South Carolina Woman Vanishes After Leaving Home Following Argument, Mother Receives Cryptic Text Report
South Carolina police are looking for a missing 20-year-old woman from Pendleton, a small hamlet just 10 minutes from Clemson, who was last seen in early August.
Pendleton police say Jessica Barnes was last seen leaving her home on August 1, and they’re looking for her.
On Facebook, a guy claiming to be Barnes’ spouse, who has not been identified as a suspect in the case, posted on the Pendleton Police Department’s missing person flyer for Barnes.
“If anyone sees my wife, please let me or the police know because I have been so numb lately [sic],” the man wrote on Facebook. “[I] thought she would have said something or come back home i trying to trust in god but it’s really hard when it’s gotten this serious we lost are son a couple of months ago and now my wife has gone missing i trying to trust god I pray she safe [sic].”
Pendleton Police Department Chief Robert Crosby told Fox News Digital on Wednesday that Barnes’ mother was the first to report her missing on September 10.
Barnes resided with her husband and two 20-year-old female roommates, according to Crosby.
“They’re all friends,” Crosby added.
Barnes’ husband was not immediately available for comment.
Barnes and her husband “were having your typical young, married couple disagreements,” according to the police chief, on the day she went home.
Cecilia Varvara, Barnes’ mother, told WYFF 4 that on September 10, she received a message from her daughter’s phone that did not sound like her.
Detectives are currently investigating Barnes’ whereabouts after she walked away from her home that day. Highway 28 passes through town, so it’s not uncommon for people to take busses or hitchhike out of town, Crosby added.
“We are looking into everything. We’re looking into any possibilities through her social media or anything like that, whether she grabbed a ride or flagged someone down and got a ride,” he said. “We know she didn’t leave the country.” We’re just looking for any indications as to where she went on foot.
According to Crosby, Pendleton police have searched Barnes’ home and its vehicles, as well as the Twin Lakes campsite on Lake Hartwell, several miles away, where she and her husband went camping and had bonfires.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) is cooperating in the investigation into Barnes’ disappearance.
According to police, Barnes was last seen wearing an orange T-shirt, dark jean shorts, flip-flops, and a black backpack.
Police are requesting anyone with information on Barnes to contact Crosby at 864-646-9409 or [email protected].