FL FL - Donna Chatterton, 46, Tice, 5 February 2015

LEE COUNTY, Fla.- Authorities are asking for the public’s assistance in locating a missing woman.
Donna Chatterton, 46, has been missing for almost a week. Chatterton’s mobile home on Glenwood Avenue burned to the ground last Thursday. Chatterton’s roommate says she wasn’t home when it happened, and the last time he saw her was Wednesday morning. “I am worried for her safety. I want to know she’s alright, I wanna know where she is,” said Matt Albritton.

Albritton has only known Chatterton for about four months. Now he’s finding himself in the middle of a missing persons investigation. “Of course it’s weird, you can imagine the things going through my mind,” said Albritton.

Albritton says he moved in with Chatterton about two months ago. He says the last time he saw her, was the morning before her mobile home erupted in flames.

Click to expand...

Detectives and family members are still on the lookout for 47-year-old Donna Chatterton. The Vermont-native disappeared from her home in Tice last Wednesday.

Less than 24 hours before her disappearance, Chatterton's trailer burned to the ground. On Friday, family and neighbors held a vigil for her.

It has been more than eight days since anyone has seen or heard from Donna Chatterton.

"I just don't want anybody to forget about her," said Rhonda Whitney, Chatterton's sister.

Rhonda Whitney - along with Chatterton's niece, nephew and a group of close friends and neighbors - returned to the missing woman's former home for a vigil on Friday.

Along with a Facebook group that already has more than 1,000 followers dedicated to helping find Chatterton, the family is putting up fliers all over town hoping someone has seen her.

Click to expand...

Detectives with the Lee County Sheriff's Office Major Crimes Unit believe a missing East Fort Myers woman, Donna Chatterton, 46, may have met with foul play and they're encouraging anyone with information on her disappearance to come forward.

Chatterton's roommate, Peter Matthew Albritton, 40, tells detectives he last saw Chatterton on February 4. The next day, their residence at 4606 Glenwood Avenue was destroyed by fire.

Click to expand...

With no clear explanation as to Donna's whereabouts, detectives are leaving their business cards at the front doors of neighbor's homes, hoping to talk to someone with information.

Click to expand...

Sleuthster said:

Makes me wonder if the fire was not accidental and possibly set to destroy evidence of a more sinister crime.

Click to expand...

The search is intensifying for a missing Tice woman.

WINK News confirmed a K-9 search and rescue team from Sarasota has been called to help search the area surrounding 46-year-old Donna Chatterton’s home.

Deputies say she vanished just hours before her home burned to the ground and they suspect foul play.

Her roommate, Peter “Matt” Albritton, was the last one to see her on February 4, the morning before their mobile home burned down. He told WINK News he has no idea where she could be.

Sarasota K-9 Search and Rescue, a non-profit organization, was contacted by the Lee County Sheriff’s Office to help them search the property Friday morning.

Earlier this week, the sheriff’s office said they suspect foul play is involved in Chatterton’s disappearance.

Click to expand...

Monday would have been Chatterton’s 47th Birthday. Her family held a vigil for her and released balloons into the air.

Anyone with information connected to this case is asked to contact Crime Stoppers. You can remain anonymous by calling 800-780-TIPS (8477).

Click to expand...

SociologySleuth said:

I wonder what made them change the status of this case to a possible homicide? (I've thought it was all along, but am curious as to why it is labeled as such now...)

Click to expand...

It was the evening of February 4, 2015 when Donna Chatterton's home went up in flames.

"I just remember getting a call from my mom saying the house had burned to the ground," Rhonda Whitney, Donna's sister, told Dateline. "I asked, 'Well where is Donna?'"

Donna, 46 at the time, lived in the home in Lee County, Florida with a roommate, an acquaintance Rhonda says Donna was helping out at the time. The man, Matt Albritton, who had lived with Donna for two months leading up to the fire, told police Donna was not home that night.

No remains were found in charred leftovers of the house, and after a few days without Donna showing up or contacting her family, her mother and siblings began to worry. Most of the family lives within blocks of one another.

Click to expand...