Madison “Maddie” Bell left her home in Greenfield, Ohio, around 10 a.m. Sunday morning to go tanning at Country Corner Market, Highland County Sheriff Donnie Barrera told Dateline. But there is no evidence that she made it to the salon, he said.
He added that she was never spotted in Highland County and that the last time she was seen was at her home.
“I was cleaning when she left and she yelled out, ‘Mom, I’m going to tan. I’ll be right back,’” Maddie’s mother, Melissa Bell, told Dateline as she struggled to hold back tears. “But she never came back.”
Melissa said she could always trust Maddie to go straight to the tanning salon and come right back. Sometimes Maddie would stop at McDonald’s for an iced coffee. But when she did, she would always call or text so her mother didn’t worry.
As the hours passed with no word from Maddie, Melissa said she began to panic.
“I tried not to panic - I know she just turned 18,” Melissa said. “But something felt wrong.”
Maddie’s boyfriend also attempted to reach her, but Melissa said he was unable to. Melissa tracked her daughter’scell phone and it pinged back and forth between the tanning salon and a church near the salon.
So Melissa and Maddie’s boyfriend drove toward the tanning salon keeping their eyes on the road and embankments, thinking she might have been in a car accident.
“Every possible scenario was playing through my head,” Melissa said. “But I never imagined this.”
When they pulled up to the Good Shepherd Church which is located on S.R. 28, just 100 yards from the tanning salon, they spotted Maddie’s car in the parking lot. It was unlocked and the keys were in the ignition. Maddie’s cell phone was on the driver’s seat.
“She would have never left her cell phone in the car,” Melissa said. “And we don’t know if she pulled into this parking lot on her own or if someone coerced her to stop. She was a very cautious girl. She wouldn’t have stopped for someone she didn’t know.”
Sheriff Barrera told Dateline they received a report from a church employee who had spotted a white car with California plates in the parking lot early that Sunday morning.
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Mother pleads for safe return of missing 18-year-old daughter Madison ‘Maddie’ Bell who disappeared Sunday from Highland County, Ohio
Madison “Maddie” Bell, 18, was last seen around 10 a.m. on Sunday, May 17, 2020, when she left her home in Greenfield, Ohio, to go tanning at the Country Corner Market over the county line in Highland County. But she never made it there. Her car was found nearby in the Good Shepherd Church...
www.nbcnews.com
MADISON BELL was headed to the tanning booth when she went missing. Her car was found in a church parking lot nearby. Greenfield #OHIO May 17, 2020
Police are looking for a white car, possibly a Nissan sedan, with California plates, that was seen in the area. Anyone with information on Maddie’s whereabouts is asked to call the Highland County Sheriff’s Office, 937-393-1421, the Ross Co...
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