VALDOSTA — The FBI has upped the search for a woman and son who were reported missing in Valdosta nearly 21 years ago.

The Atlanta office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation released a statement late this month, noting, “A 21-year-old Valdosta missing persons case is at the center of a new push to find answers for the family of a mother and son. The FBI is now showing age progression pictures of Paula Wade and her son Brandon on its FBI.gov website.”

Nearly 21 years ago, Oct. 13, 2002, Paula Wade, then 25, and her 3-year-old son, Brandon, disappeared.

Wade was last seen Oct. 12, 2002, leaving her job at the Sam’s Club in Valdosta.

Brandon would be 24 now. Paula would be 47 on Oct. 30.

“The FBI Atlanta Field Office and Valdosta Resident Agency, along with Valdosta Police and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children are working together to find new clues in the case,” according to the FBI statement.

“The age progression pictures show what Brandon Wade might look like at the age of 23 and his mother at 45.

The new FBI missing person poster notes Paula Wade may be wearing corrective lenses or glasses. She also uses an inhaler for asthma.”

Last fall, Mary McGrath, Paula’s mother and Brandon’s grandmother, and Mary Ramsbottom, her sister and his aunt, spoke with The Valdosta Daily Times about receiving the Oct. 14, 2002, phone calls that Paula had not come into work and was assumed missing.

“I was robbed of 20 years of growing old with my sister,” Ramsbottom said last year. “We were robbed of seeing Brandon grow up to become a man. In our minds, he’s still a 3-year-old wanting to play ball.”

“Just like it’s happened today,” McGrath said then. “Even though it’s been 20 years, it never goes away. It’s a nightmare that never ends.”

The Valdosta Police Department still considers the Wades missing person case open but has publicly reported no new leads in years.

The details remain almost the same as they did 20 years ago.

Paula Wade moved to Valdosta with her husband. In the Air Force, he was assigned to Moody Air Force Base. They had their son, Brandon, but the marriage failed.

Brandon’s father is not a person of interest in the case, according to police in past interviews. He continued serving in the military and has served overseas, according to police.

By the time of October 2002, he was assigned to another military base out of state. Brandon’s father/Paula’s ex-husband has always cooperated in the investigation, according to the VPD.

Paula had worked a few years at Sam’s Club. She and Brandon lived with one of her friends in an apartment at The Commons. She drove a 1998 Chevy Blazer, according to family reports.

Paula was not known to be part of a party crowd, according to police.

She was not a person to suddenly leave town. She was a good employee at work. She was making plans to move from Valdosta, returning home to her parents in Florida. She contacted her parents regularly at least once a week. There is no known reason why she would feel compelled to suddenly disappear, according to police.

On Saturday, Oct. 12, 2002, Paula worked her shift at Sam’s and was off the clock by mid-afternoon. That is the last time anyone reported seeing Paula Wade alive.

On Monday, Oct. 14, she did not report for work. Her absence concerned her fellow Sam’s employees.

Twice, a Sam’s marketing team leader sent an employee to check Paula Wade’s apartment. There was no sign of Paula or Brandon, though her vehicle was parked in the lot.

Police describe her apartment as looking “lived-in” but there were no signs of struggle.

Valdosta police filed a missing persons report but neither Paula nor Brandon has been reported seen since.

Valdosta police have reported exploring numerous leads in the case.

On several occasions, cadaver dogs have explored wooded areas near the apartment complex, finding only animal bones.

Several years ago, a forensic anthropologist visited areas, providing pertinent information regarding topography, and other specifics, while formulating “what-if” theories.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation have participated in the case.

So have the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the Polly Klaas Foundation and the National Center for Missing Adults.

The FBI asks anyone with information on the Wades disappearance to contact the FBI’s Atlanta Field Office at (770) 216-3000 or submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov.

Or anyone with information may call the Valdosta Police Department’s investigation bureau, (229) 293-3145; or the VPD’s anonymous tip line, (229) 293-3091.