Karen Lasch stepped outside her Louisville home Tuesday to smoke a cigarette when, like the snapping flash of a match, she remembered. The thought just came to me that, my God, a year ago my sister drew her last breath, she said. Carol Neal, who is Laschs youngest sister, last was seen in her Shawnee Way home on Nov. 9, 1998.For Neals family and friends, its been a long year of unanswered questions about what happened to the energetic, brownish-blonde-haired, 30-year-old whose priorities in life were her two young children, her faith in God and her job, Lasch said. Its a very desperate feeling, Lasch said. My family would like to know what happened. I keep hoping that if somebody does know something they (will) come forward. Lasch said her family has accepted that Neal isnt coming back but remain deeply troubled by the lack of closure that haunts the memory of her sister. No arrest has been made in the case, which police are treating as a homicide. We believe she was murdered and her body taken from her house, Bowling Green police Officer Barry Pruitt said. Police continue to pursue all leads and offer $1,000 for information that leads to an arrest, he said. The search for clues into Neals disappearance began after a friend called police to her home the morning of Nov. 10, 1998.Police found a blood-soaked and splattered home, five missing couch cushions, no sign of forced entry and an attack that apparently occurred while Neals two sons one 5 years old and one 15 months old at the time slept in their bedrooms. The children were not harmed. Lasch recalled going inside the home at 1005 Shawnee Way two days after the gruesome scene was discovered. The amount of blood amazed her, she said. It had soaked into the sofa and carpet and through a pad under the carpet, staining the bare floor, she said. A trail of blood apparently led to the back door, she said. She did not walk out of that house, Lasch said. Hope for closure and possible answers to the disappearance peaked March 31 when Bowling Green police, acting on a tip, excavated an area under a storage shed behind Hillvue Heights Church on Nashville Road. Neal had attended a support group for single and divorced women at the church the night she last was seen, Lasch said. But nothing was found under the shed and her family held a memorial service for her 10 days later at Bowling Green Christian Church, where she was a member. A dedicated mother and a faithful Christian, Neal was an integral member for roughly four years in that churchs small, close-knit congregation of 150, pastor Gerald Williams said. Were at a loss as to what happened, he said. This (is an) anniversary we have not been looking forward to. His congregation, comprised mainly of young mothers like Neal, was deeply affected by her disappearance and her absence from the three services and a Bible-study class she usually attended weekly, Williams said. During the two years Neal worked as a social worker for The Medical Centers home care program, she visited elderly and sick patients in their homes and developed a reputation as a prompt and punctual worker, home care director Clara Sumner said. Worry began when Neal failed to show up for work and a call to her pager went unanswered, Sumner said. I think right off there was concern there was something wrong, she said of the atmosphere in her office a year ago. When she really, really glowed was when she talked about her children, Sumner said. She had that twinkle in her eye. Neal and her husband, Leland B. Neal Jr., separated in July 1998, according to court records. Their two children now live with their father in Monticello, Lasch said. Carol Neals oldest son turns 7 today. He still wants to know when his moms coming back, Lasch said. If Carol had one fault in this world its that she trusted; she wanted to believe in people. I think she trusted the wrong person.