UPDATE: 02/15/10 - Danielle's driver's license and cell phone were found in Beachton, GA
5:10 P.M.
Danielle Brown’s driver’s license and cell phone were found last weekend on a roadside in Beachton, Ga., just across the state line from Leon County, said Leon County Sheriff Larry Campbell.
But there has been no sight of the 21-year-old Tallahassee woman, who has been missing since Feb. 5.
Campbell held a news conference Monday, where he said more than 100 officers and volunteers searched for Brown over the weekend.
A “random citizen” not affiliated with the search found the driver’s license and a volunteer with the Tallahassee Fire Department found the cell phone in close proximity to the license on Old Beachton Road.
Brown’s ex-boyfriend, 35-year-old Elijah James, is facing charges of grand theft auto and arson. Campbell said Brown was seen driving alone in Beachton about 5:30 a.m. Saturday.
He stopped at a convenience store to buy beer, Thomas County Sheriff R. Carlton Powell said. Powell added that the license “was not a whole driver’s license. It was a partial part of it but it was enough to identify (Brown).”
James was also seen driving Brown’s car in the Leon County community of Bradfordville on the same day.
During the new conference, Campbell was asked by a journalist with a lengthy beard: What are the odds that Brown is still alive?
“About the same as you shaving,” Campbell said. Then Campbell added, “The longer it takes that there’s no contact with anybody, the more bleak it appears.”
Brown was known to call family members every day, Campbell said. She spoke with a friend on Feb. 5 about 11:35 p.m. on her cell phone.
Brown told the friend that she was dropping James off at his mother’s property on 7080 King Post Way in eastern Leon County. Campbell said it’s important to note that Brown and James were arguing during that time.
On Feb. 8, Brown’s car was found at the Pavo, Ga., city dump with the license plate and at least one vehicle identification number removed. The car had been doused with accelerant to burn the inside of the car, said Pavo Police Chief Sydney Turner.
Investigators were able to track the car to Brown from a serial number in the truck. James was also seen driving alone in the car in Pavo on Saturday.
“While James has been charged with theft and arson of Brown’s vehicle, the question of where Danielle is and what happened to her remains under investigation,” Campbell said.
Brown’s family was in the lobby of the Leon County Sheriff’s Office during the news conference.
Brown’s sister, Nicole Sheffield, 27, answered questions after the news conference. She said the family is “not well.”
“We’re just dealing moment by moment, day by day,” she said.
She added her parents are “doing the best they can.”
Her family has also been involved in the search. She encourages anyone who may know details to come forward.
“It could only help toward the ultimate goal of finding my sister,” she said.
Officers plan to expand the search to north Leon County and south Georgia, sheriff’s spokesman Tony Drzewiecki said.
“James’ stealing Danielle’s vehicle and setting it on fire in Georgia lead us to suspect that he may also be involved with her disappearance,” Campbell said. “You do not necessarily have to find a body to be able to charge with criminal homicide.”
Anyone with information is asked to call the Leon County Sheriff’s Office at (850) 922-3300, the Pavo Police Department at (229) 859-2111 or Crime Stoppers at (850) 574-TIPS or (888) 876-TIPS.
http://www.tallahassee.com/article/...ing-to-new-areas-in-Leon-County-south-Georgia
