Search for Augusta County three-year-old’s remains garners national attention

AUGUSTA COUNTY, Va. (WHSV) - The case of Khaleesi Cuthriell has garnered national attention.

When the three-year-old out of Augusta County was reported missing, Valley residents were overwhelmed, and Whitney Sich says she wasn’t any different.

“There’s anger. There’s outrage. There’s sadness. There’s frustration, there’s everything you can think of in the Khaleesi Cuthriell case,” Sich said.

Sich heard about Khaleesi when the Augusta County Sheriff’s Office had a press release about her disappearance Sept. 10. Sich says she, like many people, had to ask: how does a child go missing without it being reported?

“For me it’s sadness and outrage that someone didn’t value her life enough and didn’t take care of her and she probably trusted that person to take care of her,” Sich said.

Sich founded True Crime Sisters as a way to advocate for missing people. The group of women, who come from around the world, plan vigils and searches and work to share information about missing persons cases.

“My heart definitely breaks for Khaleesi’s family and her mother because that’s your baby and you’ve lost your baby, and I don’t think I could live without my baby,” Sich said.

She started a Facebook page, “Justice For Khaleesi Cuthriell,” which has over 4,000 members. She helped organize a candlelight vigil last month.

Even though True Crime Sisters advocates for people across the country, she says she’ll never forget Khaleesi.

“At the end of this, we will move on, and we won’t ever forget her. We will continue to search for other missing people, and we will continue to give voices to the voiceless,” Sich said.

In the end, Sich says she hopes for something good to come out of Khaleesi’s story.

“I want to see Travis and Candi held accountable for whatever their role is in this,” Sich said. “I think it was preventable, but there’s no going back so we just have to move forward and hope we find something so this hasn’t happened in vain.”

There are no updates from the Augusta County Sheriff’s Office. We will continue to follow this story as it develops.