Harlen Chavis remembers when his nephew, Delwin Locklear, went missing in some woods near Nina Road in Maxton.

"It was hard," Chavis said. "We had dogs out from the house... We searched every day, seven days a week for a few months. Then we broke down and searched for four or five days a week for a year."

There is an organization that is offering to help Chavis and other families of missing people in Scotland County.

The sixth-annual On the Road to Remember Tour will kicks off Aug 18. The event will focus on missing persons in Scotland, Robeson and Hoke counties. It will be held at 120 Legend Road in Lumberton.

Locklear's case is one of several local incidents to be featured in the national tour for the Wilmington-based Community United Effort (CUE) Center for Missing Persons.

After so many years, these cases fade from the public's radar, but for the families and friends of the missing, the nightmare continues every minute of every day their loved one is missing," said CUE Founder Monica Caison. "We are traveling across the country to make sure no case fades from memory and will come to Laurinburg, in an effort to remind everyone that these featured cases need a resolution for their families... they need our help and the community's help to bring them home."

Hundreds of volunteers are expected to help in the twelve day tour, with participants traveling 4,819 miles round-trip.

"Each year, as we being in preparation for the tour, we are reminded of the overwhelming numbers of unsolved cases from across the country and requests that flood in to be featured," Caison said. "The cases we feature are a small number compared to thee NCIC Statistics 700,000 to 850,000 cases reported annually."

Despite the large number of missing persons, Caison expressed optimism in finding the people.

Chavis is optimistic that his nephew will be found.

"This past July was 5 years.... We still haven't given up."

He said it is important for his family to find closure on the disappearance.

The Maxton man recalled a Florida case where a body was found 22 years after the person initially went missing. As it turned out, the county over held the body for 18 years as a Jane Doe until it was identified.

A few other missing persons from the area are:

• Kimberly Thrower disappeared the morning of April 29, 2004, from a bus stop at Stevens Circle in Laurinburg. According to witnesses, Thrower was taken into a wooded area near the bus stop by an unknown adult male.

• Rickie Bethea was last seen July 23, 2007, when he disappeared outside of Corbett's Family Care Home in Milton N.C. The Laurinburg native was 45.

• Angela Tiyetta Terry was last seen May 31, 2004 near the intersection of Pitt and Phritz Streets in Laurinburg. She was 27 at the time of her disappearance.