Cousin won’t give up on her ‘sidekick’ who’s been missing nearly 3 years

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - It’s been nearly three years since Tyrone Hughes disappeared, but his family hasn’t given up hope for a Christmas reunion.

The Augusta father was 31 years old when he vanished on Dec. 9, 2018.

And although his cousin Keisha Williams says there have been rumors, there have been no answers.

She prays for the safe return of the cousin she calls her sidekick.

Even if the news isn’t good, the family just wants some kind of closure.

When Hughes disappeared, he was living from house to house, staying with friends or family .

But he always kept in touch, especially with Williams, and especially on social media.

So when she didn’t hear from him for several days in early December 2018, Williams sensed something was wrong.

“He’d go that long and not talk to other people, but he’d never done that to me,” she said.

“That was my sidekick; it’s always us.”

She described him as a jack of all trades who could take a car apart and put it back together.

“If anyone asked him to do something, he would do it,” Williams said, “especially to a vehicle.”

The holidays are tough without him, Williams said — as are the milestones she marks as a breast cancer survivor.

He was always there for those celebrations, Williams said.

“I just wish I could hear his voice again,” Williams said, her own voice breaking.

“I hurt for my family and for other people who are missing.”

Although information from the authorities is rare these days for Williams, the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office does Hughes.

On the two-year anniversary of his disappearance, deputies sent us a photo of him.

Williams sent several.

If anyone knows where he might be, she has this message:

“This is a human being. He has children, has a mother, has a father. If anyone knows anything, please speak up. We want closure. We want answers.”

How to help

If you have any information on Hughes — who was known to frequent the 2000 block of Battle Row, the Bon Air Apartments and the 1700 block of Greenway Drive — Investigator Ronald Sylvester at the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office, 706-821-1020 or 706-821-1080.