Today my aunt stopped by. We weren't expecting her, but it's always a good time when we see her. She traveled a long way from a small town, just north of the Ohio border. My sister and I were on our way to the store when we had gotten a phone call saying that she was waiting for us at our house. We pulled into a parking lot, turned around and headed back eager to see an aunt that lived so far away.
When we pulled back into our driveway, she told us immediately that she was on a mission. With her, she had brought a mound flyers with the word "Missing" scrolled in thick, bold lettering across the top. A girl was gone: Sierah Joughin.
I had never heard her name before, but I had seen her picture on Facebook. In the midst of news articles, and crazy things going on in the world, I had read enough about this girl to know that all of Fulton County was out looking for her.
“Her bike was found in a corn field,” our aunt told us, begging my sister and me not to go anywhere alone. “Did you know Michigan is rated No. 2 in the country for human trafficking?”
It unclear at the moment the motive behind Joughins disappearance, but rumors are swirling.
I hadn’t known that, but the thought was absolutely terrifying. My sister was a 20-year-old woman, and I, not much older. This could have just as easily been one of us, one of our friends, one of our loved ones. I thought about how petrified her family must be at this moment.
“We can pass out some flyers here,” my sister told my aunt, taking a handful. No one knew where Joughin was, but there were sure a lot of people desperate to find her.
With a few puffs of her cigarette, a hug or two and a kiss, our aunt left in a flurry, eager to hand out more flyers to whomever was willing to take one.
Less than half an hour away from my Aunt’s house in Morenci (a place made famous for the disappearance of the Skelton brothers), 20-year-old Sierah Joughin vanished from Metamora on July 19.
“The Fulton County Sheriff’s Office said Ms. Joughin, of Metamora, was last seen at 6:45 p.m. Tuesday on a purple bicycle in the Evergreen School District area," said The Toldeo Blade
The article goes on to describe Joughin as, “white, about 5 feet and 5 inches tall, with brown hair and brown eyes. She was wearing shorts and a neon-yellow tank top.”
Cleveland 19 News reports, “She and her boyfriend had been out riding bikes. When the two parted ways, she never made it home.”
NBC states that, "Family members describe Sierah as hardworking and dedicated to her family. She has attended University of Toledo since the fall of 2014 and is studying human resource management, according to the university."
The story is spreading and hopefully we can help to bring this woman home. There are no persons of interest at this point, according to WMBF News.
Anyone with information is being asked to contact the Sheriff's office at 419-335-4010, ext. 8.
Please spread the word.
