VERLISHA LITTLEJOHN Just two days after Christmas, family members of Verlisha Littlejohn removed furniture from her Gaffney apartment, a difficult task that served as a harsh reminder she's nowhere to be found and might not come home.

Her mother, Acquilla Littlejohn, said she spent Christmas in tears and didn't leave the house.

While her aunt Fairline Fair clings to some hope for Verlisha's return, albeit a fading one, a Christmas without Verlisha further cemented in Acquilla Littlejohn's mind that her daughter can't be alive.

Acquilla's grandchildren kept expecting Verlisha to walk through the door on Christmas Day. Verlisha, who was close to her family, would have been home for the holiday, Acquilla said. "She wouldn't have let us down."

Verlisha, who turned 25 earlier this month, worked with mentally and physically handicapped people at the Charles Lea Center. She was last seen Nov. 28 and her last known words were heard during a cell phone conversation with her mother. "Momma, I...," Acquilla heard just before the cell phone call suddenly terminated.

The Littlejohn family has been waiting to hear definitive word from investigators in Troup County, Ga., on the identity of remains found along a roadway in their jurisdiction.

Acquilla said she's never talked to Georgia investigators, but has been told by local investigators that the remains in Georgia are not Verlisha's.

"Everything we looked at so far is not matching," said Chief Investigator Charles Nixon of the Troup County, Ga., Sheriff's Office. "But we still are doing DNA with family members. We're just doing the DNA to be 100 percent positive."

The Georgia investigators are trying to see if they can identify the remains found in their jurisdiction by comparing DNA samples to potential family members. A DNA sample from Acquilla Littlejohn was just received late last week in Georgia and the sample wasn't submitted for testing until Monday.

"We've not got the results of that yet," Nixon said.

If the remains are indeed not those of Verlisha Littlejohn, Nixon said his office would continue scouring missing persons reports in hopes of finding a match. His office currently has no new leads and Nixon is hopeful someone will come forward with information. A member of Littlejohn's family has set up a reward for information leading to Verlisha's whereabouts. But Acquilla said the family has not received any new information since before a prayer service was held in Gaffney last week.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office at 864-489-4722.