SUMTER, S.C. — Sumter County, SC (WLTX) -- More than two years have passed since the disappearance of 39-year-old Willie Hodge.
Sumter County investigators say tips have come in, but still no answers as to where Hodge could be.
"We grew up very rough. We've kind of been all we've ever had," said Sadie Hodge, Willie's sister.
For the last two years and one month, Hodge has remained hopeful that her brother will come back home.
"My brother has a drug problem," she explained. "He's struggled with it most of his life. It wasn't unusual to go a couple of days without hearing from him, so I didn't really think much of it. I kept trying to call him and I couldn't get him."
Willie Hodge was last seen by family January 23, 2019. He was leaving a home on Island Drive in Sumter County.
Later that night, he was stopped for a traffic violation on Pinewood Road near Columbia Circle. Investigators say he left the car and ran into the woods.
After several days of searching, Hodge was nowhere to be found.
"We've gotten a lot of stories on what might have happened. No concrete evidence on what really happened," said Charles Bonner, Senior Investigator for the Sumter County Sheriff's Office.
Bonner says after investigators shared the missing person's report, members of the public submitted multiple tips.
"Someone would call in any kind of tip saying he was with this person or that person and we'd go check it out, but it would come out to be a dead end on those leads," said Bonner.
Bonner says he also interviewed the other person in the car with Hodge the night of his disappearance, but right now, there are no new developments.
"We're still tracking down people we're talking to, still conducting interviews," Bonner explained. "I'm not looking to put any charges on him. I'm looking to make sure he's safe."
No matter the situation, Hodge says her brother knows her number by heart and always finds a way to reach out.
She says the night he went missing, he left his phone in the vehicle.
"In my heart, I don't feel like he's alive anymore," she said. "It's just kind of a sense of peace that I have. In a way it's a good thing, but I still hold out hope. I just want to know he's ok, whether it's here, whether he's found eternal peace. I just want to know he's ok."
Hodge says her brother has numerous tattoos that could help identify him: The letters "N-T-A-B" on his knuckles, the word "Street" on the back of one arm, and "Dreams" on the other, "Thug Life" on his stomach, "Sadie" tattooed over his heart and a tattoo of a woman on his calf.
If you have any information on this case, call the Sumter County Sheriff's office at 803-436-2000 or call Crime Stoppers at 1-888-CRIME-SC where you will remain anonymous.
Video of this story was originally aired February 25, 2019: