On a cold winter morning in Andrews, South Carolina, 28-year-old Crystal Gail Soles was last seen on January 24, 2005. The young mother, who lived with her father and son, was at Shaw's Corner Store near Main Street and Jones Avenue between 8:00 and 8:30 a.m. After eating a hot dog, she used the store's telephone to call her father for a ride home. When he told her he was too sick to come and get her, Crystal said she would make the two-mile walk home.
She never arrived and has not been seen or heard from since. At the time of her disappearance, she was described as being between 5'3" and 5'5" tall, weighing around 110 to 135 pounds, with blonde hair and blue eyes. She had double-pierced ears and was known to wear numerous rings and a watch on her left wrist.
The investigation into Crystal's disappearance was quickly met with challenges. A tracking dog was able to follow her scent for only a short distance from the corner store before the trail went cold. While Crystal had a history of leaving home for brief periods due to struggles with substance abuse, her family says she always stayed in contact, especially with her young son who was only five years old when she vanished. Her mother, Gail Soles, has been a tireless advocate for her daughter, organizing annual walks and vigils to keep Crystal's case in the public eye and expressing frustration over the initial handling of the investigation, citing missing reports and interview recordings. Over the years, numerous rumors have circulated, but none have been substantiated. The family has endured false hope, such as when human remains were discovered in the area in 2011, which were later determined not to be Crystal's.
Years have passed without any sign of Crystal, leaving her family with a profound sense of uncertainty. Her son is now an adult, and her mother continues to plead for answers. A significant development in the case occurred in June 2025 when a wallet belonging to Crystal was found inside an old couch that had been moved off a property in neighboring Williamsburg County. This discovery, the first piece of physical evidence in years, has renewed hope for a breakthrough, and the wallet has been sent for DNA testing. Despite the passage of more than two decades, the Andrews Police Department considers the case active and unsolved. The family holds onto the hope that someone in the small community knows something and will finally come forward, allowing them to bring Crystal home and find the closure they have sought for so long.Last Seen: Jan 24, 2005
