MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) -- Donna Calloway's children didn't bother with making Christmas lists this year. They aren't concerned with presents and they aren't really excited about the holiday.
Not if it's spent without their mom.
They told their aunt, Kawonna Abner, who is raising them, to use money for presents toward hiring a detective to help find their mother.
This will mark the third Christmas that Calloway's children have spent without her. They've grown and progressed in school. A lot of time has gone by.
Calloway hasn't been seen or heard from since June 2018, although police wouldn't allow Abner to file a missing person's report until August 2019, Abner said. In the past few weeks, the investigation into Calloway's disappearance has ramped up, but the years-long delay and lack of interest in finding her sister is unforgivable, she says.
Abner has always raised her older sister's eight children. A provider by nature, she's centered her world around giving them access to the same opportunities other children have.
Calloway, who was 39 when she went missing, has an intellectual disability, Abner said. She's had different cleaning jobs, is able to cook and was able to help with household tasks, but is easily persuaded. If she were in a bad situation, she wouldn't stick up for herself.
Despite not having the children full time though, she saw them on a regular basis. When talking about their mom, the kids described her as a kind, quiet and funny woman who was great at making breakfast.
"I'd tell her that I hope she comes back and that I miss her," Willie Calloway, 11, said he'd tell his mom if he could talk with her. "I want my momma."
She would not have left them without a word, Abner said of her sister, although that is what she said investigators wanted her to believe.
"They said they thought she just left her kids to start a new life because there were eight of them," Abner said. She said police required her to prove her sister has a disability before a report was finally filed more than a year after Calloway had been gone.
"My sister loves her children," she said. "I don't care where she's at, she's going to call and talk to them. She wouldn't just leave her children."
She believes her sister was forced into human trafficking.
In addition to Calloway's children, Abner and her husband are also raising the son of another sister. Their days start early, stay busy and end late. Despite so many tiny humans in one home, everything is tucked away neatly. Children's clothes, shoes and toys are situated inside all closets, including the kitchen's, and bunk beds line the walls of the boys' room.
"It's hard, it's hard every day," Abner said of raising her niece and nephews while not being able to tell them what's happened to their mom. "No one knows what it's like not to know where your momma is at."
Calloway is one of 13 people listed as missing from Montgomery on the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System -- six of whom are Black women. Research shows Black girls are often classified as runaways rather than missing persons; shifting the focus from public safety to personal responsibility.
Investigators this month called Abner in to speak with her about Calloway's disappearance, and also set up an appointment so she and Calloway's eldest son could submit their DNA, to confirm a match if Calloway is found.
These developments though, sparked by a community leader's interest in the family's story, come too late, Abner said.
Their mother passed away in May. She would have been a stronger match for Calloway's DNA than what her sister and son provided.
"My sister is missing and she doesn't even know my mom is dead," Abner said. "If you don't have family that cares, nothing is going to be done. If you don't have an education, nothing is going to be done. If they think it's going to take too much time or money --look what they did to my sisters case."
Despite the pain and frustration of the unknown, Abner is thankful to be in a position to help -- regardless of how tired she is some days.
"We all have a purpose here on earth and I guess this is God's way of using me," she said. "I don't want to complain because I'm thankful for being able to keep them together, most of all."