Police 'increasingly concerned' for welfare of North Carolina woman who vanished after distressed 911 call
Police in Greensboro, North Carolina told ABC News that they are “increasingly concerned” for the “welfare” of Marissa Carmichael, a 25-year-old mother of five who has been missing for more than three weeks.
Carmichael was last seen at 3:46 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 14 at the Exxon gas station on 809 East Market St. in Greensboro, according to police, and made a distressed call to 911 just before she vanished.
A spokesperson for the Greensboro Police Department told ABC News on Friday that “investigators are continuing to actively work this case,” and searched an area on Wednesday with some abandoned properties where Carmichael could have taken shelter but “did not locate anyone in that area.”
Police said in a Facebook post earlier this week that that detectives working on the case have “conducted more than a dozen interviews, obtained surveillance footage from Ms. Carmichael's last known location, distributed flyers in the neighborhood adjacent to her last known location, and explored numerous leads that resulted in area searches. We also are using technology and other resources to help identify any additional leads.”
Family members of Carmichael’s who spoke with ABC Greensboro affiliate TV station WXLV the week of her disappearance said that the night she went missing, she went out to a local club, the One17 SofaBar & Lounge, and then later went to an Airbnb for an after party, after which she was dropped off at the Exxon station.
Police, who have been urging the public for weeks to share any information regarding Carmichael’s whereabouts, further shared in their Facebook post that they have received “limited leads” in the case and again asked the public to reach to them out with any tips.
“As the investigation continues into the disappearance of Marissa Carmichael, our department is increasingly concerned for her welfare,” police said in the post. “We are urging anyone in the community with information on her whereabouts to please come forward and help reunite her with her family.”
ABC News obtained a copy of a 911 call that Carmichael made to police from the Exxon gas station, during which she appeared to sound distressed and was asking for help finding a ride home. According to an incident report obtained by ABC News, when police arrived at the gas station, Carmichael wasn’t there.
During the two-minute call, Carmichael, whose name is bleeped out when she identifies herself, tells the 911 dispatcher that a man had asked her to pick up some things at the gas station but drove off while she was inside and that she has no way of getting home.
“I don't know where I am in Greensboro … he took off with my phone. I have no clue where I'm at. I have no numbers,” Carmichael tells the dispatcher.
Asked if she is hurt and needs an ambulance, Carmichael says, “no, I’m not but, I mean, like, you told me to come into the store and grab some s*** and like, took off on me and I don't know where I'm at. I'm in the middle of Greensboro. He took my phone. I don't have my phone.”
She does not provide a name for the man, referring to him as “he.”
According to a missing person’s report obtained by ABC News, Carmichael is a resident of High Point, N.C., which is approximately 25 minutes southwest of Greensboro, and was reported missing on Sunday afternoon by Sara Kay Carmichael, who has identified herself to local media as Marissa’s mother.
Carmichael is described as a 5-foot-4-inch biracial female weighing approximately 260 pounds, with long black and blonde braids, police said.
She also has a heart tattoo on her face and a butterfly near her eye and was wearing a white Tweety Bird T-shirt, blue jeans, and yellow sneakers when she was last seen.
Police have posted multiple advisories on social media over the past three weeks asking the public for help in locating Carmichael. Greensboro police are again asking anyone with information about Carmichael’s whereabouts to call Greensboro/Guilford Crime Stoppers at 336-373-1000, or use the mobile P3 tips app or the p3tips.com website to submit an anonymous tip.
