• Sarah’s name has been changed to remain anonymous

In 1986, a little girl in Phillipsburg, New Jersey, *Sarah set up her stuffed animals to be sold at a yard sale. Her first customer was an 8-year-old girl in the neighborhood, Trish Brennan. 

Trish bought one of Sarah’s stuffed animals– it was hers now.

“When I realized that I wasn't going to have a stuffed animal, I was very upset and I was crying… Trish assured me that we were going to share that stuffed animal. And so she would have it one night, and I would have it the next night…she knew that I was upset. Even at eight years old, she was able to see that, and she shared it with me so that I wouldn't be upset,” Sarah said. 

This was the start of a friendship that would last from playing on the playground to late-night sleepovers and first boyfriends.

“That very last time that I saw her at her dad's house, playing in the driveway with her daughter with chalk –It was like she couldn't even look me in the eyes when I was talking to her…I look back now as an adult….and I realize she was embarrassed. She couldn't look me in the eyes because I knew what was going on –but she wouldn't ask for help,” Sarah said.

Sarah often wonders what happened to her childhood friend, not because of the normal growing pains from losing contact, but because it has been over 19 years since Trish was last seen by anyone.

Trish’s parents ended up getting a divorce and her mother moved to an apartment, 15 minutes away. Trish and her older sister, Tiffany decided to live with their stepfather, who raised them so that Tiffany could finish out her senior year at the same high school and Trish could stay with her friends.

Two weeks after graduating high school, Tiffany left for boot camp and Trish started her freshman year. 

Trish and Sarah would have parties in the basement and talk about boys. Trish started expressing interest in a guy four years older than her, who was known to be involved in the drug scene, according to Sarah. 

“When we were in high school, we had gotten in trouble and my parents told me that I was not allowed to hang out with her anymore,” Sarah explained. 

As the girls distanced, Trish dropped out of school and moved in with her boyfriend who according to Sarah, led Trish into a lifestyle that would eventually develop into a drug addiction and sex work. 

“(The boyfriend) would send her out during the day to have sex with men- Johns. and she would have money to take back to either his or whoever’s house they were staying at that night. She had no other way of getting the money to get the drugs,” said Sarah.

Trish became pregnant with her daughter Ashley, eventually giving her to Tiffany to take care of while she was in prison for shoplifting food from a grocery store.

“I admire that at her lowest, she knew she had to take care of her daughter.. and she couldn’t so she gave her daughter to her sister,” Sarah said.

While incarcerated, Trish was sober from drugs and her family hoped that her sobriety would last. Tiffany described how her family tried to get Trish's help multiple times. 

“My mom was always trying to get her help, but she never wanted it. My dad thought he was helping her by handing her cash, but she would spend it on not what he intended,” said Tiffany. 

Tiffany would go a few months without talking to her sister after she was released from prison and was no longer sober. 

“Ashley came to live with me when she was four, at that point she was in jail and she would talk to Ashley on the phone... Once she was out of jail it was only a matter of a couple of months– I never heard from her again,” Tiffany explained. 

Sarah began advocating for answers, searching through databases, filing Right-To-Know forms and creating a Facebook page, Missing Person Trish Brennan.

“ I started out friending people that I knew she was in contact with… and people started to contact me with information. And before you know it, I have three different stories, but they all kind of center around the same thing,” said Sarah.

One theory that Sarah received twice is that Trish owed money to somebody, and her body was placed either in a dumpster either behind a Mcdonalds' or in the dumpster of public housing in Easton, where her ex-boyfriend lived. 

According to Sarah, her ex-boyfriend was incarcerated at the time of Trish’s disappearance so he is not suspected to have been involved directly. 

Another theory according to both Sarah and Tiffany is that at the time of Trish being incarcerated, there was a rumor going around that she had snitched, or was an informant due to her being mistaken for her ex’s new girlfriend, also named Trish, and that her body had been burned by a drug dealer. 

Sarah reports that these theories are not believed by the police and that little information has been given out to the family due to the investigation still being open. 

“The police won’t give me the name of who they think is the subject. They will give me absolutely nothing... We just want closure... They won't give us anything… I've been calling them and giving them information and tips that I am getting and they're not even looking into them because it doesn’t fit what they think happened.” Sarah said. 

Trish’s dental records were destroyed in a fire, it was not until five years ago that the family was asked for DNA samples that according to Tiffany, never were used as there have been zero comparisons against any other DNA sample- this is something that Sarah has been vocal about. 

Almost 20 years have passed since Trish has last been seen and Sarah still writes about her every day, hoping that someone, somewhere would have an answer that would lead to answers. 

“I want closure, yeah - but I want to see someone accountable… You never forget, you still hope for closure. But, you also have to find a way to focus on the good and move forward otherwise. I do not think that leaves you a lot in life if you dwell on the hurt, the unknown, from the frustration,” said Sarah.

If you have any information pertaining to Trish Brennan and her disappearance, please contact the Easton Police Department.

Photo Source: Tiffany Lorence

Photo Source: Tiffany Lorence

Photo Source: Tiffany Lorence

Trish attended school with the same kids all her life, she decided to live with her dad going into high school.

Photo Source: Tiffany Lorence

Trish and her daughter, Ashley shortly before her disappearance