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First Posted: 9/14/2014
NANTICOKE — The search for a young woman who disappeared nearly 11 years ago is getting statewide attention.
Family members and friends are seeking new information that will lead to the remains of Phylicia Thomas, who is presumed dead and last was seen at her Lake Township home one cold night in February 2003. She was 22 years old.
Ever since her mother, Pauline Bailey, 57, of Nanticoke, as well as Thomas’ siblings and friends have been asking questions and following leads, they say, but none to help them find the missing woman.
This month — with the persistence of a family friend — Thomas’ case was bumped up to the front page of the statewide law enforcement-endorsed tip service, Pennsylvania Crime Stoppers, on its website at www.crimewatchpa.com.
Thomas’ case had been on the website for years, but it was pushed down over time, and visitors had to scroll through thousands of others before landing on hers. When family friend Judy Fisher, 52, of Trucksville, sent an email to the Harrisburg organization about ramping up efforts to find Thomas, Crime Stoppers republished the case listing a week ago so that it hit the front page once again.
Crime Stoppers is offering a $2,000 no-questions-asked cash reward for tips that lead to Thomas’ discovery, Fisher said.
Anonymous callers will be given a tracking number in exchange for their tip. They can use that number to call and learn whether that tip has helped investigators find Thomas, Fisher said.
Friends and family members also have been raising money with help from a few local businesses to add to the pot.
The family believes that Thomas was murdered, but law enforcement can’t start a homicide case without a body.
State police are handling the investigation, but could not be reached for comment. State police have said over the years the Thomas case has gone cold, but in keeping with departmental policy they review it yearly.
Searching for closure
Gathering in Bailey’s small one-bedroom apartment where she lives with her two children and five grandchildren, Fisher and Kelly Gower, girlfriend to Bailey’s son Jesse Thomas, said they want to bring closure to the case that has lasted more than a decade.
“We just want a place to go, I think, that’s it,” Gower said looking toward Bailey for affirmation. “A grave, someplace just to say look, this is her spot … this is a peaceful resting place for her.”
Bailey’s eyes welled up when she remembered Thomas’ soft spot for the down-and-out.
“She was always bringing home stray dogs,” Bailey said. “Once she brought home two kids whose mother had left them. They grew up here and stayed with us until they turned 18.”
Gower said Thomas looked beyond faults and simply cared for people.
“It didn’t matter if you were a bum or scum or a jerk,” Gower said. “It didn’t matter; she didn’t care.”
Within the last several weeks, Fisher has been canvassing the region with fliers that list her phone number and Thomas’ photograph asking for new information.
The fliers prompted a flurry of calls and text messages to Fisher’s phone, but none have brought them any closer to finding Thomas than before.
Old leads
State police once had a person of interest in the case. In 2004, shortly after Thomas went missing, investigators were looking at the late Steven Allan Martin as a possible suspect.
Troopers also had linked Martin to the 2001 disappearance of another young woman, Jennifer Barziloski, 18, also of Lake Township. Martin never faced charges in either case.
Police had searched Martin’s home in Ross Township nine days after Thomas disappeared and said, while investigating both cases separately, his name was mentioned more than once. State police told Times Leader reporters back then that he was not the only person of interest.
In December 2004, state police attempted to stop Martin for driving without a license, but instead he fled.
A pursuit ensued, and Martin crashed his car into another car. A 55-year-old woman died in the wreck, and Martin pleaded guilty to in 2005 to manslaughter charges. He was sentenced to four to 10 years in prison.
During an interview while locked up, he told investigators he fled because he felt distressed from the ongoing police scrutiny.
Less than a year after he was sentenced, Martin died at the age of 32 in Hershey Medical Center after reportedly trying to hang himself in prison, Times Leader records show.
Four years later
On April 2, 2010, two men riding ATVs through the forest not far from Roaring Brook Drive in Hunlock Township found a human skull in an area where hunters frequently dumped deer carcasses. Later, forensic scientists confirmed the skull belonged to Barziloski using dental records.
Thomas’ family believe she met a similar end and her remains were dumped somewhere in the forest. Thomas’ clothes were found burned in a wooded area nearby, archives show.
Bailey and Fisher believe someone knows where Thomas’ remains were placed but might be afraid to come forward. With promise of the cash reward, both women hope a credible lead soon will rise to the surface.
“I think that what we’re doing with all this, and we’re putting it all together, we’ll find out what happened,” Fisher said. “So I said, let’s take our focus and just put it on bringing her home.”