Found Safe FL - Erica Ann Johnson, 36, Endangered, missed work, has no bank acct, vehicle or SM & rarely uses phone, Cape Coral, 14 July 2022 *found in 2023*

[Jemma]

They should be able to trace her known phone? Where it last pinged, that kind of thing.

I think it’s a pay as you go type of phone. like she may have to buy minutes to use it. the was it’s been referred to …. IMO

 

[Jemma]

The CSPD say she was at the the bus station on the 5th and then again on the 8th. why days apart? was she buying her ticket? do she put stuff in a storage locker?

the one lingering question for me is ….. Did she get off the bus in tampa? we know there’s gotta be plenty of cameras off and on the bus.

 

[Beekarina]

I think it’s a pay as you go type of phone. like she may have to buy minutes to use it. the was it’s been referred to …. IMO

They still trace, as far as I know. They connect to cell towers, and there would almost certainly be a record of an account.
I set up one for one of my teens a couple years ago, and it worked pretty similarly to a regular phone, except you purchased minutes vs paying a traditional bill. (logged in to a website and voila.)

IF someone wanted to "hide" an account, you probably could figure it out. But since she was known to have a phone, people must have had her number (her kids, her ex) and that was likely llinked to a SIM card, an account and her real name

 

[Beekarina]

I do not believe any function the way they did decades ago when you just bought a phone, set it up by calling a number, and went to a random gas station and bought scratch off cards that were prepaid with so many minutes on them. Those were real burner phones. You could have said your name was anything and just picked a random area code, whatever. I'm sure plenty of people did. I think A LOT has changed since those days.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

She boarded a Florida bus — then vanished, cops say. Her pet bunny was along for the ride

 

[Beekarina]

This is pixelated--I cropped from the video in the link Tootsie shared in post #65 and then cropped and ran it through an enhancer. Erica is clearly talking on the phone in the bus station. She has an earpiece in one ear, and the phone is visible in her hand:

 

[Beekarina]

She also seems to be making an effort to cover as much of her face as possible. smaller image:

 

[Jemma]

I do not believe any function the way they did decades ago when you just bought a phone, set it up by calling a number, and went to a random gas station and bought scratch off cards that were prepaid with so many minutes on them. Those were real burner phones. You could have said your name was anything and just picked a random area code, whatever. I'm sure plenty of people did. I think A LOT has changed since those days.

this is what i’m thinking of!

 

[MDATCA]

Being employed she'd have to have some way to get paid and cash her paycheck. With no bank account that makes it tough to track but I wonder when she got paid last. Was she carrying the check or lots of cash with her?

Not hard to cash the check here in Florida. There are check cashing places everywhere. Plus many pawn shops will cash them for a percentage.

 

[megs1477]

The Greyhound Bus Station in Tampa is downtown. There are tons of businesses, offices, parks, etc. That means a lot of traffic cameras, business cameras, etc. When she exited that bus, they had to have caught her on surveillance somewhere nearby. She would have arrived mid afternoon, long before sunset at 8:30pm.


View attachment 356731

It doesn't matter what time of day it is, the area around the bus station, especially a few blocks away under the overpasses, is sketchy!

 

[imstilla.grandma]

 

[Knitty]

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[DeDee]

Try this link. I couldn't see all of the comments on the other link, but this one works for me. There are several comments and replies by DG throughout the thread. There is also a reply by ML who is from Erica's hometown.

Cape Coral Police Department

UPDATED: 5-27-2023 @5:40 p.m. Ms. Johnson has been located in Ohio and is safe, thank you. UPDATED: 7/28/2022, Ms. Johnson boarded a Greyhound bus in Fort Myers on the morning of July 8th, 2022...

www.facebook.com

Just finding the thread after seeing #JBs live on Facebook. Erica has been gone a long time!

CG PD posted this on 7/28 from the FB link you provided:
Ms. Johnson boarded a nonstop Greyhound bus in Fort Myers in the early morning hour of July 8th, 2022 which departed for Tampa. She was carrying bags, a travel pillow, and her bunny...

Erica looked great as a blonde but she's changed that color and dyed her hair dark [black] on July4. So, I suppose she's still in Tampa with her bunny. Back to reading!

 

[DeDee]

Not hard to cash the check here in Florida. There are check cashing places everywhere. Plus many pawn shops will cash them for a percentage.

Erica left her three paychecks at her last job at the hotel in Ft Myers Beach. For some reason, she never picked them up. This indicates to me her thinking is cloudy for who willing walks away with 3 weeks worth of pay after working for it? [source: video posted by @imstilla.grandma post 71]

Her dying her hair dark the day before she disappeared is a clue, too. They're going to have to trace the entire bus route to see if they can locate cctv footage of her in other stations along the way to Tampa.

Anyone with information regarding her disappearance is urged to contact CCPD at (239) 242-3320.

 

[Unalienable Rights]

Her dying her hair dark the day before she disappeared is a clue, too. They're going to have to trace the entire bus route to see if they can locate cctv footage of her in other stations along the way to Tampa.

The Greyhound bus was nonstop to Tampa, as mentioned in the July 28 police update.

 

[Jemma]

She also seems to be making an effort to cover as much of her face as possible. smaller image:

agreed! masking helped alot of people hide there faces. the ball cap and the mask makes her unrecognizable. you’d have to watch her walk and mannerisms.

 

[Beekarina]

agreed! masking helped alot of people hide there faces. the ball cap and the mask makes her unrecognizable. you’d have to watch her walk and mannerisms.

Right, and she is not simply masking--she has a huge one on, it is pulled way up and the cap seems oversized down too. Perhaps the angle the camera captured, but paired with drastically changing her hair, and leaving 3 weeks worth of paychecks (??), this feels to me as though she tried to hide her actions.

I keep going back to the bunny fencing though. IF she went to the trouble to disguise herself knowing there are cameras everywhere, but then she carted a bunch of fencing around? So odd...but perhaps the fencing will help LE trace her movements on that day at least.

 

[WingsOverTX]

Thinking about this missing woman & her working at a hotel makes me wonder if she met a man there. Being a secretive (aka private) person, she may have wanted to reestablish herself elsewhere before getting back in contact with those who might not agree with her choices.

I do think (and hope) she is simply "missing" rather than having met with foul play.

I have a strong feeling she has pulled a runner before, as in packed up & moved on without much notice to those close to her. When & where did she meet her ex? How old are her children?

To me, this looks like an organized plan to move on. What do her co-workers know?

The mystery is deepened by her private lifestyle, which stands out against the habits of most people. But I know people who eschew social media, are not phone addicts, etc. & still lead "normal" lives. One of them has a rather privacy obsessive outlook which I find odd but the person is not a hermit.

Just my 2 cents

 

[PommyMommy]

AUG 1, 2022

'Missing and Endangered' Woman Last Seen on Video Leaving City on Greyhound Bus, Police Say

Police released new imagery of a woman leaving town on a bus days before her family reported her missing.

lawandcrime.com

[...]

Authorities originally released a picture of Johnson with brown hair but a newly released image shows her with blonde hair. A friend said that Johnson worked as a housekeeper at Best Western Plus Beach Resort in the city of Fort Myers and had dyed her hair dark around the 4th of July, according to the Beach Observer.

“The additional photos include an updated photo of Ms. Johnson, family and co-workers [who] have stated that that her hair color is brown with blonde highlights,” cops said in their update. “The updated photo also shows as small freckle on the lower side of her face.”

[...]

“Based on new information ascertained during the investigation, Johnson’s status has been upgraded to a missing and endangered adult,” police said.

[...]

Family and friends love and miss Johnson, her mother said in a statement to the outlet.

“I would like to thank the people of Cape Coral & Fort Myers for their kindness and support in helping to locate Erica and the Cape Coral Police Department for their efforts over the past few weeks,” the mother reportedly said. “Erica is loved and missed by her family and friends who are devastated by her disappearance. We remain hopeful that she will be found safe very soon. If you have seen her, or have any information on her whereabouts, please contact the Cape Coral Police Department.”

[...]

 

[WingsOverTX]

AUG 1, 2022

'Missing and Endangered' Woman Last Seen on Video Leaving City on Greyhound Bus, Police Say

Police released new imagery of a woman leaving town on a bus days before her family reported her missing.

lawandcrime.com

[...]

Authorities originally released a picture of Johnson with brown hair but a newly released image shows her with blonde hair. A friend said that Johnson worked as a housekeeper at Best Western Plus Beach Resort in the city of Fort Myers and had dyed her hair dark around the 4th of July, according to the Beach Observer.

“The additional photos include an updated photo of Ms. Johnson, family and co-workers [who] have stated that that her hair color is brown with blonde highlights,” cops said in their update. “The updated photo also shows as small freckle on the lower side of her face.”

[...]

“Based on new information ascertained during the investigation, Johnson’s status has been upgraded to a missing and endangered adult,” police said.

[...]

Family and friends love and miss Johnson, her mother said in a statement to the outlet.

“I would like to thank the people of Cape Coral & Fort Myers for their kindness and support in helping to locate Erica and the Cape Coral Police Department for their efforts over the past few weeks,” the mother reportedly said. “Erica is loved and missed by her family and friends who are devastated by her disappearance. We remain hopeful that she will be found safe very soon. If you have seen her, or have any information on her whereabouts, please contact the Cape Coral Police Department.”

[...]

I'd like to know what evidence leads to the label of "endangered". She had a place to live, a job, regular contact with her children. Maybe ongoing contact with her mom? I would be frustrated by her disappearance if she were my friend or relative but she took her bunny & its enclosure. That says to me she decided to move on for whatever reason. I hope she will get in touch with someone so she can have some space without being harassed. Even dying her hair black doesn't stand out as a danger sign to me. Probably just coincidence!

I realize I'm probably in the minority here. Tell me why she is endangered and maybe that will change my mind.

MOO