Chicago Mom Still Missing, More Than A Year Later

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Imagine being without your mom for more than a year because she simply vanished. 

That's what four daughters in Chicago are going through. They say Carmelita Johnson would have been 48. 

She disappeared almost a year and a half ago without a trace. CBS 2's Pamela Jones reports police are taking a closer look at the case.

"It's just been too much, to not know," daughter Lakita Johnson said.

Her mother vanished back in January of 2010. Her four daughters and 10 grandchildren just spent their second Mother's Day searching for her. 

Their pain is replacing the cards and flowers they should have shared.

"She's my mother. She has grandchildren that love her and miss her. We just want her back," Lakita Johnson said.

Relatives expected Johnson to meet them on New Year's Day at the home Johnson shared with her own mother, near 56th and Seeley. 

That celebration never happened.

On Sunday, friends, neighbors and volunteers hit the streets with Johnson's photo.  They say they their efforts have yielded some tips.

One led them to a nearby L station. But Johnson's daughters say surveillance video they saw last week turned up nothing.

"It's really very frustrating. Because we don't know where she is or if she's even in Chicago," said daughter Leslie Jackson.

She says her mom had a turbulent relationship with an ex-boyfriend and that after Johnson disappeared, he gave the family her state identification card. 

Relatives say police have questioned that man twice.

"We're re-talking to people and we're re-interviewing people and we're trying to come up with some new leads," Chicago Police Detective Pamela Childs said.

Detective Childs is appearing in an upcoming episode of national crime television show "The First 48: Missing Persons."

It's a new program focusing on cases in Chicago. Police hope it will bring more attention to the Johnson investigation.

"We're doing it all," Detective Childs said.

Johnson's family says their biggest fear is they will find that she died or was killed. But they still want closure.

"I don't know how I'm going to take that news. So, I'm going to hope for the best," daughter Lashaunda Jackson said.

Police followed up on leads they received from canvassing the streets over the weekend. So far, there's nothing leading to Johnson. 

Police are asking anyone with information to call the Chicago Police Department Area 1 Special Victims Unit or dial 9-1-1.