MINNEAPOLIS - It's been 25 years since 13-year-old Amy Sue Pagnac went missing from a Holiday gas station in Osseo.
Investigators executed a search warrant of her parents' home for nearly a week in mid-May.
Now that police have wrapped up that search, Pagnac's mother and sister are talking about what police took and left behind.
"I can no longer say they have not gone through everything anymore," said Amy's mother, Susan Pagnac. "They finally went through all of Amy's papers and art and all that stuff. They went through virtually everything. They went through my spice cabinets."
Amy Pagnac's parents were able to return last Saturday but are still cleaning up.
"Most file cabinets were emptied, put in boxes. Some of the bookcases were emptied, put in boxes." Susan Pagnac said there was mud on the floor and investigators also dug up part of their yard.
"They tore up the patio that was concrete. It actually needed to be replaced and I wasn't looking forward to breaking out the concrete," she explained.
She also said investigators have been very considerate. She believes investigators took some of Amy's artwork, photos, a passport, birth certificate and some of Amy's baby teeth. They may have taken more but she doesn't know what's missing as she is still unpacking boxes.
Despite the mess, she said the process is worth it.
"If they find Amy, I don't care. This is an inconvenience. If they find Amy, who cares?"
"They are working on the case and this is really important," she continued. "As long as they continue to work on the case, follow every lead possible, I'm good with that and that's what I expect them to do. That's what I want them to do. I don't want them to get fixated on one area because we really have no idea what happened."
Amy's sister, also named Susan Pagnac, was only eight when Amy disappeared but she has memories of her sister.
"She would make me sandwiches and it's nothing special but to me it's special," she said.
The suspicion that comes with her parents' home being searched is hard to deal with.
"There are just mean people out there, but there are a lot of kind people out there as well and those are the people that I would much rather pay attention to," she said.
Mother and sister said they are glad investigators are looking for Amy and ask anyone with information, even if they have talked to investigators in the past, to please speak up.
Her mother said, "Come forward to law enforcement. These are fresh eyes."
With tears in her eyes, Amy's sister said, "I really just want her to come home."
According to Missing Children Minnesota which helped coordinate the interviews, cases like Amy's are treated differently now than when she disappeared 25 years ago.
Searches begin sooner. Technology is better. Social media gets the word out faster, but they said there's still more that's needed including better databases, better training for law enforcement and more education for the public.
