JUNCTION CITY – There’s not a day that goes by that the family of Michael Gorley doesn’t wonder what happened to him. It’s been nine years since Gorley was last seen alive. After several years passed without answers, the family presumed Michael to be dead, but that doesn’t stop them from searching for answers in his murder, and for his remains.
After he went missing on May 17, 2015, his mother, Sandra Hasty, organized a candlelight vigil to raise awareness about missing and unsolved murder cases in Kentucky. That list of people has continued to grow ever since then. The 9th annual Candlelight Vigil and Celebration of Life event was held May 18.
The event serves as a time for friends and family members of missing/murdered victims to gather together, talk about their pain and raise awareness of unsolved cases. It brings people from all areas across the state together. During the event, a slideshow is played that includes all unsolved missing and murdered victims in the state.
There’s one thing that everyone in attendance agreed on – there are too many unsolved missing and murder cases in Kentucky. Many chose to speak about their cases during the event, including Jennifer Gorley Coffey, Michael’s sister. Coffey said she was walking into the Boyle County Fair one night last summer when someone handed her a religious pamphlet.
She stuck it in her pocket and didn’t think much of it until later one day she saw it and read it. “It goes on to say, in civil law a go.