‘There’s a chance we can find her’: Teacher’s aide hopes FBI’s efforts will lead to answers in missing 12-year-old case

It’s been eight months since Lori Paige went missing in Tallahassee. The Jacksonville FBI offered a reward up to a $15,000 reward for tips that could help locate the 12-year-old.

Investigators believe Paige may have ties to Tampa, Thomasville, Georgia, and Nashville, Tennessee. She’s been missing since June 3, 2023.

Margaret Summers is a paraprofessional at Griffin Middle School, where Paige was a student.

She’s constantly wondered where Paige could be, hoping she was still alive.

“Whatever the situation, if she’s still alive, there’s a chance we can find her. There’s a chance that we can help undo whatever’s gone on in the last eight months,” Summers said.

For months, Summers felt like the case had gone cold, but since recent search efforts have increased and the FBI offered a reward, Summers has restored hope in the search.

“That was huge. When I first saw that was happening, I felt more hopeful than I had felt. That was the most hope that I felt,” she said.

News4JAX Crime and Safety Analyst, Tom Hackney, who spent 29 years working for the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, said while it’s rare for a missing person to be found alive after an extended time, there is still a chance Paige can be found alive.

“You still continue to work a case, as long as you have a lead, as long as you have the ability to try to drum up a lead even, that’s something that’s going to continue to happen till they have reason to believe that the case would be closed or not reason to move on,” Hackney said.

Summers is one of the people who hasn’t given up hope that Paige is alive. She thinks Paige is staying with someone who believes they’re keeping her safe.

“A lot of other scenarios have played out in my mind. But as long as she’s still alive, then there’s hope that we can reach some sort of happy ending,” Summers said.

Summers wants Paige to know that she is missed dearly.

“Lori might have thought that if she just ran away, maybe nobody would miss her. And she needs to know now that that’s not true. We’ve been missing her the whole eight months that she’s been gone. And we’re gonna keep missing her until we know where she is,” Summer said.

If you have any information concerning this person, please contact the FBI’s Jacksonville Field Office at 904- 248-7000, or the Tallahassee Police Department at (850) 891-4200. You may also contact your local FBI office, the nearest American Embassy or Consulate, or you can submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov.