While it has been over a year since one Arkansas woman was last seen, her family has not given up, and they continue searching for answers as to what happened.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. — While it has been a little more than a year since one Arkansas woman was last seen, her family has not given up, and they continue searching for answers as to what might have happened.
June 6, 2024, is the day that started the hunt for Tori Milsak, a 34-year-old woman from Hot Springs.
After not hearing from her for a few weeks, her family filed a missing persons report with the Hot Springs police department.
Over the course of the past year, Tori’s brother, Jason Hamel, has been searching for answers as to his sister’s whereabouts and for any information that could help bring his sister home.
“Tori was sarcastic, she was funny, a hard worker, everything. She worked her way up in hotels in New York City. She was working her way up the bank here in town, very smart. She got far better grades than I did in school,” described Hamel. “She was humorous, very humorous. [She] had, I would guess you’d consider a dry sense of humor. We would send messages to each other and stuff that would make us laugh,” Hamel said.
At the time of her disappearance, Milsak was working at Arvest Bank in the area, and she was last seen on Edgewood Street in Hot Springs.
As the days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, and those months turned into a year, Hamel reflected on a life filled with questions about where she is and what might’ve happened.
“[It’s a] nightmare, just about every negative emotion that you can possibly have has been there. Anger, sadness, and feeling hopeless. It’s anxiety. Is she alive? Is she not? Where is she? We just want answers,” he described.
The last time that the family heard from Milsak was on May 26, 2024, to inform her of a death in the family.
However, Hamel explained that the last words his sister said to him are something that will stay with him for the rest of his life.
“Her last words were, ‘I’m sorry, I love you, and I’ll call you in a week.’ [And I] never heard from her again,” he said.
The Hot Springs Police Department has expressed that the search for Milsak is an ongoing investigation, and they are following up on all leads.
Meanwhile, the family is hoping to have closure on the disappearance of their beloved daughter and sister.
“We want someone to come forward and let us know where she is, if she’s alive, and if she’s safe. Drop her off at a hospital. I don’t care, somewhere, drop her off and just let us bring her back to us so that we can get her fixed,” said Hamel. “If she’s not, we just ask that. If somebody knows that she’s not okay, let us bring her home so that we can have closure.”
The family has organized multiple searches around Hot Springs and in Garland County, but Hamel urges anyone with information to come forward and give the family closure.
“That’s our main plea, please let us have closure, because there’s not. There’s never going to be closure until Tori returns,” he said.
While it’s been a year, Hamel said that the search for his sister will never stop.
“This won’t end. The search will continue because somebody knows something. People just don’t vanish and disappear without somebody knowing something, without somebody actively doing something to them,” Hamel explained.
If you have any information regarding her whereabouts or what might have happened, you are asked to call the Hot Springs Police Department at (501) 321-6789.
