The bond Echo Michelle Lloyd shared with her daughter, Kelsey Smith, surpassed a typical mother-daughter relationship. “[Echo]’s not just my mother,” Kelsey said, “She’s my best friend.”
Echo possessed a kindhearted spirit, always saw the best in others, and was exceptionally close with her family. However, she still desired to explore new elements in life, particularly in nature. Her love of art coincided with the outdoors. Her merged interests steered her to several scenic spots around the country, the latest being Edwards, Missouri in 2019. Her new home was near the lake; a perfect place for any outdoors lover.
“She loved the lake life,” Kelsey said. “So it was the perfect place for her new life. It was a fresh start and I know she was happy here.”
Whenever Echo wasn’t outside, she could be found in her living room, working on her renovation project. According to Kelsey, Echo had a mission with establishing her house as hers, but by her hand as an artist.
The move thrilled Kelsey too because it placed Echo within driving distance. Her mother would be able to see the birth of Kelsey’s son–Echo’s first grandchild.
In April of 2020, Kelsey gave birth to her son. Echo was overjoyed to be a grandmother. However, not everything was perfect in her life. There was one major source of conflict that started to concern her family and friends–her bizarre relationship with her male neighbor.
The man had an obsessive infatuation and took advantage of Echo’s kind and gentle nature to establish a sense of control. One time, he even stole her cell phone.
Friends and family urged Echo to cut ties with the neighbor, but the 47-year-old dismissed their concerns. She didn’t want the situation to distract her from her artistic endeavors.
Sunday — May 10, 2020–3:00 p.m.
On Mother’s Day, Kelsey drove to Echo’s house to deliver her gift. She knocked on the front door, but there was no answer. Confused, Kelsey turned and saw the empty driveway. Echo wasn’t home which was odd because the night before she had talked on the phone with Kelsey. During the conversation, Echo did not mention having any personal plans for Mother’s Day. Kelsey, still at the front door, called Echo’s house phone, but there was no answer.
Kelsey left the gifts on her mother’s back porch, along with a note asking her mother to call her when she returned. However, as the hours went on, a call never came. Kelsey started to grow antsy, where was Echo? Throughout the next few days, she made several attempts to contact her mother–each to no avail.
On Thursday, four days after Kelsey last heard from her Echo, she called the neighbor and asked if he knew of her mother’s whereabouts. He denied knowing where Echo was but told Kelsey he would call her back if he saw her.
Friday — May 15, 2020 –10:00 a.m.
After another day of silence, Kelsey called the neighbor a second time. As before, he denied knowing her whereabouts. However, Kelsey had waited long enough for panic to set in. She visited Echo’s house again–this time, to check on her.
At around 10:30 a.m., Kelsey pulled up to the house. To her surprise, Echo’s car sat in the driveway. Was she home and avoiding her daughter’s calls? Unfortunately, her hopes faded when she discovered the front door was still locked and no one seemed to be home.
Kelsey knew something was wrong. She now had one mission; entering the house. On impulse, she raised both of her fists and banged them against the front door with all of her might. There was still no answer, so Kelsey tried the same with the back door. Once again, she was met with silence. Kelsey decided to search the entire property on foot–but her mother was nowhere in sight
Kelsey remembered Echo’s neighbor, perhaps she was at his house? She knocked on his front door, and sure enough, a familiar face greeted her–the neighbor. Once again, he told her that he had not heard from Echo. Kelsey walked back to Echo’s house; enough was enough; she needed to get inside–and she knew how.
In a prior conversation, Echo mentioned to Kelsey that the outside pane of one of her windows was broken. As a result, the inside pane was within reach and likely unlocked.
Kelsey approached the window and lifted the inside pane, sure enough, it was unlocked. She climbed through the narrow space and planted her feet on the floor; she was now inside.
First, Kelsey conducted a brief survey of the house. There was no sign of Echo and it was obvious from the condition that she had not been home in days.
“I could tell someone else had been there — someone, but not my mother,” Kelsey told NBC’s Dateline. “It wasn’t ransacked, but there was a pile of trash… and food with mold. That’s not like my mother at all. She’s OCD. She wouldn’t have left the house like this.” She found one potential clue–a receipt from Walmart. While Echo’s signature wasn’t at the bottom, Kelsey recognized her handwriting in “something scribbled at the top” with the date May 10–Mother’s Day.
When Kelsey walked into the bedroom, her heart dropped. Echo’s cigarettes and lighter lay abandoned on her nightstand, and her purse; which housed her wallet, ID, and cash; lay on the floor. However, what was missing from the purse was even more disturbing. Echo’s cell phone, car keys, and personal firearm were gone.
Kelsey frantically phoned the Benton County Sheriff’s Department to report her missing and waited outside for the police to arrive.
Once investigators arrived on the scene, they quickly theorized Echo was in danger. In addition to her purse, Echo had left her medication behind and had no activity on her bank and cell phone records since May 10.
“She’s on several medications that she does not have with her,” Benton County Sheriff Eric Knox said. “Nor does she have her billfold or her car. She is missing without a trace.”
The first step of the investigation was establishing Echo’s last known whereabouts, which seemed easy. The receipt Kelsey found gave a clear message for where to look first–Walmart. Unfortunately, they were unable to locate any witnesses who remembered seeing the Echo the day of the purchase. However, her signature (which Kelsey verified matched her usual one) was at the bottom and suggested Echo had indeed made the purchases herself.
It wouldn’t take long for investigators to find another lead. Once word started spreading around Edwards, multiple people claimed they saw Echo at Dollar General (a place she was known to frequent) on May 10. One of the cashiers claimed they saw Echo inside the store with a group of people.
According to Kelsey, the cashier said Echo “looked like she’d been through hell and back” which prompted them to ask if she needed any assistance. Echo declined, but her specific response to the cashier was described as “alarming”. Despite her worrying behavior, no one escorted her when she left. The account was forwarded to police, but to Kelsey’s knowledge, only the store manager, not the cashier, was interviewed by police. Additionally, the group of people that allegedly accompanied Echo have never been identified.
Despite suspicious circumstances, authorities have not stated whether they suspect foul play and are holding off on any searches until the investigation progresses.
Kelsey believes Echo made it back home after she had dropped off the flowers and card, however, what happened after is uncertain. Several friends and family suspect Echo’s neighbor had some sort of involvement in her disappearance. Shortly before she went missing, Echo complained of how possessive he was and wanted to end the relationship but did not know how to approach him. To protect the integrity of the investigation, the neighbor’s name has not been released to the public.
In an interview with The Vanished podcast, Kelsey confirmed that she confronted the neighbor in-person about her mother. The confrontation quickly escalated into a full-blown shouting match and the neighbor aggressively denied any involvement in Echo Lloyd’s disappearance.
Kelsey, alongside other friends and family members, wasted no time spreading awareness about the case. Shortly after Echo’s disappearance, Kelsey launched a Facebook page dedicated to finding her and collaborated with several podcasts and true crime creators to cover Echo’s case. Recently, she teamed up with YouTuber Danielle Hallan, who made an hour-long video. To date, the video has accumulated nearly 250,000 views. Additionally, Echo and seven other missing women were featured on the front page of People Magazine’s September issue.
It has now been a year since Echo Lloyd disappeared without a trace. Because this is an active investigation, authorities cannot update the public about their progress. However, Kelsey confirmed on Facebook that Echo’s case has not gone cold and tips regularly flow in.
For now, all Echo’s friends and family can do is campaign on her behalf. Kelsey’s perseverance paid off; because the Facebook page currently has over 10,000 followers. Regardless of the numbers, Kelsey has no intention of stopping until she finds the one person she’s looking for–her mother, Echo Michelle Lloyd.
