Two boys from Jacksonville, Florida, vanished without a trace after leaving their middle school in 2005, and their case remains unsolved nearly 20 years later.
Mark Degner was 12 years old and spoke with a thick southern drawl; meanwhile, Bryan Hayes was 13 years old and supposedly loved flowers.
The pair were best friends, both regarded as funny animal lovers. Yet, on February 10, 2005, they were last seen leaving Paxon Middle School at approximately 1:30 p.m. and have never been heard from again.
“One made a disturbance so the other could get out of class, and the two simply walked out of the school and out of the baseball grounds,” recalled Angie Campbell, Mark’s aunt.
When Mark didn’t return home that day, his mother contacted the police to report him missing. Bryan’s mother, on the other hand, didn’t find out her son had vanished until the next day.
At the time, Bryan was living in a group home known as the Daniel House and had bipolar disorder. According to his mother, his mental capacity was a few years younger than his true age. She learned of Bryan’s disappearance when his caseworker called her the following day.
Then, it reportedly took investigators a week to officially announce that the boys had disappeared. Initially, the police figured the pair had simply run away.
However, Mark’s mom, Linda Alligood, always believed something else had happened.
“I honestly think they got in a vehicle with someone that they thought they knew, or someone tricked them into getting into their vehicle,” she said in a 2013 interview, eight years after the boys went missing.
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Linda also admitted to thinking that she would’ve heard something about her son’s whereabouts by that point after so many years without answers.
“It gets harder every year. You never give up hope. You always hope one day he’s going to come home and say, ‘I’m okay,’” she stated.
Bryan’s mother, Alene Hayes, explained how her family especially misses Bryan during the holidays.
“We really miss him at Christmas time because he was the one who always wanted to decorate the Christmas tree, and he did a beautiful job of it,” Alene said.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Unit has called Mark and Bryan’s case unique. Investigators have pursued numerous tips over the years to determine the boys’ whereabouts, none of which panned out.
After Ron Hyde was arrested and charged in the 1994 murder of 16-year-old Fred Laster, the police also thought there may be a link. Ron reportedly worked at the Jax Beach Sanctuary, and there was a connection to Mark and Bryan. Just like the other tips, though, this potential lead was a dead end.
“We are going to treat this like a missing persons case until we can’t treat this like a missing persons case,” Sgt. Dan Janson shared in 2017.
“We hold on to hope, just like the families, that these two boys will one day be found alive in some kind of care.”
Still, now that almost 20 years have passed, Mark and Bryan would no longer be boys but men in their early thirties.
As for Mark’s aunt, Angie, she expressed her belief that the pair would’ve reached out if they were able to.
“I honestly believe in my heart if Mark and Bryan had the ability and the free will to let us know they are okay, there is no doubt in my mind they wouldn’t do so. So, unfortunately, the reality sets in that they are very likely being held against their will,” she detailed.
Mark and Bryan aren’t in trouble and are encouraged to reach out to their families or law enforcement if they can.
Anyone with information regarding their case is also urged to contact the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office at (904) 630-0500.