"I will not let this issue die, and maybe someone will come forward with some information," Esther Jump said. "Vengeance is not for me. I'm looking for justice and closure. We know she's gone, but we need closure."
Ms. Jump said her family believes her sister, who disappeared in July 2007, is dead.
"We know she is," she said. "It's not like her to just run off."
The Bell County Sheriff's office issued a release the week Carmen, then 47, disappeared that said foul play was suspected.
Carmen and her husband, Grant Garth, lived together in a small A-frame home on Lanita Drive, an unincorporated part of the county just outside Belton.
The last person to report seeing Carmen was Grant, who reported her missing on July 2, 2007. He told investigators the couple were drinking together at home until 4 a.m. when he went to bed.
He said he woke up at 8 a.m. and couldn't find his wife. Her car and purse were still at home, but she was gone and wasn't answering her cell phone.
Officials with the Bell County Sheriff's office have refused to comment about whether anyone is a suspect in the case. Tuesday, Investigator James Lewing said there are no new leads in the case, but it is still under investigation.
Just days before Carmen went missing she was involved in a dispute with her husband, Ms. Jump said. She said in response to the incident her mother went and picked Carmen up and asked her to come home with her, but Carmen resisted, reportedly telling her mother, "I'll be OK."
Ms. Jump said she was in Texas on July 1, 2007, for a family reunion and kept calling her sister but received no response. She found out from her mother a day later that Garth had reported her sister missing.
Both Garths had pending family violence charges when Carmen disappeared.
In April 2007, the couple were arrested after an argument turned violent.
Garth told deputies Carmen slapped his glasses off, scratching the right side of his face. He said she also grabbed a kitchen knife and threatened him.
Carmen told authorities her husband pushed her out the back door of their house, causing her to scrape her left arm.
After the incident Garth asked for a protective order against his wife. Carmen declined one because she said she didn't feel like the incident would escalate, according to a police report.
Carmen filed for divorce against Garth in 2000, but never finalized the proceeding.
In 1984, Garth began serving a prison term for sexually assaulting a 20 year-old woman. In the years since then he has been convicted for delivery of marijuana, three incidents of driving while intoxicated and evading arrest.
He was out on bail in July 2007 when Carmen disappeared. Later that year he missed a court date and landed back in prison.
He was released in May.
Ms. Jump said she would continue to send the same message each year until she gets answers.
