A TikToker with over 10,000 followers was the subject of a missing person investigation following a report made by her parents with the Coshocton County Sheriff’s office. Georjlyn Hayes, 20, had been missing since July 12, following a realization by her family that she was not in Columbus or Cincinnati, but had posted a TikTok of her being stranded in Kentucky instead.
In an effort to assist her daughter, Brenda Hayes sent money to the missing Tiktoker through CashApp, but was alerted when the payment was received by someone in a different time zone. Hayes told NBC4 that a girl who was not her daughter had been answering Georjlyn’s phone, and the outgoing voicemail message had been changed to a person named Cory. Since she’s been missing, friends and family have been attempting to contact Georjlyn through various forms of social media, asking questions only she would know the answers to—and getting incorrect responses. Calling out the mystery user has only resulted in blocked profiles and radio silence.
A particularly haunting aspect of the missing Tiktoker’s disappearance has been her previous experience involved in another missing person case. Back in 2018, Georjlyn was part of the search party for Sammy Walters, a 15-year-old boy who was discovered floating in a pond in Coshocton County. Georjlyn worked with the organization Golden Hearts, a Voice for the Voiceless. The same organization was called in to help search for Georjlyn. Its founder, Lena Wilson, told NBC4, “Our concern is that when someone is reported missing and dropped out of sight things may go from search to find the missing person to all-too-often a recovery effort, not a search any longer. We are hoping and praying this case ends with her being found and safe.”
However, investigators were able to confirm last week that they did find Georjlyn Hayes in Columbus. She is back in touch with her family and has been declared safe.