GRANDVIEW, Wash. — Misty Knox showed off the bracelets she wears to honor her daughter’s legacy.
“That say, ‘their story doesn’t end until we stop telling it. I don’t want her to be forgotten,” she said as she twisted the rubber bracelets.
It’s been more than a year since 18-year-old Alyssa Moore was murdered outside of a house party in Kennewick.
Holidays, birthdays, and milestones have all passed and still, the grief can be overwhelming for Misty and her family.
“I mean we all get up and go to work and smile, but that grief is just there. One day you think you’re going to be okay, and the next day you’re falling apart in the middle of work — you have to step out of work, a smell, a commercial on TV, a song and it just hits you all over again,” she said.
We’ve all heard the saying: time heals everything.
But for Alyssa’s loved ones, there’s still so many questions left unanswered. How can one possibly heal when the person responsible for her death, hasn’t been arrested?
“The person that did it is free, and the people that know are free,” Misty said.
Alyssa grew up in Grandview, Washington, where she lived with her grandparents, just a couple houses down from her mother.
Misty said out of all her children, Alyssa was the most headstrong.
“Very stubborn, and she was her, you couldn’t change her, she was grandpa’s girl, she was known for that, and she was definitely her sister’s keepers,” Misty described, “she loved music since she was little, she loved music. At school she was the one that stuck up for the underdog or the kid that was being picked on.”
Alyssa was a daughter, a sister, a friend and student at Grandview High School.
Misty said Alyssa’s father lived in the Tri-Cities and once she got her driver’s license, she would visit the area when possible.
It was late at night on September 21st, 2021, when Alyssa wanted to make the 40-minute drive to Kennewick.
“She’s like ‘grandpa, I just really need to go up there, I need to go up there and take care of something I’ll be right back I promise,’” Misty described.
The 18-year-old wasn’t able to keep that promise, but not by her own doing.
It was at the hands of someone else on September 22nd, that Alyssa never returned to her grandparents’ house.
“In the morning we get a phone call -I got a phone call, they told me she was laying in the street, she was gone, so I called my mom, I woke her up and I said, we got to go mom, we got to go. It was just a nightmare,” Misty recalled.
READ MORE: 18-year-old shot to death in Kennewick
Misty said the story she’s been told is Alyssa went outside of the house party at her father’s friend’s house, gun shots were heard, and Alyssa was found dead on the ground.
“I just wanted them to pick her up off the ground, like get her – you’ve got multiple people that were at this party, and you’ve got people out there videotaping. They let me and my daughter see her, my parents couldn’t do it, but I had to – I had to see her one more time, that was hard,” Misty said.
Now, over a year later, no one has been arrested for Alyssa’s murder. Misty said there’s been a hold up with crime scene evidence at the Washington State Crime Lab.
“I was told several months back that she was pretty close to the top, to having her evidence processed, we were told they lost 75 % of their staff due to COVID vaccines, understandable, I know that happened to a lot of companies – then we were told she was pretty close to the top, then nothing. Then we were told, as crimes happen, homicides happen, homicides with a strong suspect go to the top – understandable, but she just keeps getting pushed down. I just feel like she’s being profiled as unimportant because of her family’s background and that’s not fair to her,” Misty said.
KAPP KVEW spoke with WSP which includes the Washington State Crime Lab. Chris Loftis with WSP said Alyssa’s case is complicated, and the evidence from it requires many different tests, which all takes time. But, it is being looked at and processed.
From the beginning of this investigation, Kennewick Police called the case a targeted attack on Alyssa.
KPD said this is still an active case and they’re pursuing new leads, but that information can’t be shared publicly.
Misty is convinced, someone out there, knows more about that September morning.
“Alyssa didn’t like to drive, she usually – she was always in trouble for that because she let other people drive her car. She was on the passenger side of her car, somebody was in that driver’s seat, I believe somebody was in that driver’s seat,” she said.
Misty is hoping by sharing Alyssa’s story, and pictures, justice will be served.
Until then, this mother will keep advocating for a precious life cut short, and a person forever in their hearts.
“I can carry the pain, and I wish I could carry it for my kids, but my parents, my kids deserve that, they need that, it affects them every day, I watch my girls; the grief is tearing them apart and I hate it — she needs justice.”
If you have any information that could assist police, you can anonymously report a tip to kpdtips.com or call KPD at (509) 585-4208.
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