Gilmer community marks 31st anniversary of Kelly Wilson’s disappearance

Published 5:00 pm Friday, January 6, 2023

Attendees join in prayer during a candlelight vigil Thursday, January 5, 2023, for Kelly Dae Wilson who went missing 31 years earlier. The then-17 year-old high school student was last seen leaving the video store where she worked in downtown Gilmer. (Les Hassell/News-Journal Photo)

GILMER — Truth. Answers.

Those were key words Thursday night in Gilmer, when members of a community that has long suffered with the unsolved disappearance of one of its daughters came together to remember Kelly Dae Wilson.



Wilson was a 17-year-old Gilmer High School senior when she left work at what was a video store in downtown. It was Jan. 5, 1992. She was never seen again.

Now, 31 years later, a new podcast called ”Devil Town” about the disappearance and the investigation that followed has generated renewed discussion and efforts to find her.

The Rev. Mike Kessler, pastor of First Baptist Church in Gilmer, prayed Thursday before the crowd of about 40 people who had gathered in front of where the video store was located.

Most Popular

“God, you know what happened to Kelly. Lord Jesus you are a God of revelation,” Kessler said. “We are gathered here today to cry out to you to reveal to us the truth. …. We pray the truth will come out. We pray there will be a resolution and that justice will prevail.”

The group lighted candles during the vigil for Wilson, which was attended by members of the Gilmer Police Department and her mother and step-father, Cathy and Robert Carlson.”

The event was organized by some of Wilson’s friends and others who live in Gilmer.

In the early years after her disappearance, the investigation into the case took a strange turn when a group of people, including the original Gilmer police investigator, were charged in her disappearance. Arrests came with allegations of devil worship, child abuse and murder. Those charges later were dismissed.

Jennifer Dean, one of Wilson’s friends who helped organized the vigil, played the song “Rescue” by Lauren Daigle, with lyrics that say, “You are not hidden. There’s never been a moment you were forgotten.”

“I think it’s a great song on Kelly’s behalf,” Dean said, encouraging anyone who has information about her friend’s disappearance to come forward, something she says a “woman of integrity” such as Wilson would have done.

“Tonight my prayer is that people would be burdened to continue to pray for her after tonight and pray for this community,” Dean said. The only healing that may come is when there are answers, she said.

Gilmer Police Chief Lana Davidson passed out fliers with the phone number for Upshur County Crime Stoppers — 1-800-396-3351 — to people in attendance. She said Crime Stoppers is offering a $5,000 reward for any tips that lead to finding Wilson. Tips may be made anonymously, Davidson said.

She said the “Devil Town” podcast hasn’t resulted in an “abnormal” number of tips about Wilson, but it was good because it put the case back on people’s minds.

“We’ve put fresh eyes on it,” she told Wilson’s mother, and she said the police department has never stopped investigating any leads it received.

Cathy Carlson, Wilson’s mother, said she appreciated the community attending the candlelight vigil.

“We appreciate their support in coming,” she said. “I’m hopeful that we will find out what happened to Kelly and who was involved in her disappearance and that they will be brought to justice.”