NM NM - Leah Peebles, 23, Albuquerque, 22 May 2006

[theshadow45]

Bumping, today is Leah’s birthday.

 

[YaYa_521]

Leah Rachelle Peebles – The Charley Project

Details of Disappearance​

Peebles moved from Fort Worth, Texas to Albuquerque, New Mexico on May 5, 2006. She was temporarily residing with friends in the vicinity of the 2100 block of Erbbe Street northeast when she disappeared on May 22, 2006.

She left the home to go on a date with a man she'd met at the Flying Star Cafe, where she planned to start working the following week. She never returned and has never been heard from again. Her vehicle was later found abandoned.

Peebles grew up in a middle-class, Christian home in Fort Worth. Her parents stated she was molested by a distant relative as a toddler and raped by an acquaintance she was fourteen.

She was initially a good student at Carter-Riverside High School and active as a cheerleader, in drama and on the yearbook staff, but by her sophomore year she had begun abusing drugs and alcohol and dropped out of her extracurricular activities.

When Peebles was eighteen, her parents put her in the Fort Worth Teen Challenge, a Christian residential drug and alcohol treatment facility for women. She stayed in the program for 21 months, graduated from cosmetology school and took a job at a beauty salon, but soon relapsed and began using a variety of illegal drugs.

She was convicted of drug offenses twice and served two short jail sentences. Peebles was fired from her job at the salon after the second arrest, as her drug use had made her an unreliable employee. Her parents wanted her to return to rehab, but she decided to move to Albuquerque instead. She hoped to get a new start in life, make new and better friends, and stop her drug and alcohol abuse.

After Peebles disappeared, there were sightings of her reported in the Albuquerque area. The witnesses reported Peebles was calling herself "Mia" and working as a prostitute for a pimp called AJ. who supplied her with crack cocaine. Police questioned AJ, whose real name is Donald Sears, after he was arrested in Bakersfield, California, and he said he'd never heard of Peebles.

Her father made about eleven trips to Albuquerque as well as Phoenix, Arizona and Las Vegas, Nevada to search for her. The last credible sighting was in the fall of 2006, and her father thought she may have been sold to a pimp in another city.

Peebles's father was killed in an accident in South Dakota in 2014. In his obituary, Peebles is listed as having survived him. Her case remains unsolved.

 

[YaYa_521]

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Circumstances of Disappearance
Leah moved to Albuquerque, NM with hopes of starting a new life and breaking free from an addiction. She disappeared a few weeks later. Leah was last seen dropping her car off at a transmission shop in an area known for drugs and prostitution. It is unknown if Leah left Albuquerque or if she met with foul play. There has not been any known police contact with Leah that has been able to be confirmed.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

She was trying so hard but had the misfortune of being victimized numerous times in her life. So unfair and sad.

 

[chaddylex]

Leah's NamUs profile was modified on 11/2/22
She currently has 10 exclusions

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

UP5815
03/02/2008
Cochise
AZ

UP3043
11/23/2008
Fond du Lac
WI
UP10018
11/05/2006
Taos
NM

UP12683
06/06/2014
Newport News
VA

UP1405
10/29/2006
Gregg
TX

UP8690
09/20/2010
Allegheny
PA

UP6718
02/10/2010
San Bernardino
CA

UP7384
07/10/2010
San Bernardino
CA

UP7049
04/06/2010
Grady
OK

UP2274
06/15/2008
Monmouth
NJ

 

[kcroo]

Thank you for the update, Chaddylex. I think of Leah (and her Disappeared episode) often. Her dad was so dedicated to finding her. The only silver lining is she is likely with her (deceased) dad now. Still, not knowing has the be the worst part for her family. Praying she is found and can be given a proper burial.

 

[chaddylex]

Thank you for the update, Chaddylex. I think of Leah (and her Disappeared episode) often. Her dad was so dedicated to finding her. The only silver lining is she is likely with her (deceased) dad now. Still, not knowing has the be the worst part for her family. Praying she is found and can be given a proper burial.

Her case makes me so sad. My daughter and her husband are recovering addicts. (6 years clean thank goodness) Addiction is no joke and it doesn't discriminate. I hope one day we find out what happened to her.

 

[theshadow45]

Bumping, today is Leah’s birthday.

 

[theshadow45]

Leah has been missing for 17 years today.

 

[theshadow45]

Today is Leah’s birthday.