I suppose Mother's Day would have been the ideal time to start this thread, but I really didn't feel like waiting another 10 months, plus it can always be bumped if need be. And I enjoy taking verbal jabs at Tim McClure whenever the opportunity presents itself.

So yeah, favorite UM mom's. The list could get very long, but I think that's a good thing. Here's a few to start off:

Vivian Hobbs ~ More than a mother to Kathy, a friend also. I also think she had a spirtual connection to Kathy being as she woke up in the middle of the night when all that was probably going on.

Rose Hoffman & Susan Billig ~ for their bravery and determination.

Charlette Ladner ~ I just love her soft-spokenness. Always have. I'm sure she ran a charming country store. I also liked how she didn't back down after being told to stop investigating Norman's death.

Carolyn Smith & Nancy Salem ~ for going against unbelievable odds.

Kathy Alter (Joey Moss's mom) ~ Loved her reaction. One of the best updates.

Terri McClure ~ I think when Tim said "She would give her last nickel to anyone" was probably the only truthful thing he said in his interview.

Kathy Nixon ~ I really liked in the Nightmare Next Door episode where she said she wrote her daughter every week while she was missing. But I always liked her.

Judy Hinson ~ any woman who says "keep your mind on your job" earns a place on this thread.

Charlette Ladner is the one I remember the most. I'm not sure why. Perhaps it was the case. I wish she found out what happened to her son.

I always get distracted by that barking dog in Charlette's interviews.

Mollie Jordan ~ worked two full-time jobs including one late-night one to support her 5 grandchildren and great grandchild.

Seconding all of these, but adding:

Debbie Wolfe's mother. I just wish this case could not only have been solved (there's still hope, I know), but that she would have lived to see justice served.

Maggi Bish - At the time of the UM segment, Molly was considered a missing person. And while Maggi was going through this personal hell, she was advocating for new child safety laws while trying to find out what happened to her daughter. Plus the tear filled speech she gives at the end when she asks how you lose your children in America was painfully sad.

Dee Ziegert - UM usually had a habit of ending a segment with an emotional statement from a mother. In the case of Lisa Ziegert, her mother Dee stated the sad reality of being extremely careful but sometimes when you're extra careful, it doesn't matter. Her desire to have all the children Lisa touched learn that this murder cannot go unpunished was powerful. If you google Lisa's case, there's plenty of short news clips that feature Dee and she is still a very sweet lady.

Kathy Nixon - Soft spoken, sweet and in a lot of pain. Her daughter Lori mentioned in the 'Nightmare Next Door" episode what a great mother she is and I wasn't surprised to hear it. At the time of the UM segment when Kari was considered missing, Kathy makes a statement that if Kari is alive and has decided she wants a new life that she would support that. All she wanted to know was that Kari was alright. I really liked Kathy.

Debbie Baskin - Hers was a case that drove me nuts and her speech at the end was something I'll never forget about how every time the phone would ring, she would hope it would be the FBI saying they found the kids and how it wasn't good enough for her parents to take her kids, they had to destroy their love for her as well. Having no idea where your kids are for 2 decades, going on and raising two more kids to functional good adults takes major strength. And then to publicly forgive her parents even after Kristi and Bobby were found and wanted nothing to do with her was amazing. She gave a sermon last year that she posted to her blog where she goes into detail about this. She has more love and forgiveness than I ever could.

Rachel Raver's mother. I loved her "Who the hell does he think he is?".

Great Thread!

I'm going to add Mary Couey, Keith Warrens mother. I couldn't imagine dealing with the death of a child. So much suspicion surrounds this case and all the while Keith mother fought hard to try to find out what happened to her son. You could just tell how much love she had for him.

Great Thread!

I'm going to add Mary Couey, Keith Warrens mother. I couldn't imagine dealing with the death of a child. So much suspicion surrounds this case and all the while Keith mother fought hard to try to find out what happened to her son. You could just tell how much love she had for him.

Definition of classy.

+1 on all of these. I would also like to submit Linda Ives. Although she was not interviewed extensively in the segment, she was nearly single-handedly responsible for pushing various law enforcement agencies to investigate the murders of her son and his friend. She wasn't afraid to know the truth and bucked a pretty huge system, and still actively campaigns against government corruption and the resolution of Kevin and Don's case to this day.

I also liked Gail Delano's mom Betty Monfort.

Judy Hinson ~ any woman who says "keep your mind on your job" earns a place on this thread.

I don't have much to contribute to this thread I guess except to say that Judy Hinson was full of pearls of wisdom. Another one of hers was "it is never okay to go with a married man, the only thing that comes out of that is people getting hurt". I always felt badly for her (for obvious reasons) but also because she seemed to blame herself for not pressing the issue with Rhonda regarding whatever was troubling her daughter.

Dale Kerstetter's mother. She came off as very honest and straight to the point in her limited appearance in his segment.

Rachel Raver's mother. I loved her "Who the hell does he think he is?".
YES. She made the connection between Prieto's murders before police even did. I was also happy to hear that she got to attend the trial and even called out to the defendant in the courtroom after he tried to say that he was innocent. I love the line you mentioned, too. "And that's when I started looking for him!"


I know Susan Billig was already mentioned, but I just want to add that you see even more of her strength and bravery in the book she co-wrote with Greg Aunapu. Not only did she follow every lead through thick and thin, she even saved a young woman's life by barreling into her attacker while completely unarmed. Also, despite a heart attack and battle with lung cancer, she still kept on searching.



I also liked Pamela Straight, mother to the boys on the Leibling. She wanted her sons to be able to have quality time with their father and didn't accuse him of anything when questioned about the possibility. I felt very bad for her, as she had only wanted her sons to be able to spend time with both parents. It's heartbreaking to think that she let the youngest boy go at the last minute, with only good intentions in mind only to have it backfire.

Dan Wilson's mother also seemed like a great lady, trying to track down her son and following any lead she found.

agreed on all of them. Loved Dee Ziegart and Veronica Raver. And yes, Judy Hinson was a very wise woman who would be great to turn to for advice.

How about Delia Fazzani Goldie, the British Mother in one of the lost loved segments?
She got pregnant young and was forced by her father to give her baby Michelle up for adoption. Although she didn't raise the Michelle (who was later re-named Laura) you could tell an instant connection once the two were reunited. Listening to Delia talk about making a memory of her newborn daughters face before she had to give her up always made me teary eyed.

Ditto on Judy Hinson, Nancy Salem, Debbie Baskin, Kathy Alter & Rose Hoffman. And the following:

Marilynn DePue's mom - I felt for her when she said that she could get over her daughter dying in a car accident, but not her being murdered.


The mom of the little boy who died in that mysterious fire with his friend (I know her son's first name is Scott). She was so frustrated that the police wouldn't pursue the leads about drug dealing and didn't take the two witnesses' accounts of the fire seriously because of their previous run-ins with the law.

The mom whose husband took her two sons (I think her husband's name is Chuck) and she suspected that he was using his money and influence to get people to lie when she tried to keep finding them. She did find her sons and on a 48 Hours story about kidnapped kids, they showed all three trying to adjust.


Pat McNally

I liked Dale Kerstetter's mother, too. She seemed like a straightforward person.

Denise Horvath.

Aileen Conway. Although she was a victim and obviously wasn't interviewed on UM due to the circumstances of her case, you have to admire a woman who bore and raised so many children. I love her vibrant smile in that photograph shown of her and Pat.

Dororthy Lang- Larry Dicken's mom who had to watch her son be murdered by a piece of trash
Dorthy Donovan-Charles Holden's mom

I concur with Mary Couey

She wasn't really featured on UM (at least in an interview or as the focal point of a segment) but given some things I've read online, I'd be remiss not to send out some good thoughts to Erica Stumvoll and her husband Carter Wiley.

The mom of the little boy who died in that mysterious fire with his friend (I know her son's first name is Scott). She was so frustrated that the police wouldn't pursue the leads about drug dealing and didn't take the two witnesses' accounts of the fire seriously because of their previous run-ins with the law.

Scott Johnson.

The mom whose husband took her two sons (I think her husband's name is Chuck) and she suspected that he was using his money and influence to get people to lie when she tried to keep finding them. She did find her sons and on a 48 Hours story about kidnapped kids, they showed all three trying to adjust.

Yep, that's Carolyn Smith. I mentioned her in my original post.

I can't say enough positive things about Judy Hinson. I loved that she said Rhonda was the type of daughter everyone would want to have, and kept her room exactly the way it was, even 8 years after the fact, and also seemed to have a spiritual connection with Rhonda.

Michael Rosenblum's mother. She just wanted her son to get off drugs and live a better life, so she tried the tough love method only to never see him again. Both she and her husband worked tirelessly to find him for years. In the interview she blames herself, but she was only trying to do the right thing.

Charlette Ladner was the first one I thought of when reading the title of the thread.