Hello Merlin,
Thank you for your question about the “Special Thanks” link missing from your site. This is not an issue that I’ve heard of before, but do you have a Staging site setup? Have you tried installing a new theme to the Staging site that you have? Have you tried installing the same theme as your Active site to Staging?
Finally, if you would like to share your domain here that is fine, but this is indeed a publicly accessible page.
Gratefully,
Casey B.