EXCLUSIVE: Missing soldier's family comes to Fayetteville to join search

FAYETTEVILLE, NC (WTVD) -- The family of Sgt. Carl Seeman has joined the search efforts for the missing soldier.

They took the 12-hour drive from snowy Rochester, New York, to Fayetteville overnight. They said nothing will keep them from finding Carl.

"I will not leave here without my son," said Jennifer Seeman, Carl Seeman's mother. "Sometimes I'm on the upswing, and I can talk. Other times, I'm on the downswing and I just start crying. The roads were quiet on the drive here. The sky was dark. It took us a while. We left when our heads were clear enough."

It's been four days of the family thinking the worst, but praying for the best. Seeman's mother, father, grandfather and uncle sat down with ABC11 to share their thoughts and feelings.

"Our hearts are heavy. We want Carl back. We just want to hold him," said Jim Maloney, Carl's grandfather. "We've been going to different spots where he may be."

The family met with Fayetteville police and thanked them for their efforts, but took matters into their own hands, doing a search of their own.

Seeman is the eldest child of six. His mother told ABC11 that his younger siblings are taking his absence especially hard.

"He's supposed to be home for my youngest son's graduation in June. He's having a hard time knowing he might walk the stage without his big brother being there," she said. "Somebody knows something and I just need that one person to tell me where he's at."