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Ten months later, her other son, Michael, a US Marine and combat veteran, died in an accident.
Now, Quackenbush, of West Chester, PA, is desperate to find her 37-year-old Willingboro, NJ daughter, Danielle Lopez, who has been missing since April 13.
Part of the problem is that she doesn't know how.
"I just don’t know how to organize it. I don’t have a person who can help," the hurting mother sad in an emotional phone call with Daily Voice.
"Everyone’s life is a New York minute so when I have permission I just get in the car."
On Memorial Day Weekend, Quackenbush finds herself alone. Helpless. Distraught.
Alone.
"They have led me to believe it's reasonable to assume we are searching for remains. Quite possibly, there was someone else with her at that store. They can't tell me everything but I've been out there hanging flowers, hanging flyers."
Danielle was last seen making a purchase at the Wawa on Route 72 in Vincentown on April 12. On May 22, her 2008 2-door blue Hyundai Accent was found disabled on Lost Lane Road in Penn State Forest, Woodland Township.
"When I realized she wasn’t answering her calls any longer I reported her missing," Quackenbush said. "I was able to go into my Wawa app and see she had made a purchase of coffee and gave that information to the state police."
Quackenbush has been out to her daughter's car multiple times, each time hoping to find a clue, or encounter someone with information.
Quackenbush said she was barred from hanging flyers at the Brendan T. Byrne State Forest, where Danielle told her mom she'd be camping until May 20.
Danielle had also recently lost her father, and grandfather, but her mom says she seemed to have been doing well.
"She struggled since the loss of her brothers but she sounded good, she was doing good, and she looked good walking out of that Wawa," her mother said.
Her Memorial Day Weekend plans certainly did not include searching for her daughter, alone.
Last week, Quackenbush reached out to the Maguire Dix Lakehurst's public affairs division, who put her in touch with survivor outreach. She hasn't heard back from them.
She says the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors has been her greatest resource, but the group's efforts are focused in Washington D.C. for Memorial Day Weekend.
So, she does what she can, by herself.
"I want to protect Danielle," she said. "And I can’t right now."
Anyone who might be able to help organize a search party is urged to contact clevine@dailyvoice.com. Anyone with information is asked to contact the New Jersey State Police Missing Persons Unit at (609) 882-2000 ext. 2554 or missingpinformation@njsp.gov.
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