The case of a missing rideshare driver who has disappeared from Lafayette Parish, Louisiana is getting more attention following the news that the case will now be investigated as a homicide. Ella Quiana Goodie has not been seen since March 9, 2022, and according to Louisiana State Police, they will be shifting the scope of the investigation from a missing person search to a homicide investigation “based on investigative techniques and statements.”
March 9 was the last time any friends or family heard from the missing rideshare driver. Her sister-in-law posted on Facebook that Goodie was going to drive to Texas to drop off a rideshare customer, but no contact since then. One of the most puzzling aspects of the case has been the evidence yielded from traffic cam footage. According to Scott Police Chief, Chad Leger, the Audi was observed on Interstate 10 driving towards Texas—only to be observed 12 hours later coming back into Louisiana. However, the next day, the vehicle was also observed north of Dallas.
While adults have the right to go missing if they so choose, what is chilling and concerning about the case is the discovery of her vehicle multiple states away from her last known whereabouts. About a month after she was last seen, St. Joseph Police located Goodie’s black 2012 Audi Q5 in St. Joseph, Missouri, but no sign of the missing rideshare driver.
Since the inception of the investigation, there has been at least one person of interest involved in the case—Brandon Francisco. Francisco was arrested by U.S. Marshals on March 25 in St. Joseph where Goodie’s car was found on an unrelated warrant stemming from Rapides Parish. Authorities continue to search for the missing rideshare driver.
Goodie is a 5-foot, 3-inch Black woman who weighs about 170 pounds. She was last seen wearing a denim jacket and blue pants.
Like many states in the U.S., Colorado has its own share of unsolved missing person cases in the backlogs of their jurisdiction. In addition to unsolved missing person cases, there are also hundreds of cases of unidentified remains—each one with a family somewhere who still have not received answers. The same is true of the family of Christopher Abeyta, who was kidnapped over 35 years ago from his parents bedroom—a crime that continues to baffle Colorado Springs authorities and civilians alike.
Christopher Abeyta was only seven months old when he was taken from his parents residence. Infant abductions by strangers are statistically very rare, but for Christopher’s parents, the nightmare became real on July 15, 1986. Their home was located in Ashwood Circle in Colorado Springs, CO. Christopher was believed to have been taken between 12:00 AM and 2:30 AM, and foul play was suspected in his kidnapping.
Despite the decades that have passed, the investigation into the Christopher Abeyta kidnapping remains active. As recently as 2019, the Colorado Springs Police Department tested three DNA samples of unclaimed remains against individuals who have claimed they might be the long-lost Abeyta, but sadly, those samples were not a match to his DNA. It was the last hope for Christopher’s father, Gil Abeyta, who passed away after a heart attack in 2020. His mother, Bernice Abeyta, passed from cancer in 2017.
As of 2013, Christopher’s family was offering $100,000 reward to anyone with information on his kidnapping. An age progression photo was created by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in 2018 to depict what Christopher may look like as a 32-year-old. Anyone with information about Christopher’s disappearance should call Colorado Springs Police at 719-444-7000. You can also contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678, or Denver Crime Stoppers at 719-634-7867.
It’s been almost fifteen years since three-year-old Madeleine McCann disappeared while on holiday with her family in Praia da Luz in the Algarve region of Portugal. She is believed to have been snatched from her bed in the middle of the night while her parents were out at a tapas restaurant less than 100 yards away from their holiday apartment. Madeleine McCann became one of the most recognized faces globally as her parents launched an international awareness campaign to find their daughter. Fifteen years later, another formal suspect has finally been named in her disappearance.
According to the BBC, “A German man has been declared an official suspect by Portuguese prosecutors investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. Christian Brueckner has been made an ‘arguido,’ but Portuguese authorities have not formally revealed the suspect’s name.” Naming Brueckner a formal suspect in the case comes ahead of an important deadline in the timeline of the investigation—the 15th anniversary of the day Madeleine was reported missing will mark the final day that investigators will be able to declare any individual to be a formal suspect, which is a crucial step in charging a suspect criminally. However, Portuguese prosecutors have clarified in a statement that this decision was in no way driven by the upcoming deadline, and was instead made due to “strong indications” that a crime had been committed.
Brueckner is currently serving a prison sentence in Germany for drug offenses and the rape of a 72-year-old woman. A phone that was attributed to Brueckner placed him in the area of Madeleine’s disappearance within a crucial 30-minute window. Brueckner had been breaking into vacation homes and apartments in the area of the resort where the McCanns had been staying and had children’s clothes in his van. Brueckner denies any involvement in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.
In pre-Covid times, the handling of missing person cases has always been a challenge for law enforcement. All across the United States, there are varying levels of care applied to missing person cases based on jurisdiction, resources, and authority. From New York City to Portland, cities of all sizes and demographic makeups face difficulties when it comes to missing people. However, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has presented unique challenges to law enforcement on how they handle missing persons.
Before the pandemic hit, law enforcement already faces a myriad of issues in complex missing person cases. No two cases of missing people are alike, and it takes investigators with diverse discipline in locating individuals to find answers. However, some jurisdictions very rarely have their citizens go missing. In the event someone does go missing, investigators with jurisdiction may not have the experience or resources required to properly execute an investigation.
The typical barriers of missing person investigations were further exacerbated when the pandemic hit. As hospitals filled up with infected citizens, resources were diverted from regular channels in order to mitigate the impact of the pandemic. Though crime is down, resources that would be available to law enforcement have been stretched in order to help those in hospitals and those sheltering in place.
Not only have the resources for missing persons been impacted by COVID-19, but also the amount of media coverage that missing persons can get. Before COVID, there were already disparities in missing person coverage with missing white women and girls getting the majority of coverage in the United States. Once the first wave of COVID-19 came over the United States, even those in the majority were having difficulty getting media exposure as the news cycle was dominated by COVID-19-related stories. Without that media coverage, it’s harder for law enforcement to incur leads that may lead to a resolution in the investigation. Without the ability to properly source the public for any available information, missing person investigators are once again hamstrung by the impact of COVID-19 pandemic.
Followers of the true-crime world were rocked this week with news that the harrowing story of Sherri Papini, the California mom who claimed she had been kidnapped, beaten, branded, and held captive for three weeks, has turned out to be an elaborate hoax. Sherry Papini will be pleading guilty to federal charges and required to pay back in restitution more than $300,000 that were issued by the California Victim Compensation Board.
Everyone in the nation began hearing the name Sherry Papini when she went out for a jog back in 2016 and never came home. All that was found was her phone and earbuds on the side of the road. A nationwide search was launched after she was reported missing—her name and face were everywhere. It wasn’t until three weeks later when Papini was found trying to flag down a car on the side of the road more than 150 miles from her home, bound in chains, her hair cut short, and her body bruised and branded. Sherri Papini spun a wild story about how she had been kidnapped during her jog by two armed women who held her captive and branded her like cattle.
Last month, the terrifying story that Sherri concocted finally unraveled last month when she was arrested on charges of lying to federal authorities and mail fraud. Department of Justice investigators were able to confirm that the injuries on Papini’s body were self-inflicted, and she had been hiding out at the home of her former boyfriend. According to US Attorney Phillip A. Talbert in a released statement, “Ultimately, the investigation revealed that there was no kidnapping and that time and resources that could have been used to investigate actual crime, protect the community, and provide resources to victims were wasted based on the defendant’s conduct.” Despite initial doubts about her story, both from law enforcement and the public at large, Papini had remained adamant about the truth of her story—until this week.
A plea agreement for Sherri Papini was announced Tuesday in which she will plead guilty to a single count of mail fraud and a single count of making false statements to authorities. In a statement issued through her lawyer, Papini apologized to her family and loved ones, describing herself as “deeply ashamed” of her actions.
