A 59-year-old Florida woman who vanished two months ago after moving to Atlanta to live with a man she met online has been found, according to statements released by her family.
Katrice Simmons had been living in Pensacola before starting an online relationship that led her to relocate to Georgia in April. Relatives last had contact with Simmons on May 19. During that final phone call, Simmons’ daughter said her mother sounded like she was in distress.
Following that conversation, Simmons ceased all communication with her loved ones, prompting her family to file a missing persons report with the Atlanta Police Department.
Her sister, Felicia Pettiway, told Fox 5 Atlanta during the search that going silent was completely out of character for Simmons.
“She will reach out to one of her daughters, she’s going to always keeps in touch with one of them or her son, and that’s the alarming part,” Pettiway said.
Relatives stated that Simmons had moved into an apartment in the 300 block of Lanier Street NW in Atlanta prior to cutting off contact. When family members reached out to Simmons’ boyfriend to ask about her whereabouts, he stated that he did not know where she had gone.
Simmons’ vehicle—a black Chevrolet Equinox missing a rear door window—along with her phone and personal belongings, had also disappeared. Subsequent calls to her mobile phone routed directly to voicemail.
During the search, the Atlanta Police Department requested tips from the public. Family members checked local shelters and morgues, expressing fear over the prolonged lack of contact.
“I believe that there may be a possibility that my auntie is dead,” an unnamed family member told Fox 5 Atlanta prior to Simmons being located. “We’ve gone to the shelters, we’ve gone to the morgues. My son had done everything, typed her name to search and there is no Katrice.”
On Monday morning, family members confirmed that Simmons had been located alive. It has not been publicly confirmed whether police located Simmons through a community tip or if she reconnected with relatives independently.
“I have no words but thank you God my MOMMY has been found. Thank you everyone for everything I’m speechless there’s a God,” Simmons’ daughter, Shaquansia Love, shared in a Facebook post.
READ: Florida Keys Teen Arrested After Video Shows Him Threatening Student With Gun
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