Johnstown, N.Y. (WNYT) – Ashley Ackernecht has been courageous, working to keep her mother’s name and case in front of the public. She is hoping someone will come forward with information.

“It’s been a lot of work, inner work, therapy, mulling the situation over lots of times and picking things apart,” she said. “Now as I’m older, I’m starting to understand more. Everything starts to make sense, so now I’m just like, okay, now I want an answer.”

Last week, police searched outside and inside the apartment building at 310 West Main Street in Johnstown, where police say a person of interest used to live at the time of Kellisue Ackernecht’s disappearance. He does not live there now.

Police say his number is on the phone records from the day she went missing and the day before.

“Being right up the street from the house I was like, oh, my gosh, that’s literally five or six houses up,” said Ashley. “Of course, there’s a little bit of relief when they don’t find anything because there’s always that hope that she’s still out there, but it’s been a really long time and I just want an answer. Anything at this point, you know.”

Police have not said what they did or did not find here.

Ashley is estranged from her father. She still lives in the house where she grew up, now with her grandmother, aunt and uncle.

We asked her how she stays strong.

“I’ve just kind of had to be. I don’t have any siblings, but I also wouldn’t want to wish this pain on anybody else,” she said.

Kellisue was last seen on September 30, 2008 leaving work at the Rite Aid in Amsterdam.

Hours later, on October first, at about 2 a.m., her car was found on fire in an area known as Frog Hollow in Johnstown, about four blocks from her home. There was no purse, no phone, and no sign of Kellisue.

Her only daughter Ashley was just eight years old at the time. She is now 25.

“I take it one day at a time. I try to live my life like a normal person. I try to hang out with friends. I try to have a social life, but I am still trying to be an advocate for my mom because I want answers. It’s definitely difficult most days.”

She’s always heard how much her mother loved her.

“It really just hurts more than anything because I believe that, too. Of course there is always going to be a theory, because you don’t know, that maybe she did leave, but complete strangers that don’t even know me, they just message me on Facebook or they see me on the street: ‘Oh, my God, all your mom would talk about is you!’ So I find so hard to even try to begin to fathom her leaving,” said Ashley.

She’s asking anyone with information to come forward.

She thinks about her mother a lot.

“Oh yeah, every day,” she said. “Songs, smells. You see something, a certain color, certain car, anything. It’s like losing a loved one, or someone passing away or something like that. It’s just all memories.”