After 25 years, mother still searching for son

A lot of people are dumbfounded as to how Marge Cordes can go on, she says. "They say, 'You have a missing child? How can you live?'" Cordes said. "I've got to watch who I say that to. It kind of makes me feel worse in a way." Cordes has lived the past 25 years without one of her five children. Her son, William "Billy" Cordes, disappeared from an Auburn group home March 30, 1984, at the age of 15 and hasn't been heard from since. Billy Cordes is one of about a dozen cold cases that haunt Placer County Sheriff's missing persons division. The oldest one known in the county dates back to 1965 and most are about people who went missing before stronger laws and policies regarding missing persons were put in place, according to Lorrie Lewis, an investigative assistant in the crimes against persons unit who investigates missing person cases. Following the 1983 death of a 19-year-old woman who was first reported missing and later found dead, Lewis said a federal mandate was issued stipulating how missing persons cases were supposed to be handled. She said now the law requires that law enforcement enter all missing persons information into a national database called the National Crime Information Center. Also within 14 days they have to retrieve dental records. Additionally, within the last five years, DNA testing have become important and law enforcement can offer tests to families. She said the mandate also provides reimbursement to fill her position. She added that while the mandate allows Placer Sheriffs to wait four days before entering a missing person not considered "at risk," the county Sheriff's Department enters names into the national database as soon as they are alerted. "That way there's no falling through the cracks," Lewis said. Lewis said she handles a little more than 300 new missing persons cases a year. She said the majority of cases result in voluntary return with the next group of cases being solved when police find the missing person. She said a handful of people end up hospitalized for mental health issues while another small percentage are arrested. As for cases such as Cordes, "they stay open indefinitely," Lewis said. Lewis said the Cordes case was "unfortunate" because a minor offense — he stole $8 in beer from a Placerville business — meant a sentence to a group home in Auburn where he was placed with kids "a lot rougher than him." According to Marge Cordes, who now lives in El Dorado Hills, her son snuck out of the group home one night to go to a party with other boys at the home. And then? "It's kind of like he just went off the face of the Earth," Marge Cordes said. To this day, she's never figured out what happened that night. Whether there was a party or whether the car they were in ran out of gas and Billy left or whether he met with foul play remains a mystery."I still have the unknown," Marge Cordes said. "I still don't really believe he's dead." Police interviewed the boys but none were named suspects. Cordes' children also traveled to San Francisco to meet up with one of them but nothing came of the meeting. "I think somebody knows something," Marge Cordes said. Marge Cordes has struggled throughout the years, battling surges of determination to find her son versus emotional breakdowns during which she said she purged her home of some of her missing son's belongings. A few years ago, she and her daughter went to a mass visit of psychic Sylvia Brown. Marge Cordes said she broke down in tears when Brown told her that her son had made it to Canada but was killed in an accident. One of her daughters and sons later went up there to see if her brother was among one of the unidentified bodies, but the attempt was unsuccessful. Lewis said she keeps in touch with families like the Cordeses, but there are some inherent difficulties with calling those families for any updates. "Sometimes they don't want to be reminded when I call," Lewis said. Lewis remembers calling one family close to Christmastime in December 2007 to ask if they would submit their DNA in a case involving their son who was reported missing 25 years ago. The father told her that they hadn't changed anything in his son's room. "It goes deep," Lewis said. "You just have to be really cautious when you talk to a family because it's like it happened yesterday for them."So if you're wondering how Marge Cordes does go on despite a heartbreaking trip to a psychic, her daughter and son finding nothing on trip to Canada to follow a weak lead, surviving emotional breakdowns and never getting a straight answer from the last people to see her son, she does have a reason. "What's kept me going are my other four children" Marge Cordes said. "They have been wonderful. They've been so good and so great." The Journal's Jenifer Gee can be reached at jeniferg@goldcountrymedia.com or post a comment.----------Top five missing persons cases in Placer County1. Alma Root, 15-year-old Penryn girl missing since 19802. Kimberly Stewart, 19-year-old Sheridan woman who married her high school sweetheart with whom she had two children. Stewart reportedly talked to her husband about divorce and was never seen again one day in 1977. 3. Erna Martin, 40-year-old Granite Bay woman who was last seen in 1988 by her husband in their bedroom.4. Christie Wilson, 27-year-old woman missing since October 2005. Mario Garcia was convicted of Wilson's murder in November 2006 even though her body has yet to be found. 5. Eric Gammelgard, 23-year-old Meadow Vista man who was said to live a "risky lifestyle" and hasn't been seen since 1992. His family believes that he met with foul play over owed drug money. Law enforcement said they have not reached the same conclusion. Source: Lorrie Lewis, an investigative assistant in the crimes against persons unit who investigates missing person cases----------Tips for finding a missing personIf it is a young child, 14 years or younger, contact law enforcement immediately via 911. "We especially want to be notified right away it it's a small child," said Lorrie Lewis, an investigative assistant in the Placer Sheriff's crimes against persons unit. "We only have a limited time to find that child." If the missing person is not "at risk" report it through your local law enforcement's business line. Call the Placer Sheriff's office at (530) 889-7800.----------