One year of anguish for mother of missing woman

Jul. 17—The weekend that just ended marked one year since Candice Caffas disappeared — and a year of anguish for her mother.

Caffas, 35, a Union Township woman with special needs, has been missing her family's small home since mid-July 2022.

"I'm just trying to keep going, I have to find her," said Carol Caffas, her voice softly trembling. "It's just really hard ... it's just really hard."

Candice Caffas has Prader Willi syndrome, a genetic disorder that often results in multiple issues — including the person always being hungry as well as behavioral problems such as running away.

The younger Caffas went missing from her parents' home in the 9100 block of Mount Pleasant Road sometime between about 10 p.m. July 15 and 3 a.m. July 16, 2022, according to Pennsylvania State Police at Meadville. She left the home by climbing out a bathroom window.

The Caffas home, located about 4 miles south of Meadville, always was locked due to the potential runaway issue with Candice.

"I saw her at 10 p.m. that night in bed as I slept with her," Carol said of her daughter. "It was at 3:07 a.m. I heard the noise and she wasn't in bed."

The noise either was a screen on the home's bathroom window falling or Candice landing on the ground, according to Carol. It's about a 5-foot drop from the window to the ground below.

Candice Caffas is 4 feet, 9 inches tall and weighing about 95 pounds with dirty-blond hair and green eyes.

Candice last seen July 16, 2022, on Route 285 near Conneaut Lake, according to police. She was last known to be wearing glasses, a purple T-shirt, orange shorts and blue sneakers.

Large-scale, coordinated searches for Candice were held by state police in the days after her disappearance. But, the searches scaled back after July 23, when police said all credible leads had been exhausted.

Police even checked traffic cameras on Interstate 79 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike from around the time of Candice's disappearance, but she wasn't seen in any vehicles, according to her mother.

There's a reward of $12,500 for information leading to Candice being found.

Banners asking for information have been in place in the area of Route 285 by the railroad tracks where Candice last was seen. Billboards about Candice missing still are in place on Interstate 79 and Interstate 90.

But it's all been to no avail, Carol reports.

Police are keeping the case open, but nothing has turned up.

"We've not gotten a single phone call," Carol said during an interview with The Meadville Tribune to mark the anniversary of Candice's disappearance.

Still, she keeps going and hoping.

"Every day, I'm always over there. It's John and I," Carol said of she and her husband searching for signs of Candice in the area of the railroad track along Route 285.

"We've had drones over there (searching). We've had horses over there, dogs over there. I don't think she's over there," Carol said, her voice trailing off.

"I'm just afraid someone picked her up, but I've been told by the police that nobody has been abducted in Meadville," Carol said. "I don't feel that's true. She's not out there on her own — she can't be."

Anyone with information on Candice Caffas' whereabouts are asked to contact state police at Meadville at (814) 332-6911.

Keith Gushard can be reached at (814) 724-6370 or by email at kgushard@meadvilletribune.com.