She Vanished One Day After Leaving Her Mom’s Home To Get Her Mom’s Birthday Present
After being born on October 2, 1998, Kara Lorynn Hyde of Hamilton, Ohio, was reportedly very close with her mother, Lisa Hyde.
Lisa described her daughter as funny, creative, smart, and caring.
“Kara and I were two peas in a pod as she was growing up. She was a shy and fearful child. She slept in my bed until she was 14-years-old,” Lisa recalled.
“We were very close as mother and daughter, but we were also buddies. We had so much fun and giggles.”
But, by the time Kara turned 15, she began to struggle with severe mental health problems. At that time, she started exhibiting symptoms of bipolar disorder and experienced significant anxiety and depression.
According to Lisa, her daughter also developed abandonment issues– becoming angry and sad. At the same time, she was being bullied at school and was even hospitalized three separate times after trying to take her own life.
For Lisa, this topic is an especially sore one. She feels as though the doctors repeatedly failed her daughter and did not take Kara’s attempts seriously. In fact, Kara was never even held for an evaluation.
“I did get Kara to go to a counselor once. This counselor told Kara she could leave if she didn’t want to be there, and Kara left, of course,” Lisa explained.
“And as she approached her twenties, she started showing signs of histrionic disorder and borderline personality disorder. Her moods and behavior became very uncontrollable.”
Facebook – pictured above is Kara
Then, by the time Kara turned 21, she started to use drugs. Lisa claimed that her daughter was “tricked into” it. Afterward, Kara’s life entirely changed, and she was reportedly sent down a “path of self-destruction.”
Kara also got a new boyfriend around that time, whom Lisa believes turned Kara against her and worsened their mother-daughter relationship.
Lisa apparently read some of Kara’s text messages to friends, in which Kara alleged her mother was abusive.
“But I have never abused or mistreated Kara a day of her life. She would tell these stories for sympathy to get what she wanted,” Lisa said.
Still, while it was upsetting to read those messages, she understood why her daughter sent them. Leading up to Kara’s disappearance, she and Lisa did argue often about drug abuse.
Lisa also got her daughter into rehab three different times. However, these efforts were never successful since Kara left each time.
“Our relationship was strained and very stressful,” Lisa admitted, “But we still had our good days and our laughs.”
When Kara Vanished
It was December 5, 2021, just one day after her mother’s birthday, when 23-year-old Kara strangely disappeared.
That day, she was last seen at her mother’s home located on Grand Boulevard in Hamilton, Ohio, at about 1:30 p.m. However, after she left the house to supposedly grab her mother’s birthday present, Kara was never seen or heard from again.
According to Lisa, she first realized her daughter had gone missing after just a few days because Kara was not answering her phone calls.
Apparently, Lisa even began calling her daughter just 20 minutes after Kara left the house because they had important issues to discuss.
“I had just found out I had to have life-saving surgery, and I had to go through invasive testing all week,” Lisa explained.
“On top of that, my mother was admitted to the hospital, so I was at the hospital for six days dealing with doctors. I ended up having to put my mom in hospice care and get her settled.”
Not long afterward, however, Lisa received a call from one of Kara’s friends who claimed to think that her daughter might have been dead in Crawford Woods.
Now, Kara had already been reported missing twice before and was later found. But after receiving that phone call, Lisa ultimately contacted the Hamilton Police Department to file a missing person report.
An investigation was then launched, and authorities combed the Crawford Woods area in Hamilton after Kara’s family conducted their own search and found a bag of Kara’s clothing in the woods.
After investigators finished their search in the same area, though, no additional evidence was found.
Kara, who also “lived on Facebook,” did not update any of her social media accounts following her disappearance. And any attempts to call her cell phone just went to voice mail.
Lisa detailed how her daughter was trusting, naive, and had a childlike nature. She also suspects Kara’s ex-boyfriend was involved.
“I believe my daughter fell victim to her stalker ex-boyfriend, the same ex who called me and told me he thought she was dead. I have very many reasons to believe this, but I cannot talk about it,” she revealed.
“I believe he overdosed her. Where he hid her is the question. My worst plausible scenario is that he burned her up, and I will never find her.”
Authorities have not found any evidence indicating foul play was involved in Kara’s disappearance, however, and the search for answers continues.
Lisa realizes that the investigation is especially complex for two reasons. First, Kara was not reported missing immediately, which put the investigators at a disadvantage.
Second, those who knew Kara– and may have information– are not always willing to speak with the police due to drug implications.
Still, Lisa has continued looking for her daughter. Multiple searches have been conducted by law enforcement, community members, and other organizations.
A special search group dedicated to helping solve Kara’s case was also formed, known as Kara Hyde Search Team.
“I call on them often to go out and search with me. Some of Kara’s supporters go out and search on their own at various places, so there is always someone looking for her somewhere,” Lisa said.
Finally, a Facebook group entitled “Find Kara Hyde” was also created to spread the word about Kara’s disappearance and keep her case at the front of the public’s mind.
“This should have never happened to my baby,” Lisa said.
“She was a good girl and would have been 24 now. She was raised right in a good home– no drugs, no alcohol…It just goes to show this could happen to anyone,” she continued.
“I think the case will get solved if the detective just keeps at it. I am fighting, too, and I will never stop looking for Kara. She is counting on me to find her.”
At the time of Kara’s disappearance, she was five foot eight, weighed 120 pounds, and had blonde hair and brown eyes. She also had various tattoos, including the name “Steven” on her left forearm, as well as a snake and a skull on her right forearm.
A $4,000 reward is currently being offered by the Hamilton Police Department and the Hyde family for any information that leads to Kara’s discovery.
If you have any information regarding Kara’s case, you are urged to contact the Hamilton Police Department at (513) 868-5811.
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