Ciera Breland disappearance: Family pleas for mother-in-law's help in case
JOHNS CREEK, Ga. - The family of a missing Indiana mother made a direct and personal plea via Faceook to her mother-in-law whose house in Johns Creek, Georgia, police where the 31-year-old was reportedly last seen.
The appeal comes as authorities have offered a $10,000 reward for information that leads information about the whereabouts of Cierra Breland.
CIERA BRELAND DISAPPEARANCE: $10K REWARD OFFERED AS FAMILY SEARCH FOR MISSING MOTHER
Johns Creek police say investigators were able to last place Ciera Breland at this home on Highgate Manor Court on Feb. 24, 2022. (FOX 5)
Ciera Breland's family makes personal plea
In a Facebook group titled "Where is Ciera (Locklair) Breland" where details surrounding her disappearance are discussed and family, friends, and volunteers coordinate search efforts, Ciera’s former sister-in-law Lauryn Locklair made a direct appeal to Ciera's mother-in-law, whose house the 31-year-old mother was last seen.
"Rochelle, we know Ciera was last seen at your home. As a mother, myself, I understand your pain," she wrote. "I’ve tried putting myself in your shoes and imagining if it were my son. What would I do? It would be a temptation to protect him. But in life, people make their own choices and have to clean up their own messes. I’m hoping you find your humanity and consider what you’d do if it were your daughter!"
Ciera was last seen by her family on Feb. 20 as she and her husband Xavier left to travel to his mother’s home in Johns Creek. She was last seen at 7:17 p.m. on Feb. 24 at a home along Highgate Manor Court in the Parsons Walk subdivision in Johns Creek, the Johns Creek Police Department said. The address given by police is the same address family members have said is the home of her mother-in-law. Less than 48 hours would pass before Xavier would report her missing in Carmel, Indiana.
Investigators in Indiana and Johns Creek have described Ciera’s husband Xavier as a person of interest in the disappearance. Police in Indiana arrested Xavier Breland on an outstanding warrant for aggravated stalking in Coweta County, Georgia. He remains in the Hamilton County jail awaiting extradition. He has not been charged in connection to Ciera’s disappearance.
Ciera (Locklair) Breland (Family photo)
Locklair met Ciera when she was 16 and still feels very close to her to this day. She and her family has been feeling their own pain since her disappearance. Locklair said her sons and daughter, Ciera’s nephews and niece, have been taking her disappearance particular hard.
CIERA BRELAND LAST SEEN AT MOTHER-IN-LAW'S HOME IN JOHNS CREEK
"If Xavier stays behind bars you’ll be able to still hear his voice, his laugh. He will still be able to visit family even though his life will change," she continued in her post. "These will be things Ciera’s family cannot do. These will be things Ciera cannot do."
Since that time, the family has been preparing for the worst while hoping for the best.
"Imagine if it was your baby girl or your sister or your mother out there. Just out there somewhere without you being able to properly lay them to rest. I held her mother yesterday while she sobbed. Wondering the worst possible scenarios of what’s happening to her baby girl as she’s laying there," her post continued. "This is a mother’s worst nightmare and there’s no way you can even fathom this kind of heartbreak and pain unless you’ve experienced it."
Xavier Breland Jr., was arrested by the Newnan Police Department on aggravated stalking charges on June 2, 2022. (Coweta County Sheriff's Office)
Ciera’s husband has since been named a person of interest and has been arrested in Indiana on an outstanding warrant for aggravated stalking in Coweta County, Georgia. He remained in the Hamilton County jail awaiting extradition. He has not been charged in connection to Ciera disappearance.
"Please come forward with any information you have. We don’t care if you remain anonymous. We just want to find her!" she concluded in her post.
FRIENDS, FAMILY PLAN ORGANIZED SEARCH FOR CIERA BRELAND
Family and friends of Ciera Breland pass out flyers in Johns Creek on March 11, 2022. (FOX 5)
What is known about Ciera Breland's disappearance?
Family members said Ciera and her husband traveled to Georgia to visit with family. She arrived in Cleveland, Georgia at her fathers’ house on Saturday, February 19. Family members said the 31-year-old got to see her nieces and nephews for the first time since she moved from metro Atlanta to just outside of Indianapolis after taking a job at a new law firm. The missing woman’s former sister-in-law told FOX 5 it was a good visit with the family.
At some point during the stay, family members said she asked if she could move back in with them. Despite the request, she left the next day with Xavier to reportedly visit his family just north of Atlanta.
This was the last time her family saw her.
Police now confirm Ciera made it 45 miles southwest to his family’s home in Johns Creek, Georgia. Investigators have not released too many details from there. She was last seen at a home off Highgate Manor Court in the Parsons Walk subdivision on the evening of Feb. 24.
TIMELINE OF CIERA BRELAND'S DISAPPEARANCE
Police said the couple was driving a white 2017 Volkswagen Tiguan with Georgia tag RMB 5869. An FSU Law School frame surrounds the license plate. Family members are hoping someone saw the vehicle they were driving sometime in that week and will step forward to tell investigators when and where that was.
CIERA BRELAND DISAPPEARANCE: FORMER SISTER-IN-LAW PLEADS FOR JUSTICE
On Feb. 22, her cousin and best friend tried to call her but go not response.
"She was always communicating with me, with her father and with the rest of the family," said Shelly Campbell adding she would never just disappear like this on her own.
The next day, the couple was supposed to be headed back to Indiana, but family members are not convinced Ciera was with Xavier.
A missing person's report to the Carmel Police Department states Ciera Breland was last seen at this home in the Brookstone Park of Carmel subdivision in Carmel, Indiana on Feb. 25, 2022. (FOX 59)
On Feb. 25, according to the Carmel Police Department’s official missing person’s report filed by her husband, Ciera left their home in the Brookstone Park of Carmel subdivision in Carmel, Indiana sometime shortly after 10 p.m. to walk to the nearby store. She reportedly was wearing a black top and purple shorts in temperatures that were in the mid- to upper-20s that night.
Family members said police told them she never arrived back in Indiana and there was no surveillance video of her entering a CVS store where she was reportedly seen. They also are concerned because her personal phone, her work phone, and a burner phone were all left behind along with her ID, credit cards, and the couple’s five-month-old son. Family members said she had the burner phone to contact them in case of an emergency.
"I can tell you that is not Ciera in any way shape or form. She is not the one to walk away. She is the first one to call," said Campbell.
Ciera is described by police as being 5-feet tall and weighing about 120 pounds with blonde hair.
GEORGIA POLICE SEARCHING FOR MISSING 31-YEAR-OLD INDIANA MOTHER
Ciera (Locklair) Breland (Family photo)
The Carmel Police Department issued an alert for Ciera on their Facebook page the next night, and in the course of the investigation, the Johns Creek Police Department soon joined in the search. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation and FBI soon also joined in the investigation.
"We are a secondary, if you will, department, we’re an assisting agency," said Johns Creek Police Lt Gregory Todd Hood.
Despite that, the police department has been busy combing through surveillance video and following up on leads.
"The family is not concerned about jurisdiction and stuff like that. They want to find Ciera," Lt. Hood said.
Friday, two weeks after a missing person's report was filed in Indiana, family, friends, police, and volunteers gathered to canvass a couple neighborhoods in Johns Creek. Their focus on Friday was two neighborhoods along Medlock Bridge Road where police believe Ciera may have traveled through during her stay in Georgia.
"If we knew her last known location 100%, then we would push the investigation in that direction," Lt. Hood said.
Family and friends of Ciera Breland canvass neighborhoods off Medlock Bridge Road on March 11, 2022 where she may have visited during her stay in Georgia (FOX 5)
Until then, Lt. Hood said investigators have to go with the report filed by her husband Xavier.
In addition to the flyers being passed out, the Johns Creek Police Department also set up electronic signs at two places along Kimball Bridge Road asking for the public's help. They also have reached out to several commercial electronic sign companies to help plaster Ciera's face and information across metro Atlanta.
"We are pulling in every resource we can," said Johns Creek Police Lt Gregory Todd Hood.
The family also hopes their efforts Friday and the efforts of the two police departments as well as state and local agencies will help push the investigation forward. They also are hopeful the $10,000 reward will net more tips.
Anyone with information surrounding the case is asked to call Corporal Rozier with the Johns Creek Police Department at 678-372-8046, the Carmel Police Department at (317) 571-2580, Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at 317-262-TIPS (8477), the Georgia Bureau of Investigation tip line at 1-800-597-TIPS(8477) or the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (225-5324).
FBI JOINS SEARCH FOR CIERA BRELAND, THE INDIANA MOTHER AND LAWYER LAST SEEN TWO WEEKS AGO
The Johns Creek Police Department put up electronic signs asking for help in finding Ciera Breland on March 11, 2022. (FOX 5)
Who is Ciera Breland?
Ciera Breland is a mother of a five-month-old boy and an attorney who just moved from the metro Atlanta area to an Indianapolis suburb to join a new firm.
"She is very charismatic. She is a tiny little person with a huge emotion and presence. She is a spitfire. She is a mother, she is a best friend, she is an aunt," said cousin and best friend Shelly Campbell.
"She’s an aunt, she’s a mother, she’s a sister, she’s a niece, she’s a cousin, she’s a lawyer, she’s a dog lover," said Jeannie Locklair Bush, her aunt, adding her dog Baker is missing her.
She had moved to Georgia to practice law after Florida State University College of Law and the University of Tennessee.
Ciera (Locklair) Breland (Family photo)
Family said she and her husband Xavier Breland Jr moved from their Fairburn, Georgia home to Carmel, Indiana less than a year ago. That is when family members said she began to grow distant.
"My sister, they were like strapped together, they never stopped talking to each other, they were, she called her like two or three times a day most of the time, and when my sister texted her, she would always call back without fail," said cousin Luke Locklair.
The past two weeks have been waves of emotions for the Locklair family as they search for Ciera.
"We're devastated, completely shattered with Ciera's disappearance. It's not like her to not call," aunt Jeannie Bush said with tears in her eyes.
Despite accepting the worst may have happened, they remain hopeful for the best outcome.
"I am still waiting for her to call and yell at me for telling all of her business to other people that she didn’t want anyone to know," Campbell said. "When she comes back she is going to be mad at all of us."
Ciera Breland (Johns Creek Police Department)
But what they want most of all are answers.
"We haven't heard from her in a couple of weeks. We know she is out there somewhere and we're asking the community from here to Indiana to help us find her and bring her home," said Bush.
"We’re hoping somebody somewhere has seen her," Campbell said.
Ciera is described by police as being 5-feet tall and weighing about 120 pounds with blonde hair.
Her current law firm issued a statement following her disappearance which reads:
"Speaking for the entire Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani family, I can express that we have been deeply concerned about Ciera’s wellbeing over the past week and have been doing our utmost to assist both the local and federal authorities as well as Ciera’s family in determining her whereabouts and helping in any other ways we can. We all pray for Ciera’s safe return and remain at the highest level of vigilance pending resolution of this extremely troubling situation. Anyone with any possible information about Ciera’s whereabouts is urged to contact the authorities immediately."
Xavier Breland Jr., was arrested in Indiana for an outstanding warrant in Coweta County, Georgia on March 1, 2022. (Hamilton County Sheriff's Office)
Who is Xavier Breland?
Xavier Breland Jr., 37, was arrested on March 2 on an unrelated warrant out of Coweta County. He was being held in the Hamilton County jail in Indiana awaiting extradition to Georgia. The Coweta County courts were revoking his bond on an aggravated stalking charge filed by the Newnan Police Department on the same day Xavier said his wife, Ciera, went missing.
According to court records, Breland had an arraignment on that charge on Feb. 23. The next day, a bench warrant was issued for his arrest and by Friday, the court was working to void his bond.
He was originally arrested back in June by the Newnan Police Department on those charges. A grand jury indicted him on those aggravated stalking charges in December.
This is not the first legal trouble he has been in. Source told FOX 5 News he was had warrants associated with harassing phone calls and violating a family violence order. In 2007, court records indicate he was arrested in Florida and extradited to Indiana on a fugitive warrant.
He also has several citations relating to his time as a trucker. Breland has also operated his own car detailing business.
Xavier Breland Jr., was arrested by the Newnan Police Department on aggravated stalking charges on June 2, 2022. (Coweta County Sheriff's Office)
Family members said Ciera had been married to Xavier for a less than a year. The two married after only four months and had a son, Jackson in October.
Ciera's best friend and cousin Shelly Campbell said she wasn't even sure Ciera had even changed her last name yet.
The two had moved from the metro Atlanta area to an Indianapolis suburb earlier this year when she took a job at a new law firm.
Family members believed Xavier exhibited odd behavior in the past including paranoia and unnecessary aggression.
Investigators called Xavier a person of interest in her disappearance, but have not charged him in connection to her disappearance.
Ciera's parents are working to bring the couple's five-month-old son back with them to Georgia.
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