Ever since a 45-year-old Odenton woman disappeared early Sept. 11, her mother and her sister have patrolled the Denny's restaurant where she was last seen.
That restaurant abruptly closed this month, and Valerie Ann Littleton's family members are frantic that they might never know what happened to the woman, who has diagnoses of depression and schizophrenia.
"With the closing, it kind of feels like another door is being shut," said Stephanie Gorman, Littleton's younger sister.
To generate new leads in the disappearance, the family bought billboard space to display a giant missing-persons-style flier just east of Laurel on Route 198.
Video surveillance tapes from Denny's show Littleton entering the restaurant late Sept. 10 and leaving shortly after midnight. The contents of her purse were found in a bathroom the next day.
Littleton had been living with her parents on Cuire Drive, which is about a mile from the Denny's. Her two children live in Kansas City, Mo., with their father, whom Littleton divorced in the early 1990s.
For the first few weeks after Littleton's disappearance, her mother, Mildred Gorman, and her sister returned again and again to the restaurant in hopes of uncovering information.
Denny's employees responded by filing criminal charges and two peace orders against Stephanie Gorman in October.
Detective Chris Powell, who investigates the county's missing-persons cases, said Denny's has been cooperative, and that the employees working that night provided written statements, which he said did not yield any new information.
"There really are not any signs of foul play," Powell said of the Littleton case. "To me, it's 50-50 whether she's a crime victim."
Littleton is the only recent "critically missing" case open right now, the detective said.
Powell and the Gormans touch base at least once a week, but neither side has had much to report since Littleton's disappearance.
The most promising new development came last month when a Tennessee woman driving near Roanoke, Va., reported spotting someone who resembled Littleton at a truck stop.
But that lead appears to have fizzled, as police in Virginia have found no trace of the woman, Powell said.
A reward of $2,640 is being offered for information about Littleton's disappearance.
Anyone with information is asked to call 410-222-8610.