchkin,” even though he would be 24 now.

“When he was first born, he was just so little and it just stuck. He was little munchkin,” said Mary Ramsbottom, Paula’s sister.

Brandon was a small boy with a big love of sports.

“He couldn’t get enough of playing ball,’ Ramsbottom said. “It didn’t matter what time of day it was, it was play ball with me, come on, play ball with me.”

In 2002, Paula worked at the Sam’s Club in Valdosta, Georgia, handling membership. Maria Manning, now an assistant manager, remembers Paula well.

“She was always looking to help people. She was always a team player,” Manning said.

She said Paula offered her the job that changed her life. She was an hourly associate until Paula added Manning to her team.

“She saw something in me and wanted to add me to her team,” she said.

Manning lived in the same apartment complex as Paula and often carpooled with her and Brandon.

“She adored him, she would always have him with her,” Manning said. “She was so proud of him. That was her baby, she was proud of him.”

Paula’s husband was in the military, stationed five hours away at Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina. Paula had made plans to transfer to a new Sam’s Club in Orlando, Florida, near her family.

“She was very excited to be moving and we just kept talking about how the cousins were going to get to grow up together,” Ramsbottom said.

But a week before the move, mother and son vanished.

Paula was last seen leaving work on Saturday, Oct. 12. On Sunday, she missed a weekly call with her parents and then failed to show up for work Monday morning.

“I knew immediately something was up because she was always at work,” Manning said. “That’s why they immediately reacted. Because Paula didn’t miss work. She was always on time.”

A supervisor sent someone to check Paula’s apartment. Her Chevy Blazer was in the lot, but there was no sign of Paula or Brandon.

“There were no signs of a struggle. However, the car was there, her purse was there, her glasses, the keys, her ID card, everything was still there,” Ramsbottom said. “Except Paula and Brandon. The car seat was also missing.”

Police searched the complex and wooded areas nearby, following leads and deploying cadaver dogs twice.

“They went to other geographical areas based on those tips, searched those areas and did not find anything of evidentiary value,” said Valdosta Police Department Det. Sgt. Paul Garland.

Now, after 21 years, the FBI has released new age progression photos and a new detective is going over the case.

There was also a front-page USA Today article marking Ramsbottom’s annual trip to Valdosta for the anniversary.

“The mission is to make sure they’re not forgotten and to make sure the community knows that they are still missing,” she said.

To this day, there are no suspects. Police won’t confirm if polygraphs were administered, only that they looked into Paula’s husband and also questioned a male college student Paula had taken on as a roommate to help pay the bills.

“They gave us the information that we were asking for and they did cooperate with interviews,” Garland said.

For Paula’s sister, the wait goes on.

“We just want to know where Paula and Brandon are,” Ramsbottom said. “We just want answers.”