Deanna Merryfield was just 13 years old when she disappeared in 1990 from her grandmother’s home in Killeen. Almost 35 years later, her sister is still searching for answers.
Deanna was a bright, sweet, and protective girl growing up in Killeen, Texas. The second of four daughters, she was known for her love of She-Ra, bike rides, and exploring creeks near her home.
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Deanna was part of a close-knit but troubled family. She and her fraternal twin sister Rebecca were the middle siblings, with older sister Amy and youngest sister Melissa rounding out the household. In December 1986, their mother, Laurel, married Roy Kaopuiki in hopes of a fresh start, but it only led to more pain for the family.
By the summer of 1989, Laurel was hospitalized for complications related to alcohol addiction. Not long after, Deanna and Rebecca confided in their grandmother, disclosing that Roy had been abusing them. An investigation was opened, and ultimately, three of the sisters made statements about the abuse. While one later recanted and another’s case lacked enough evidence, Deanna’s report led to criminal charges. In October 1989, Roy was convicted of indecency with a child and sentenced to 10 years’ probation, with mandatory annual registration as a sex offender.
After the trial, the family was fractured. Amy went to live with their grandmother, while Deanna and Rebecca stayed with an uncle. Melissa bounced between aunts before eventually returning to live with Laurel and Roy. When Amy later left to visit an aunt in Virginia, Deanna moved into her grandmother’s home.
Melissa remembers Deanna as outgoing and fiercely protective.
“She was very outgoing, very sweet, very protective of me,” Melissa said. But after enduring so much trauma, Deanna began sneaking out at night and acting out as she entered her teenage years.
On the night of July 21, 1990, Deanna and her grandmother stayed up late watching movies. After her grandmother went to bed, Deanna snuck out and made her way to the Oak Springs Trailer Park on Dimple Street, where Rebecca was still living with their uncle.
Rebecca recalls Deanna arriving around 3:30 a.m. in a brown or bronze four-door car driven by two Caucasian or Hispanic men. Deanna knocked on Rebecca’s window, and the sisters spoke briefly before their uncle woke up and told Deanna to go home. She left in the same car she arrived in. That was the last time anyone saw her.
Deanna was reported missing the next day. She didn’t leave a note, didn’t take any belongings, and had told no one she planned to run away. Despite that, law enforcement classified her as a runaway.
Melissa was just 11 at the time. That morning, their grandmother called with the terrible news.
“I had a birthday five days before she went missing, so I’m guessing we probably spoke on my birthday, but I can’t say for sure,” she said. “She wasn’t in bed because our grandmother had gone to wake her up. And my grandmother went and filed a missing person report that day.”
17 years passed without answers. In 2007, Melissa learned Deanna’s case had been quietly closed.
“I reached out to Killeen Police Department, and we worked to get the case reopened because she still hadn’t been found,” she said.
Since then, Deanna’s DNA has been entered into national databases, and a private investigator took on the case in October. Melissa stressed the importance of public attention.
Melissa also created a Facebook page and website for her sister and continues to push for awareness.
“At this point, I don’t really know what else to do as far as convincing everyone that she’s still worth looking for.”
She encourages anyone with information, no matter how minor it seems, to come forward.
“Time is slipping away. We’re working against time now. Any information could be helpful, even if you don’t think it’s important. It could be the thing that solves this for us.”
The trauma of Deanna’s disappearance has affected each sister differently. Melissa explained that Deanna’s twin, Rebecca, hasn’t actively participated in the search because of her own lasting pain.
“It’s not because she doesn’t care. It’s because her trauma runs very deep. It’s just not something she can handle.”
Melissa says she’ll never stop fighting for answers.
“If the day I die I still don’t have answers, okay. But I just cannot stop trying.”