Sandra Nears

**Sandra Nears** is Maddie's mother.

## History

### Driving Drunk

Sandra drove drunk and ran into a tree. She ended up passed out in the back seat until Mr. Anderson, Maddie's teacher, came and took her home. Maddie then took responsibility for the accident.

### Maddie's Disappearance

The day Maddie's disappeared, Sandra left rehab to find Maddie at her school. She told Maddie she'd purchased a cabin for them from someone she met at rehab. Maddie became angry when Sandra told her she'd used the money they put away when Maddie's dad died to buy it. Maddie told her that money was supposed to be for her college and became angry. She wanted to undo it, but Sandra said she couldn't. Maddie said she should take everything her dad left for her and took off her necklace, which she threw at Sandra. Sandra took the necklace and left. Maddie disappeared soon after that.

### Vigil for Maddie

Three days after her daughter, Maddie, disappeared, Sandra went to Maddie's school for a vigil for her daughter. Principal Hartman asked her to speak, but when she struggled to talk, he took over.

### Xavier's Visit

Xavier came to see Sandra at home. He'd learned that the phone the police had wasn't actually Maddie's, so he asked Sandra if he knew where it was. She said she didn't and asked if Xavier had hurt Maddie. He said he had, but not in the way she thought. Sandra admitted she'd hurt Maddie as well, but she never thought Maddie wouldn't come home.

### Search Party

Sandra was angry when she learned that Sheriff Baxter had only assigned one deputy to help with her search party. He told her they were short staffed after some break-ins, but Sandra believed it was really because he had an election coming. He promised to let her know if they found out anything about Maddie.

Sandra met up with Xavier and Nicole and they began searching. After a long search, Nicole found Maddie's Horror Con ticket with a shoe print on it that looked like Maddie's boot.

### Handing Out Flyers

When Sheriff Baxter told Sandra they'd found Maddie's backpack and evidence that someone had been squatting in an abandoned house, Sandra decided to get things ready for Maddie to come home. She wanted to show Maddie that things would be different, so she went to Maddie's school and collected her missing assignments. Then she printed missing person flyers to hand out at the Homecoming game. After doing that for a while, she decided she was done and asked Nicole to take her home. She asked Nicole if she thought Maddie would forgive her and come home and Nicole said she believed anyone could be forgiven if their heart was in the right place.

### Break in the Case

Sandra called Simon over to house because she'd found an essay Maddie wrote for her college applications and didn't want her to miss a deadline. Simon told her Maddie had already turn it in because she applied early decision, like he had. She still believed Maddie would come home. She asked Simon if Maddie had reached out to him and he said he would let her know if she had. When he told her he was on his way to the Homecoming Dance, she told him she always thought he and Maddie would go together.

That evening, Sandra was watching a movie when she heard noise in the backyard. She believed it was Maddie, so she called Simon and then Nicole when Simon didn't pick up and said she didn't want to call the police in case they scared Maddie off. Nicole came and looked around, but didn't find Maddie. When Nicole had finished her search, Sheriff Baxter came to the door and said they'd found a possible weapon near the house where they'd found Maddie's backpack. They also connected it to a school employee who was brought in for questioning, but couldn't tell her who except that it wasn't Mr. Anderson. He also told her the information Mr. Anderson gave them led them to believe Maddie had a large amount of money on her that the employee wanted. Sandra started crying and Nicole and Sheriff Baxter comforted her.

After they left, Sandra read Maddie's essay and then started drinking.

The next morning, Sandra woke up on the couch. She went to Maddie's room, where she found an open window, which she closed. Then she called the sheriff's station to report that someone had broken into her house while she was sleeping.

Sandra went to a store to buy more alcohol. On her way out, she saw Mr. South getting gas. She ignored him as he told her he didn't hurt Maddie and intentionally steered her car toward him as she pulled out.

That evening, Sandra opened a small envelope in Maddie's room, then put it in Maddie's drawer, hidden under some other things.

### Maddie's Award

Sandra came to the school to accept the fall English award on Maddie's behalf. Before the awards ceremony, Simon brought her into a classroom and tried to help prepare her, but ended up asking her about why she had Maddie's necklace hidden at her house. She cried and told him about the fight she had with Maddie the day Maddie disappeared. She said she'd lied because she was ashamed by what had happened. After talking to Simon, Sandra accepted the award. She gave a speech about how Maddie was always willing to help people and always took care of her..

## Relationships

### Familial

She had a tense relationship with her daughter, Maddie. When Maddie disappeared, she pledged to make things better between them when Maddie came back.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Dead and Confused
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Madison's Body
3. ↑ My So-Called Death
4. ↑ The Fault of Our Scars
5. ↑ The Twilight End Zone
6. ↑ Grave the Last Dance
7. ↑ Séance Anything