GASTON COUNTY, N.C. — It’s a mystery that keeps Tracie Blanton up at night.
"There is something that’s keeping him from coming home," Blanton, Andy Tench's mom, told WCNC Charlotte. "I can hardly sleep."
Many nights, Blanton said she tosses and turns praying and hoping Andy would walk through their doors. Andy has been missing for nearly two weeks, leaving his mom with a pain only his presence can heal.
"Realistically 12 days is a long time, but I don’t want to think the worse," Blanton said.
Blanton said she keeps her blinds open, always watching and waiting for Andy's return.
Andy was last seen on Sunday, March 24, at The Bar at 316 in Charlotte, celebrating his 31st birthday.
After days of not returning home, his mom filed a missing persons report and Gaston County Police later found his 2010 Hyundai Elantra abandoned in Monroe, North Carolina.
Loved ones gathered in Charlotte's South End neighborhood on Saturday, April 6, working to piece together what exactly happened to Andy.
"Hopefully, people that come in tonight and throughout the week or days to come will see this poster, maybe recognize his face and who he may have been with here at the bar," said Natasha Newman, Tench's sister.
Eric Hendricks, show director at The Bar at 316, said he and his coworkers are pitching in to help.
“We will continue to do what we can. We're also going to tonight and tomorrow night, and during our future shows until he's found, make announcements on the microphones," he said, "using our voice and the platforms that we have to do what we can to find him."
"Andy is not gone of his own free will," Blanton said with certainty. "I don’t care if I got to walk the entire city of Charlotte to put out posters to look for my son, I'm going to do it,"
Blanton said she is no longer waiting and wondering if her son will return -- instead, she is going out to find him with hopes her community will join too.
"We will put up posters the fliers and stuff and work our way out and search every inch around there," Blanton said.
Blanton's nights are longer and days feel incomplete, but they're hopeful they can find something to help the police.
The family said Andy’s absence has also put them in a financial strain, and they're asking for the community’s help as they work to find him.
"I'm not going to stop. I'm going to find him."
Click here for the GoFundMe.
Contact Tradesha Woodard at twoodard1@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.