An expanded search continues for a Cleveland, Georgia, woman who has been missing since New Year’s Day. She has still not been located, but Cleveland police may have a lead on a potential witness.
RELATED: Timeline: the search for Mattie Mizell continues after 4 days
The police department received a photograph of a copper/orange that is either late a model Ford F-150 crew cab pickup truck or a Ford Ranger, observed driving on NOK Drive on Jan. 1 that may have seen Mattie Mizell.
“The driver of the vehicle may have seen our missing person, Mrs. Mattie Mizell, walking on the roadway and may be able to provide new information to assist the search efforts,” Cleveland Police Chief Jeff Shoemaker said. “We ask that the driver of this vehicle or anyone having knowledge of such a vehicle to contact the Cleveland Police Department at (706) 865-2111.”
The 69-year-old Mizell, who police say has dementia, left her residence on White Street the morning of January 1. She was captured on video by White County Middle School’s security camera that same day walking in the northwest direction.
Searchers looked for Mizell much of Saturday, all day Sunday and Monday, and are continuing their search into Tuesday. They have been unable to find her.
The search, which originally encompassed the area surrounding WCMS, has since been expanded to include the Highway 129 North and GA-75 areas following reports of Mizell being spotted near NOK Drive on Sunday.
“We’ve shifted our search to those areas in hopes that we can possibly find her in the area,” Shoemaker says. “We’re not ruling out that she could have been picked up– she could have had a friend or someone that she met that could have picked her up and given her a ride.”
The police department received video footage Sunday that showed an individual, who they believe to be Mizell, walking along NOK Drive near Babyland General Hospital in Cleveland on Saturday.
Monday, Cleveland Police, the Georgia State Patrol and the Georgia Department of Public Safety extended another search party to the Babyland area, where a GDPS helicopter used in the search was grounded.
“We suspect that she might have frequented that area, and may have even gone into Babyland General, but we cannot confirm that,” Shoemaker says. “We are asking anyone who may have been in the area, or a visitor of Babyland General on January 1 between the hours of 3 and 6 p.m. to call the Cleveland Police Department.”
Shoemaker says any information they can get on Mizell’s whereabouts could be helpful to the investigation.
“You may not have realized that you saw something, but you could have seen her in the parking lot, you could have seen her on the sidewalk, possibly getting into a car with someone,” Shoemaker said. “Any possible tips are greatly appreciated.”
Hundreds of searchers fanned out across those areas over the weekend, continuing into Tuesday. The search party includes personnel from the Georgia State Patrol, Department of Natural Resources, Emergency Management Agency, and Department of Defense, as well as Cleveland Police and White County public safety officials.
Georgia Department of Defense officers are operating drones with heat sensors over the areas she may be located, as search helicopters also look for Mizell.
Cleveland police are growing increasingly concerned about Mizell’s condition after her possible exposure to winter storms, cold conditions and high winds Sunday night and into Monday, and temperatures dropped below freezing Monday night.
The police department, Mizell’s family, officials from WCMS and other involved personnel attended a debriefing following the conclusion of Monday’s search. Shoemaker asked the Cleveland community to continue to look out for any sign of Mizell.
Officials are asking the public to continue to keep a lookout for Mizell, who is described as a Black female with black hair and brown eyes, approximately five feet three inches tall and 160 pounds. She was last seen wearing blue pants or jeans, a purple/blue hooded sweatshirt, and blue shoes with white trim.
“The community can help by searching the outer areas of their property to include garages, porches, shrubs and brush areas, vehicles or any area that a person may use for shelter in the rainy weather,” says Shoemaker. In addition, he encourages the public to check the sides of roadways, culverts, drains, and other areas where Mizell may have gone to seek shelter.
If you see Mattie Mizell or anything indicating where she may be or may have been, please contact White County E-911 at 706-865-0911 or the Cleveland Police Department at 706-348-7078.
Trent Crawford of WRWH contributed to this report.
