SEARCY, Arkansas — Michael Collins doesn't have any of his own memories of his mother. He was less than a year old when Kay Collins disappeared in 1978. All of his memories of her come from his sisters and others passing down stories to him.
"I found out I have ulcers, she gave me those," he told us. "I told my sister Jodie that I was going to be treated for ulcers and she said, 'That's mom, she was a worry wort.'"
It's a cold case that's nearly 50 years old — a tragic incident that caused the mother of two young daughters and a baby boy to suddenly vanish without a word.
Now decades later her son Michael is speaking out about the strange circumstances surrounding his mother's disappearance.
"She was a really good seamstress. She liked to sew," he said. "Her favorite movie was Grease and my sisters say they saw it 11 times after it came out and they were so sick of Grease."
A missing mom
Back in 1978, Kay Collins lived in Wichita, Kansas with her newborn son, Michael and two daughters, Robyn and Jodie.
She was married to a man named Doug who lived in Arkansas, but they were in the process of getting divorced, including a custody battle over Michael.
When the divorce was finalized, joint custody was awarded to both parents.
Then in December, Kay left Wichita to take Michael to Doug's house and that's the last time anyone can confirm her whereabouts.
JR Howard, the initial investigator on Kay's case, at first thought she was last seen in Wichita because of a phone call she made from Chetopa to the city.
"As the investigation progressed it became clear that she may have not been last seen in Kansas… that she was actually seen in Bald Knob, Arkansas [or] she may have gone to Little Rock and then maybe to Memphis," Howard said.
One of the claims he looked into was that Kay wanted to fly out of Memphis, so her ex-husband drove her and dropped her off.
Some witnesses claimed that's not possible, according to Howard. He said friends of hers in Memphis never heard from her and "she would have made contact with them" if she was in town. "So that raised a flag that there was something awry in this."
Howard believes she isn't alive and in 1987 a Kansas judge declared the same despite no evidence being found to support that.
"It keys on the witnesses, because you've got witnesses that didn't see her and witnesses that saw her here or saw her there," Howard said. "So, right now as far as I'm aware there's no physical evidence."
Continuing the hunt for answers
Josh Heckel is a detective with the Arkansas State Police and is now investigating Kay Collins disappearance.
He said the case has gone from searching for a missing person to searching for a body.
The investigation is taking a step forward searching places where family members think Kay's body could be, including around the house formerly owned by her ex-husband Doug.
The house is currently owned by her son Michael.
He believes if her body is buried somewhere on the property it could be in the foundation around the house or behind the house in some ravines.
"First thing is we are going to try to get cadaver dogs out there because it's amazing what cadaver dogs can do even a case this old," Heckel said.
Investigators are also taking a step back revisiting those who knew Kay before she vanished.
"The last time and the last person to see her alive that we can positively say is the former husband. We are not saying he did it. We are saying he has more information than he is saying," Heckel told us.
As for Kay's son Michael, he feels finding her is more important than cops or trials and that's the closure he hopes to get.
Detectives tell us no detail is too big or too small. If you knew Kay Collins and her family, especially during the 70's, reach out to Arkansas State Police.