GA JORJA ETHRIDGE: Missing from Macon, GA - 22 Jan 2022 - Age 17 *Found Safe*

https://www.macon.com/news/local/article257656548.html

‘She could have gone in any direction.’ Police search for missing Macon teen
A 17-year-old Macon girl who was last seen shortly after midnight Saturday may have run away from a house where she was spending the night in neighboring Monroe County , officials said.
Monroe Sheriff Brad Freeman on Monday morning said that was the best version of events pieced together so far in the disappearance of Jorja Ethridge, a Tattnall Square Academy student who lives in the Bowman Road area in northern Bibb County.

If Ethridge somehow became lost in the woods around Bolingbroke there below the split at Interstate 75 and I-475, she may now have spent two nights in subfreezing weather as temperatures both nights dipped into the 20s.

“For all we know, she flagged down a ride. ... But we just don’t know,” Freeman said, adding that he hoped that maybe the teen, if now hiding, found somewhere warm and hunkered down.


The sheriff said it appeared that Ethridge had of her own volition fled into the night early Sunday after returning with friends to the house where she was staying only to see that her parents had shown up to check on her.

Freeman said Ethridge’s family had tried to call her and grown concerned when she didn’t answer her phone. He said the parents went to the house on North Rivoli Farms, not far from U.S. 41 on the south side of Bolingbroke.

Freeman said that when Ethridge rode up and saw her parents’ car there she “jumps out of the car (she was in) and flees on foot.” The sheriff said the teen had been out with friends at a party maybe 10 minutes away by car in the Lake Tobesofkee area in northwestern Bibb County until returning to the North Rivoli Farms house at about 12:30 a.m. Sunday.

“She could have gone in any direction,” Freeman said Monday, noting that search teams were going to focus on areas south of where Ethridge was last seen. The area lies along U.S. 41 near the Bibb County border, within a mile or two of Howard High School.


MEDIA - JORJA ETHRIDGE: Missing from Macon, GA since 22 Jan 2022 - Age 17

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

'Please come home': Family, community, authorities continue to search for Jorja Ethridge

MONROE COUNTY, Ga. -- The Monroe County Sheriff's Office has released new pictures of what a missing teen was wearing the night she disappeared and her family is speaking out in hopes of her returning home. According to a media release, investigators say 17-year-old Jorja Ethridge went missing...

wgxa.tv

'Please come home': Family, community, authorities continue to search for Jorja Ethridge
The Monroe County Sheriff's Office has released new pictures of what a missing teen was wearing the night she disappeared and her family is speaking out in hopes of her returning home.

According to a media release, investigators say 17-year-old Jorja Ethridge went missing around 12:30 a.m. Saturday night from the Rivoli Road area.

They have since released the following photos of what she was wearing around 11:45 p.m. on Saturday night.

WGXA spoke to Jorja's mother, Amy McAlpin, who has this message for her daughter, "Please come home, I just want to see your face. I know you've been without food and water and it's cold."

Her mom says Jorja went out with friends to Lake Tobosofkee on Saturday night.

But when she missed curfew her step dad went to pick her up from North Rivoli Farms.

It was believed that Jorja saw him and took off.

"The story has actually changed from what we were told yesterday. She saw the car. She never saw anybody. She never saw me or her stepdad. She saw the car and then got out and left," said McAlpin.

According to Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, a single witness was re-interviewed in an effort to get more information.

One of Jorja's best friends wasn’t with her Saturday night but says it doesn’t sound anything like the friend she knows.

"I just want to know that she’s safe because I’m really scared," said Jorja's friend Katelyn Childs.

She’s not alone in feeling that way with family, friends, and even strangers coming to aid law enforcement in the search.

"We’ve been riding around anywhere, we went to gas stations, Kroger, just telling anybody if you’ve seen her let us know, leaving phone numbers" said Childs.

While they ask others for help, Jorja's mother wonders what was on her daughter’s mind in those moments before she wandered off.

"I don’t know what would have caused the fear to run," said McAlpin.

But she’s hoping to get answers before the combination of no food, no water, and the cold weather takes a toll on Jorja.

"I will stay until we find her or her body," said McAlpin.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

 

[GrandmaBear]

It's not clear if the stepfather alone went to pick her up or stepfather along with mom. Which was it I wonder.

Did he/they go after her? It sounds as if she came in by car with friends and then took off on seeing some sign of her parents, whether it was their car or one of or both of them. It is a bit confusing that they re-interview just one witness and it makes it almost sound as if only one person saw her go.

Not to get nitpicky but I find it a bit odd all sounds like she took off, "ran" off, fled but then the mother says when she "wandered" off. Wandered to me is entirely different then fleeing. It isn't enough to mean anything but just an odd choice of words I thought.

Mother is going to stay in it until they find her or her body. I know it is cold but is there some reason they fear already that it will be her body that is found? I am glad to see she had a coat and some type of boots on. I'm not saying they are enough for a night out in weather but it is better than no coat, etc.

Didn't she have a phone with? She is a teenager. They said she was not answering her phone so they went over there. Most likely she didn't answer as she was wanting to be out and was avoiding answering her parents. But where is it? If she has it with, I don't see staying in the woods instead of calling friends, etc. Her best friend says this isn't like her. Her mother seems to not understand why she'd run off either. So maybe she didn't?

Who actually saw her? Did she even come back with friends in a vehicle and how many? If she did, is it the stepdad that saw her get out and run or the friends? And again who went after her if anyone?

So there are comments about a changing story and one person only being re-interviewed. Who is that one person....

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

UPDATE: Missing Monroe County teen found, reported safe - 41NBC News | WMGT-DT

UPDATE: Missing Monroe County teen found, reported safe from 41NBC News | WMGT-DT

www.41nbc.com

Missing Monroe County teen found, reported safe​

The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office reports they have located missing 17-year-old Jorja Ethridge. According to an emailed update, the teen is safe and unharmed.

 

[GrandmaBear]

UPDATE: Missing Monroe County teen found, reported safe - 41NBC News | WMGT-DT

UPDATE: Missing Monroe County teen found, reported safe from 41NBC News | WMGT-DT

www.41nbc.com

Missing Monroe County teen found, reported safe​

The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office reports they have located missing 17-year-old Jorja Ethridge. According to an emailed update, the teen is safe and unharmed.

Glad she is safe.

Seems pretty likely then she was missing by choice and caused this panic. I guess someone could have had her that she met up with who wouldn't let her go but there is no indication of that as she was with friends when she went missing. So it seems she stayed away by choice.

Happy for her parents and glad she is safe.