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Spotsylvania County detectives thought they'd already been through the worst.
They figured nothing could compare to the emotional toll taken by the case of Sofia Silva, the 16-year-old abducted in September and later found dead.
They were wrong. Two county sisters, Kristin and Kati Lisk, remained missing this morning as police continued a frantic search for clues.
"I truly thought that without a doubt, being in this area, I would go the rest of my career and not see something like the Silva case again," said Ed Lunsford, a detective with the Spotsylvania Sheriff's Office.
"Never did I think I'd have to once again look into the eyes of parents with their children missing," Spotsylvania Detective Twyla DeMoranville said. "Now it's happened again in less than a year."
The girls have been missing since shortly after they got off their school buses on Blockhouse Road Thursday afternoon. Police are convinced that Kristin, 15, and Kati, 12, did not run away.
More than 1,500 searchers combed the woods looking for the girls in the area surrounding their home before a ground search was called off Sunday. The search turned up nothing that could help police; even dogs weren't able to track the girls' scents off the property.
Police are still fielding calls from people offering potential clues.
But once again yesterday, police said they have no solid leads as to what happened to the girls, though they were still sifting through more than 1,000 tips that had been called in.
The FBI and the state police are among those assisting Spotsylvania in the case. Fredericksburg and Stafford County have also assigned full-time detectives to the case, bringing the total to about 20.
Lunsford knew the Silva family before Sofia disappeared. But the Lisk case has hit even closer to home for the 11-year law enforcement veteran.
Lunsford's daughter, 11-year-old Jessica Dunnigan, is a close friend of Kati Lisk's.
Jessica said she and Kati were a group of four "best friends" who met this year at Spotsylvania Middle School.
She said they shared only one class together, but "I see her a lot when we're switching classes."
Jessica said she and her other friends cried a lot in school on Friday.
"We miss her," she said.
She said Kati would often come up behind her and teasingly yank her hair in the girls' seventh-period class.
"She's really fun," Jessica said.
Kati also "puts other people before herself," Jessica said. "She's good to talk to."
Jessica said she and the other two girls who were best friends with Kati are worried about their friend.
"We've prayed on the phone and at school for her," she said.
DeMoranville has been a detective for just nine months. In that time, she's played key roles in the Silva case, another case where a baby was shaken to death and now this.
DeMoranville has become close friends with the Silvas and is developing a similar relationship with the Lisks.
"How can you not get close when you're a part of their lives every day?" DeMoranville said. "People have told me I shouldn't get so personally involved. But I can't do it any other way."
The Lisks have refused requests for interviews with the media, but agreed yesterday to talk with "America's Most Wanted" for a segment to be broadcast Saturday night. Authorities said the parents agreed to do the show in hopes the national attention will uncover some leads.
The Lisks have not returned to work since the girls disappeared. Patricia Lisk is a nursing teacher at Germanna Community College in Orange County; Ronald Lisk owns Vision Photography in Spotsylvania. The business was closed yesterday.
Also yesterday, authorities resumed roadblocks on Blockhouse Road, asking motorists if they saw or heard anything suspicious while traveling down that road last Thursday afternoon.
Yellow police tape and "no trespassing" signs have been tacked up near the foot of the driveway at the Lisks' home to keep away unwanted visitors and media.
In an "Incident Command Center" set up at the Sheriff's Office, authorities were busy typing information on the leads that need to be followed up on, Maj. Howard Smith said.
As in the Silva case, the investigators know that most of the leads won't pan out.
Among the leads was a tip that the girls had been seen in a North Carolina shopping center, a caller saying two girls matching their description had been seen walking across a bridge in Maryland and several offers of help from psychics, Smith said.
