Evansdale changed forever after pair of cousins go missing ten years ago

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) - The small town of Evansdale has never been the same after a pair of cousins went missing ten years ago.

10-year-old Lyric Cook-Morrissey and 8-year-old Elizabeth Collins were last seen riding their bikes near Meyers Lake in Evansdale on July 13th, 2012. Their bodies were found five months later by hunters in Bremer County.

“I think the craziest thing is that we don’t know what happened,” said Angie Everts.

Everts has lived her entire life in Evansdale and raised her family here. She knew the parents of the two girls and still remembers helping with the search.

“We looked everywhere, on the trails, at the lake, there was a rumor that their bikes were down by the lake,” said Everts. “A bunch of community members band together and search the town.”

“You don’t see kids walking to school anymore,” kids always walked to school,” she said. “My oldest daughter walked to school. However, my youngest daughter was close in age, and I just could let her walk.”

Fewer kids walking to school wasn’t the only change she said she noticed following the two girls’ disappearance.

“Kids aren’t in the parks anymore around here,” she said. “They used to be in the streets all the time running around, biking by the lake, or by the park. They even remodeled a bunch of the parks, and not many kids are hanging out there anymore.”

All these years later and the people of Evansdale want what everyone wants, answers to what happened to the cousins and why.

“We don’t know if it was random, we don’t know if it was targeted, we just don’t know,” she said.

FULL COVERAGE: Lyric & Elizabeth: Ten Years Later