Missing Augusta woman found alive after family pleads for her return
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - A missing woman was found safe and alive after her family and deputies pleaded for the public’s help to find her, according to authorities.
According to authorities, Whitney Keira Rivers was found off of Scott Nixon Memorial Drive and Frontage Road safe and alive as of Wednesday.
Rivers was found in a homeless encampment, officials say.
Criminal Investigations Division is handling the investigation.
Authorities say Rivers family has not been informed that she’s been located.
Rivers, who is homeless, is known to frequent the areas of Gordon Highway, Deans Bridge Road, Milledgeville Road, Old Savannah Road and Dogwood Terrace.
Her sister told deputies Rivers normally comes to her job every morning for breakfast, and she last saw Rivers on April 5 around 9 a.m. at 1601 Gordon Highway, Burger King.
Her family offered a $10,000 reward to anyone who has any information to help find Rivers.
Her sisters say she is energetic, loving, and a happy person they just want to bring home.
“She’s very motivational. She keeps me up when I’m down. I know that’s the one person I can always talk to if I’m going through something, you know,” said her sister, Aaliyah Jones.
Her family says it’s not like her to not talk to family for this long.
Rivers’ sister, Markita Jones, said: “We know our sister. Our sister will just not call or just not pop up or anything like that. She’s very much so family-oriented, like us.”
They searched for her every day since April 19, putting up fliers and trying to find out any information.
“We’re trying to be as safe as possible because it’s not something to be taken lightly. The allegations that we’re getting and what people are saying, if it’s true, is not really safe for us to be out here like this, just looking for her and searching for her every day,” they said.
But it’s hard not to do anything, especially for someone you love.
“We did come across a guy who did give us some intel and he did insinuate that our sister was dead,” said Markita.
Her family didn’t hear from her for three weeks. All they wanted were answers.
“At the end of the day, she has kids. So even if it’s just not for us as siblings, for her kids. They want their mother, to give their mother a proper goodbye, to say a final goodbye to their mother as well,” they said.
The missing-person report was filed on April 14. According to the report, deputies responded to the Budget Inn Hotel on Gordon Highway and met with Rivers’ sister.
Her sister told deputies Rivers is homeless and normally sleeps in the parking lot of the Southgate Plaza. She had not seen or heard from Rivers for around a week, the sheriff’s office says.
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