OH MADISON BELL: Missing from Greenfield, OH - 17 May 2020 - *Found Safe*

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.”

Madison BellCourtesy of Bell family
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.
More at link:

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...

www.crimewatchers.net

 

[GrandmaBear]

I should add that I also hope they work it out, the parents and the daughter. I will even say as a parent it is not easy to let go and it is a hard call whether to be overly safe and protective or to give freedom as time goes on. For those of us who follow crime, it can make people think too that there is a predator around every corner. I still expect my children to call me when they get home if they have been with me. They are in their 30s. I do not, however, worry on a day to day basis or text, did you get to work okay, did you get home okay, only when leaving when I have been with them, I do not do it on a day to day basis. However, if there are bad roads in winter for instance, I do. So I feel for her parents as well, whatever the situation was, as far as we know anyhow, there is no reason not to.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

New details on search, disappearance of Madison Bell released by sheriff

According to the sheriff, the 18-year-old was unaware people were searching for her until police found her and told her.

www.fox19.com

The sheriff says Bell and this man, whose identity and age still hasn’t been released, met online and had been talking for a while.

Bell was unaware there was a search for her until another police agency found her and told her, according to Sheriff Barrera.

Madison Bell: Teen wished to start new life, was unaware of nationwide search, sheriff says

Madison Bell, the 18-year-old whose disappearance sparked a regional and national search, said she wished to start a new life outside Ohio and was unaware that anyone was looking for her, according to Sheriff Donnie Barrera.

www.whio.com

Officers in another state located and made contact with Madison Bell Saturday and after talking with her, determined she left of her own free will, investigators previously reported. Barrera said the state where Bell was located will not be released by the sheriff’s office, citing privacy concerns.

Bell told investigators she left her car behind in the church parking lot because it belonged to her mother, and her phone was also left because it could have been traced, Barrera said.

“All of this could have been prevented by leaving her mom a note. Or letting her know she was moving on and was ready to go on with her life," Barrera told News Center 7′s Katy Anderson Tuesday.

Barrera added the investigation is continuing and there are subpoenas out to phone companies and Facebook for communication records.

Sheriff: Teen who disappeared found out of state with man she met online

An 18-year-old woman, whose disappearance prompted a nationwide federal investigation, left home to "start a new life," authorities said Tuesday afternoon.

www.wlwt.com

Barrera said multiple agencies have talked with Bell since she was found Saturday, saying he himself talked with her Saturday night and that "she seemed very happy." The sheriff said Bell told him she left home to start a new life, adding that she "didn't like the life she had to live (in Ohio)."

Barrera said his department racked up thousands of dollars in overtime in the search for Bell, adding that even though she was found safe, it's still an open investigation.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Interesting that they still consider it an open investigation since she's an "adult who left home willingly". What are they investigating? Home circumstances?

 

[GrandmaBear]

Interesting that they still consider it an open investigation since she's an "adult who left home willingly". What are they investigating? Home circumstances?

It is interesting. I have seen cases where the person had to pay the money back for the search. Maybe that is part? Or are they making sure she is seriously there on her own accord? As useless as it would seem, I guess records may show if he ever coerced her or they had "relations" before she was 18? All I have to say is she seems very naive with the facts that are coming out. I am tickled she is alive but I hope she does not regret her choice.

 

[Kimster]

Interesting that they still consider it an open investigation since she's an "adult who left home willingly". What are they investigating? Home circumstances?

I hope it doesn't have anything to do with the living in of her boyfriend.

 

[GrandmaBear]

I hope it doesn't have anything to do with the living in of her boyfriend.

Good point. I never thought of that.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Madison Bell: Highland County Sheriff answers questions about the investigation

News Center 7′s Katy Andersen spoke with Highland County Sheriff Donnie Barrera about the situation and the resources available for young adults who are trying to get away.

www.whio.com

Madison Bell: Highland County Sheriff answers questions about the investigation

News Center 7′s Katy Andersen spoke with Highland County Sheriff Donnie Barrera about the situation and the resources available for young adults who are trying to get away.

“She just wanted to start a new life, so that’s what she said to us. She just wanted to move on and start a new life,” said Barrera.


The sheriff says the search for Bell cost his department thousands of dollars.

“Hopefully we will be able to get by,” said Barrera. “With the overtime and manhours we had in it, hopefully I had it budgeted right this year that we will be able to get by.”


“If you are going to turn 18 and become an adult, do the adult thing and let people know you are moving on with your life so people don’t have the resources wrapped up and have to manhunt for you,” said Barrera.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Madison Bell speaks out after her disappearance: ‘It was my choice to leave’

“I kind of am afraid if they come find me but they can’t do anything because I am 18 – so, it was my choice to leave,” she said.

www.daytondailynews.com

Madison Bell speaks out after her disappearance: ‘It was my choice to leave’

Madison Bell, a Highland County teen who went missing in May, spoke out on social media after her disappearance, saying it was her choice to leave.

She said on an Instagram Live video that she left with an outfit, an ID, her social security card and $50.

Bell said that she left her family and a live-in boyfriend to start a new life in another state. She was found with a man who was considered a person of interest in her disappearance. Her parents, she said, forced her into the relationship with her boyfriend.

“I did not want that relationship at all, it was forced. I remember I told my mom that when I’m 18, I’m not going to date him anymore,” she said.

She said she has not spoken with her mother since she left home.

“I kind of am afraid if they come find me but they can’t do anything because I am 18 – so, it was my choice to leave,” she said.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Ohio woman who vanished from home speaks out after resurfacing

She says her mother hasn’t spoken to her, and that she’s now in a relation with the man she left with.

www.cleveland19.com

Ohio woman who vanished from home speaks out after resurfacing

Bell took to Instagram Live this week to tell her side of the story.

She says her mother hasn’t spoken to her, and that she’s now in a relationship with the man she left town with.

She said she had only $50, a social security card and her ID when she left, and that she was ready to start a new life.

She did not leave a note, prior to her departure, she said.

The Highland County Sheriff’s Office, which helped lead the extensive search for Bell, is still investigating the case but no charges have been filed.

 

[GrandmaBear]

Madison Bell speaks out after her disappearance: ‘It was my choice to leave’

“I kind of am afraid if they come find me but they can’t do anything because I am 18 – so, it was my choice to leave,” she said.

www.daytondailynews.com

Madison Bell speaks out after her disappearance: ‘It was my choice to leave’

Madison Bell, a Highland County teen who went missing in May, spoke out on social media after her disappearance, saying it was her choice to leave.

She said on an Instagram Live video that she left with an outfit, an ID, her social security card and $50.

Bell said that she left her family and a live-in boyfriend to start a new life in another state. She was found with a man who was considered a person of interest in her disappearance. Her parents, she said, forced her into the relationship with her boyfriend.

“I did not want that relationship at all, it was forced. I remember I told my mom that when I’m 18, I’m not going to date him anymore,” she said.

She said she has not spoken with her mother since she left home.

“I kind of am afraid if they come find me but they can’t do anything because I am 18 – so, it was my choice to leave,” she said.

I hope one day they can mend their relationship, the parents and daughter. It doesn't seem like now is the time though. Still very glad she is safe.

 

[Kimster]

Madison Bell speaks out after her disappearance: ‘It was my choice to leave’

“I kind of am afraid if they come find me but they can’t do anything because I am 18 – so, it was my choice to leave,” she said.

www.daytondailynews.com

Madison Bell speaks out after her disappearance: ‘It was my choice to leave’

Madison Bell, a Highland County teen who went missing in May, spoke out on social media after her disappearance, saying it was her choice to leave.

She said on an Instagram Live video that she left with an outfit, an ID, her social security card and $50.

Bell said that she left her family and a live-in boyfriend to start a new life in another state. She was found with a man who was considered a person of interest in her disappearance. Her parents, she said, forced her into the relationship with her boyfriend.

“I did not want that relationship at all, it was forced. I remember I told my mom that when I’m 18, I’m not going to date him anymore,” she said.

She said she has not spoken with her mother since she left home.

“I kind of am afraid if they come find me but they can’t do anything because I am 18 – so, it was my choice to leave,” she said.

I was kind of wondering if she felt she had no choice.

 

[Whatsnext]

She could have at least call the police and told them, but I guess she was too afraid they could force her to go back. She sounds a bit immature. But I do feel for her, and IMO she is a victim of abuse.
Eta Maybe also a reason why this is still under investigation?

 

[GrandmaBear]

I saw a remark under another case about this case. It said she went back home. So I did a bit of searching. The comments underneath are quite interesting too. There are two schools of thought... A lot of comments but it does not take forever to reach the end of them...

I am still watching the podcast and just started. I read the remarks first...

Just sharing for anyone's own opinion and just F/Y/I. Still forming mine... So I don't have one...