The family of Tori Milsak had all but given up hope of finding her alive after the 35 year old disappeared just over a year ago. However, they were left “shocked” when she suddenly reappeared at a petrol station, some 55 miles from her last known location.
Tori went missing from Hot Springs, Arkansas, on June 6, 2024, with police reports from the Hot Springs Police Department suggesting that she “may have mental health concerns”.
Her “shocked” brother, Jason Hamel, revealed that Tori had largely ceased communication with the family in 2023 and was grappling with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following a traumatic incident.
For many agonising months, the family was left in the dark about Tori’s fate, with chilling suggestions that she “might have been murdered multiple times”. Jason was tormented by his last conversation with his sister, wishing he’d taken an “extra five minutes” to address the issues that were troubling her.
Then, on Thursday, June 19, Tori walked into a petrol station in Little Rock. The first thing she did was inform the staff of her identity and that she had been missing for over a year, reports the Mirror.
The Hot Springs Police Department confirmed via Facebook that Tori has been found after an “extensive search”. According to Newsweek, a Little Rock police officer dispatched to the scene reported that Tori realised she was missing after seeing herself on the news.
Following her discovery, Tori was apprehended by Little Rock police due to an existing warrant from Garland County.
In a conversation with WBRC News, her brother Jason expressed his shock and relief: “Shocked was the initial reaction because I’d been told that she might have been murdered multiple times. Hope was lost. I mean, like everybody said, you hold onto that one per cent that she’d be found alive, and she’s that one per cent.”
He continued: “Makes me very angry, not at Tori, but at some people. Now, it’s time to try to start the healing process and rebuild Tori’s life.”
For Jason, the anguish of Tori’s disappearance was compounded by their last phone call, which occurred during a family tragedy. Jason and his father were in the midst of deciding whether to remove another sibling from life support after a devastating motorcycle accident when Tori rang.
Jason revealed: “Tori called, and she sounded like she was mad about something. I told her that I did not have time to deal with her crap right now. She just said, ‘I’m sorry. I love you. I’ll call you in a week.’ And I never heard from her. So, that’s haunted me for the last year, thinking that maybe if I took an extra five minutes, things could have been different.”
Tori is due to appear in court again in Garland County this coming July.