Tearful husband pleads for missing soldier's return

"I want to thank everyone for coming out in support of Kelli. I just want to find my wife," he said.

Search volunteers, family and friends gathered in two states Friday to share memories of Pfc. Kelli Bordeaux and hopes for her return. Twin vigils were held in Fayetteville – at the River Community Church, next door to Froggy Bottoms Bar, the last place Bordeaux was seen – and in St. Cloud, Fla., the missing soldier's hometown.

Since her April 14 disappearance, hundreds of volunteers have scoured the area around Froggy Bottoms, Bordeaux's home and a rural Cumberland County pond looking for clues with little success.

"We are not giving up hope," said vigil organizer Mindy Wilson.

Wilson did not know Bordeaux, but she was moved by her story and has participated in the search.

Investigators haven't speculated about what might have happened to Bordeaux, but since her disappearance, they have arrested Nicholas Holbert, a registered sex offender who said he gave Bordeaux a ride home from the bar, and Steven Cantrell, the bar's owner, on charges unrelated to her case.

Police haven't officially connected either man to the case.

Police have set up a special hotline – 910-433-1114 – for tips in the case, and Virginia-based security firm Black Ops Security Services & Consulting Inc. is offering an $8,000 reward for information to Bordeaux's discovery.

Her case has attracted national attention, and among those gathered Friday night were people who never met Kelli Bordeaux. Volunteers will search again Saturday. They will meet at the Food Lion on Anderson Road at 9 a.m.

"I appreciate everything everyone is trying to do to find her," her husband said. "I just want her home, and I want her safe."