Found Deceased AL - Natalie Jones, 27, Opelika, 5 July 2020

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mlhenn said:
From the family:
“While Natalie has been diagnosed as Bi-Polar and Schizophrenic she had not been placed on medication and her actions and temperament around the time of her disappearance does not lead the family or from our understanding, the authorities to believe it is a factor in her disappearance.
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Thank you. Going to assume it is legal for family of missing persons to release mental health records or conditions in cases that don't involve medications. It makes sense. (But it's also very scary I think...)
 
allyoucantleavebehind said:
Two thoughts/questions:

1. I've never heard of someone being diagnosed as "Bi-polar and Schizophrenic" and not being placed on medication unless it was considered a misdiagnosis? I worry when media quotes mental health diagnoses so casually.

2. How is the press allowed to make this medical information public if both family and authorities say it isn't a factor? I don't know much about medical privacy in missing persons cases, so I'm trying to learn about who makes the decisions about which medical information is released. Is it LE or family or can media do that without corroboration?

Thanks all. :)
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It’s hard to believe she isn’t on any medication if she is bi-polar. Her parents mentioning it confirms it. I would think the information was leaked out because it’s a diagnosed mental condition.
If the person mentioned (ex) being held without bond is in fact involved in narcotics I wonder if LE is exploring trafficking as well? Often times the two worlds intersect. This case seems solvable yet it’s 6 weeks since she disappeared. It’s hard to fathom that LE hasn’t at least found her car.
 
Hansen said:
It’s hard to fathom that LE hasn’t at least found her car.
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It really is. The car is so noticeable. I feel like a car that noticeable should be on every poster because it's so distinct and might jog memories.

Here in Alabama, Lake Martin (where she went to the party) is a pretty well-off area and lots of well-connected, high profile people around the state have lakehouses there. Those lakehouses have been seeing lots of action during the pandemic--think of the Hamptons, Alabama-style. Lots of privilege, money, and power. I feel like something happened at that party that changed things for Natalie, and I hope LE are still working the case in Lake Martin.
 
allyoucantleavebehind said:
It really is. The car is so noticeable. I feel like a car that noticeable should be on every poster because it's so distinct and might jog memories.

Here in Alabama, Lake Martin (where she went to the party) is a pretty well-off area and lots of well-connected, high profile people around the state have lakehouses there. Those lakehouses have been seeing lots of action during the pandemic--think of the Hamptons, Alabama-style. Lots of privilege, money, and power. I feel like something happened at that party that changed things for Natalie, and I hope LE are still working the case in Lake Martin.
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Have they confirmed if she went to the party by herself? Who specifically invited her to the party? Definitely would like to know that.
 
Hansen said:
Have they confirmed if she went to the party by herself? Who specifically invited her to the party? Definitely would like to know that.
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I'm going to keep hunting but this article piqued my interest as well:

"Authorities are also trying to get access to her social media accounts, and Jones was known to have been communicating through apps on her way home, according to Boswell.

Jones left the get together at a friend’s house in Jackson’s Gap on Lake Martin at about 11:30 p.m. Alabama time, Boswell said. The friends had offered to let her stay the night, but Jones told them she had something to do Sunday morning and needed to get home, Boswell said.

Texted “I made it” – but she didn’t

About an hour and 15 minutes later, she texted those friends “I made it,” Boswell said. That’s about the amount of time the drive from Jackson’s Gap to her home should have taken.

But Jones never made it home.

Boswell said investigators have spoken to people Jones was texting through her phone, and all have been cooperative. But so far, they haven’t been able to get the records of her conversations with people on texting apps and social media.

“We’re still looking into some of those individuals ... just to see if maybe she had met up with someone,” Boswell said.​
 
allyoucantleavebehind said:
I'm going to keep hunting but this article piqued my interest as well:

"Authorities are also trying to get access to her social media accounts, and Jones was known to have been communicating through apps on her way home, according to Boswell.

Jones left the get together at a friend’s house in Jackson’s Gap on Lake Martin at about 11:30 p.m. Alabama time, Boswell said. The friends had offered to let her stay the night, but Jones told them she had something to do Sunday morning and needed to get home, Boswell said.

Texted “I made it” – but she didn’t

About an hour and 15 minutes later, she texted those friends “I made it,” Boswell said. That’s about the amount of time the drive from Jackson’s Gap to her home should have taken.

But Jones never made it home.

Boswell said investigators have spoken to people Jones was texting through her phone, and all have been cooperative. But so far, they haven’t been able to get the records of her conversations with people on texting apps and social media.

“We’re still looking into some of those individuals ... just to see if maybe she had met up with someone,” Boswell said.​
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This article is interesting. It makes me question a few things!
•what apps was she using during that time and was this a norm thing for her to do?
•did LE ever get access to those conversations & interview those people?
•the people she was talking to from the party not the same ones she was communicating with through the apps that night?
•what did she have to go do that following morning that she couldn’t stay?
•were these friends at the party her normal group she often spent time with or were they more like acquaintances?
•when she sent the text “I made it” was this because: a) she actually made it to her home b) she made it to where she really was intending to go c) she was “made” to text that d)went ahead & sent it b/c she felt she was close enough to the house to do so?
 
mlhenn said:
This article is interesting. It makes me question a few things!
•what apps was she using during that time and was this a norm thing for her to do?
•did LE ever get access to those conversations & interview those people?
•the people she was talking to from the party not the same ones she was communicating with through the apps that night?
•what did she have to go do that following morning that she couldn’t stay?
•were these friends at the party her normal group she often spent time with or were they more like acquaintances?
•when she sent the text “I made it” was this because: a) she actually made it to her home b) she made it to where she really was intending to go c) she was “made” to text that d)went ahead & sent it b/c she felt she was close enough to the house to do so?
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A few answers (and more questions:):

1. The text may have been sent to her sister. [Per: "According to her sister, Jessica Bishop, someone sent a text from Natalie’s phone around at around 12:52 a.m. on July 5. It’s the last known message from her Jones’ phone."]

2. Her sister also seems to have different knowledge of Natalie's mental health issues. [Per: Bishop said Jones “has never been diagnosed with schizophrenia to my knowledge” and “was on no medication for any mental illness.”]

3. Heard County Sheriff seems to be handling the investigation so I'm not sure how much help is coming from across the state border in Alabama at the Opelika location where she was last seen. The GBI still isn't involved (from what I've found in media) but this case would really benefit from FBI involvement given its multiple locations.

4. I read somewhere that the male host who invited her to his family's lakehouse fell asleep and Natalie decided to leave after that. She may have said she had something to do because she didn't feel safe crashing there (for whatever reason). MOO "something to do" is a way out of an uncomfortable situation of being invited to spend the night--which also suggests that maybe she wasn't all that close or comfortable with these friends?

5. LE has interviewed those people--supposedly they are cooperating, along with ex boyfriend and father of kids.

6. Whatever app she was using was a "texting app" which suggests discord or whatsapp. LE would have access to those with a search warrant but not having the phone makes it harder to access her records on those apps?

7. Why isn't Alabama police involved and why isn't this all over the media in Alabama?

8. Why do all the posters mention mental health issues and medication and frame this as more of a voluntary absence when the cell phone actions make this seem very unlikely?

9. How is the child custody battle related?

I'm frustrated with lack of LE coordination and visibility for Natalie in this case. It seems like only her sisters are keeping her name alive right now. :(
 
allyoucantleavebehind said:
Heard County Sheriff seems to be handling the investigation so I'm not sure how much help is coming from across the state border in Alabama at the Opelika location where she was last seen. The GBI still isn't involved (from what I've found in media) but this case would really benefit from FBI involvement given its multiple locations.
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GBI now involved in Natalie's Case; Added to Missing Person's List

Thanks to the efforts of Natalie’s Family and the countless supporters, the GBI met with the family on July 27th. In response the GBI has added Natalie Peral Jones to the Georgia Missing Person’s List and will be assisting the Heard County Sheriff’s office in the investigation to her Disappearance.


The addition of the GBI to the investigation brings much needed resources and exposure to her disappearance and renews hope that her whereabouts and safe return will be coming shortly.

Below is the link to Natalie’s Page on the GBI Missing Person’s Website.
Missing Persons: Natalie Pearl Jones
 
mlhenn said:
GBI now involved in Natalie's Case; Added to Missing Person's List

Thanks to the efforts of Natalie’s Family and the countless supporters, the GBI met with the family on July 27th. In response the GBI has added Natalie Peral Jones to the Georgia Missing Person’s List and will be assisting the Heard County Sheriff’s office in the investigation to her Disappearance.


The addition of the GBI to the investigation brings much needed resources and exposure to her disappearance and renews hope that her whereabouts and safe return will be coming shortly.

Below is the link to Natalie’s Page on the GBI Missing Person’s Website.
Missing Persons: Natalie Pearl Jones
Click to expand...

Thank you @mlhenn .
 
According to Natalie's FB page, she decided to only use the Snapchat app for messaging starting back in March. Per questions about which app she used to communicate with friends back at party and say she was "safe".

Does anyone else feel like it's a very unintimate, un-close-friendy text to say "I made it, thanks"? I wonder if this was Natalie. If it wasn't, then it was someone from the party or someone who knew she was leaving the party and going home and knew the people in attendance. If it was Natalie, then she wasn't very close to the person she texted. It sounds like something I would text to my MIL. :)
 
oviedo said:
Her car may be inside a garage and that’s why it hasn’t been located yet
JMO
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That's a really interesting thought. It would have to be a garage or a large POD or something that is 1) away from people or 2) hasn't been opened so that others could catch a glimpse of that color from outside.
Alternately, it could be in a garage with a large sheet over it.
 
Hansen said:
I'm afraid we are going to find out she was in to some things she shouldn't have been and around some bad people. All of which led to her disappearance.
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Sigh. If that's true, then those "bad people" are very powerful and well-placed people in Alabama. Not your average "bad people" but the sort that own local web servers and serve in appointed local positions and have power on city councils.

I think it's strange that we are hearing so little about this case here in Alabama. I think it's really really interesting.
 
I read that the last ping on her phone was within a couple of miles of her house. There is talk on social media that she may have stopped by her old boyfriend's place which is 2 miles from her home. "I made it" might have meant she made it to her town, and maybe she didn't want to say she was somewhere she should not have been. MOO
 
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