200 people gather for prayer vigil for missing woman

FARMINGTON, Mo. -- For a group of childhood friends, coworkers and relatives searching for answers to Jacque Sue Waller's June 1 disappearance the only thing left to do is pray.

"God is the refuge of the Rawson family ... to all of us," the Rev. Craig Bondenschatz said Thursday at a vigil for Waller, last seen nine days ago in Jackson.

Following a group prayer, Stan Rawson addressed the crowd of around 200 and acknowledged the extensive investigative work of the Cape Girardeau/Bollinger County Major Case Squad, which was activated June 2 to look into Waller's disappearance.

"I could say everything I know about the case, but I shouldn't. They assured me they won't stop," he said.

The case squad was releasing no new information Thursday about Waller's case, except police are following up on leads that have surfaced since Monday, when the team of investigators made a plea for the public's help.

Laurie Black, a high school friend of Waller's who helped organize the vigil, said the best outcome would be for there to be justice for the mother of triplets. She added that she hopes people sharing real accounts of Waller and her life will help people come forward with information about the case.

"There are people that are clinging to hope still," Black said. "The push now is to help get tips out there."

A postcard with information on Waller's case was attached to the yellow balloons released in her memory Thursday.

"I feel satisfied she has so many friends," Rawson said. "How can one little girl touch so many lives? That's nothing short of miraculous."

Since Monday the squad has received numerous phone calls after police asked for information from anyone who saw Waller's vehicle between 4 and 8:30 p.m. June 1, Jackson police chief James Humphreys said. Waller's blue Honda Pilot was found abandoned on Interstate 55 near the 105 mile marker, several hours after she was first reported missing. The police suspect foul play in her disappearance.

"We're just trying to check anything we can, land or water," Humphreys said.

Investigators are also looking for information on where and when the public may have seen a red GMC Sierra pickup belonging to Jacque Waller's estranged husband Clay Waller and a fishing boat that at one time may have been on a black trailer attached to the truck. The squad seized and searched the truck and boat last week.

Clay Waller, a former Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department deputy, was named as a person of interest, not a suspect, in his wife's disappearance. Jacque Waller was in Jackson to finalize divorce proceedings and pick up her son from Clay Waller's home on Woodland Drive. He told authorities last week she left from his home on foot after the two argued about their divorce. They'd been married 17 years.

No one has reported seeing Jacque Waller after she left Clay Waller's temporary residence at 1121 Woodland Drive.

The major case squad will likely be activated until the case is closed, Humphreys said Thursday. Normally, the team is activated for 72 hours, but it has continued to extend operations due to regular leads developing in the case.

"We just need to keep going as long as we can with as many people as we can," he said.

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