In 2003, thirty-four-year-old Lisa Shuttleworth was known as a “cool mom.” She lived in Aiken, South Carolina, with her son, Ryan, and also had a daughter, Krystina– who primarily stayed with her grandparents because they liked to “spoil” her.

So, it was just Lisa and Ryan navigating life together most of the time– which allowed the mother-son duo to forge a very close relationship.

“She was always the life of the party. She was loving and caring, and smart. She was just awesome,” Ryan said to Dateline.

But, at just nine years old, everything unexpectedly changed for him.

The fall morning of September 3, 2003, began just like any other day. Lisa woke Ryan up early, cooked him breakfast, and took him to school. Then, in the afternoon, she was supposed to pick her son up from the bus stop.

Once Ryan stepped off the school bus that afternoon, though, he realized that his mother was nowhere to be found. So, he headed home by himself.

“I walked to the house, and there were all the cars in the driveway. Everything was normal, but the door was locked,” Ryan recalled.

Still, he did not read too much into the strange occurrence and just went across the street to a friend’s house. There, Ryan figured he would wait for his mother to get home.

Facebook; pictured above is Lisa

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Tragically, though, he sat at his friend’s house for hours and never saw Lisa again.

As the afternoon sun faded away and nightfall fell on the small town of Aiken, one of Lisa’s friends did show up looking for her.

And after Ryan told the friend his mother was not home, they took him over to his grandparent’s house– which was just a few miles away.

Then, after learning about Lisa’s disappearance, her mother and father immediately sped to her home. Her mother had a key to the house and was worried that Lisa might have needed assistance inside.

So, they let themselves into Lisa and Ryan’s home but found no sign of the young mother. Additionally, everything was neat and in its place– suggesting no struggle had occurred.

“There was a pot of tea with a napkin over it. But everything– her clothes and all were there. The only thing missing was her pocketbook,” Ryan said.

Still, despite nothing in the house suggesting that Lisa had been taken or injured, her parents still grew very concerned. After all, Lisa’s entire life revolved around Ryan and Krystina– and it was extremely uncharacteristic of her to miss Ryan’s school pick-up.

Her parents then contacted the Aiken County Sheriff’s Office to file a missing person’s report. But, authorities said reports could not be filed until twenty-four hours had passed.

In turn, Ryan and his grandparents were forced to try and just get through the night. They held onto hope that Lisa would reach out or arrive home. But, by the following morning, no one had heard anything.

So, on September 5, 2003, Lisa was officially reported missing. And it has now been over nineteen years since anyone has seen the mother.

In the week following her disappearance, the Aiken County Sheriff’s Office conducted numerous searches using both cadaver dogs and bloodhounds. But, the efforts ultimately came up dry.

And according to Captain Eric Abdulla, nothing within Lisa’s report suggested foul play. Still, he underscored how anyone with information– regardless of how small– is encouraged to come forward. Ryan, on the other hand, believes that the police investigation was inadequate from the start. He thinks the authorities did not care about the case and that possible evidence was simply overlooked.

For instance, an acquaintance of Lisa’s recalled spotting her at a gas station in Beech Island at 8:00 a.m. the day she disappeared. Plus, another friend spoke to Lisa at about 10:00 a.m. and learned that the mother was expecting a guest at her home.

However, detectives were never able to identify who Lisa was expecting– or what exactly took place between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. that day.

In turn, Ryan felt responsible for taking his mother’s case into his own hands. He told Dateline that he has launched his own investigation and will never stop searching for answers.

“I just think somebody did something to her. I am for certain going to figure it out,” Ryan added.

One resource he has been utilizing in the search for his mother is Facebook. On the platform, Ryan created a page entitled “Forever Searching for Lisa Marie,”– where he hopes to raise awareness about his mother’s disappearance and finally gain some answers.

Lisa was five-foot-three, weighed one hundred and two pounds, and had brown hair and blue eyes. She was last seen wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt. Anyone with information regarding Lisa’s case is urged to contact the Aiken County Sheriff’s Office at (800) 922-9709.

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