KTKA

Olen Hay says this year has been particularly tough because of his wife's death in February, but he says to stop speaking out about his daughter's disappearance would mean he's forgotten about her. And that's something he'll never do.

He says nailing down one fond memory of his daughter Jackie is hard to come by.

"Oh, gee. I don't know there's so many," Hay said.

But there is one painful memory from 26 years ago that stands out. That day is September 12, 1981. The day his 5-year-old girl went missing.

"She was just out in the neighborhood playing," said Hay. "We lived over on Colfax and she just didn't come home."

Over the years, Hay says he's just dealt with the fact he'll never see her again, but the case of Kansas student Emily Sander makes it harder for him to cope.

"You know, I think about her quite a bit anyway so, it's just, I feel for the people involved now because I know they've got to be suffering," he said.

Sander, 18, was last seen leaving a bar November 23 with 24-year-old Isreal Mireles.

Her disappearance made headlines when her friends revealed that she led a double life as an Internet porn star. But Hay says he has no reason to believe that is why the search for Sander intensified.

"They said that she was always willing to help everybody out and everything, so I think that might have been the case more than the double life thin," he said.

Hay doubts his daughter Jackie is still alive. She would be 31 years old today. He says he's given up on the search for her but still seeks closure.

"Somebody's got to know what happened," said Hay. "I don't know whether two people do or one person does but somebody does."