Ciera Breland was last seen in Johns Creek one year ago
Ciera (Locklair) Breland (Family photos)
JOHNS CREEK, Ga. - Thursday marks one year since missing Indiana mother Ciera Breland was seen at her mother-in-law’s home in John’s Creek.
Supporters of Ciera were encouraged on Thursday to wear green. Family members noted that it was not only her favorite color, but it also symbolized hope and optimism.
Sole ‘person of interest’ in Ciera Breland’s disappearance
Xavier Breland was booked into jail in Hamilton County, Indiana on Feb. 8, 2023. (Hamilton County Sheriff's Office)
Xavier Breland, her husband and the sole "person of interest" in her disappearance is out on bond from an Indiana jail on weapons charges.
Xavier was extradited from Georgia back to Hamilton County, Indiana on those unrelated charges at the start of the month. He was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon last November.
These latest charges for Xavier stem from an incident on Feb. 28, 2022, two days after he reported Ciera missing from their Carmel, Indiana home. Court documents indicate there was "an accidental discharge of a firearm" at a home on Baldwin Lane.
Xavier told investigators he was moving a Christmas tree in the garage when he heard a gunshot and then ran outside. He would then return to the garage, locate the gun, and unload it. Investigators said a SIG Sauer P365 and another gun were found at the scene.
He would also hand a missing person’s flyer for his wife to the officer.
Court records indicate Xavier had been convicted on felony burglary charges in 2005.
Husband reported Ciera Breland missing
Xavier Breland called the Carmel Police Department, just outside of Indianapolis, reporting that he last saw his wife around 10 p.m. on Feb. 25, 2022. He said she walked to the store in Carmel, Indiana, wearing short a black top and purple shorts in temperatures that were in the mid- to upper-20s.
Family members said police told them she never arrived and there was no surveillance video of her entering the store. They were also concerned because her personal phone, her work phone, and a burner phone were all left behind along with her ID, credit cards, as well as the couple’s 5-month-old son and her beloved dog. Family members said she had the burner phone to contact them in case of an emergency.
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)
A few days after the report was filed, Xavier was named a person of interest in his wife’s disappearance and was arrested on an unrelated charge. Police discovered he had an outstanding warrant for aggravated stalking in Coweta County. He was extradited to Georgia to face those charges.
Court records indicate he was accused of putting a tracker inside a stuffed animal belonging to his daughter with the intention of tracking the girl’s mother, his ex-wife. The case stemmed from a custody battle between the former couple.
In August 2022, he was cleared of those charges by a jury. According to online jail records, he was then taken into custody in Fulton County on contempt of court charges.
Ciera Breland was last seen in Georgia, police say
Investigators said the last known time Ciera was seen was at 7:17 p.m. on Feb. 24, 2022, at a home along Highgate Manor Court in the Parsons Walk subdivision in Johns Creek. The Johns Creek Police Department said this was following a visit to her mother-in-law's home.
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)
It was not clear how much Xavier Breland's mother was cooperating with police in the investigation, but it is now known that investigators collected evidence from that home when they executed a search warrant.
Johns Creek investigators say forensic experts and even cadaver dogs were brought in for a search. They were searching for blood stains, signs of a struggle, or anything that might have given a clue as to what happened during the couple’s stay.
Police said the K-9 did not find a good scent trail at the home.
The type of evidence collected from the home was not revealed as the case remains under investigation.
Ciera Breland told family she was planning to leave Xavier
Family members are not sure Ciera ever made it back to Indiana after her trip to Georgia, but many wished she just stayed.
Xavier and Ciera had been married for about a year and had a 5-month-old son. Her family said it was anything but ideal. During the episode of Investigation Discovery’s "Disappeared" dedicated to her case, they outlined the problems the couple was experiencing.
The two met in Georgia, had a whirlwind romance, married, and then moved to Indiana after she landed a job at a law firm there. However, her family said the couple had been having problems as far back as June 2021, as they were packing to move. The family said Ciera admitted to being in a bad situation, several times openly admitting she should leave.
"I encouraged her and her father encouraged her to come home. We just wanted her to be out of the situation, but Ciera was 31 years old. I trusted her to know what to do," her mother explained in the documentary.
Ciera (Locklair) Breland (Family photo)
However, she was trying to make her relationship work. Her cousin revealed one of the biggest reasons she stayed.
"She had told me that she couldn’t leave Xavier because she couldn’t imagine letting Jackson go with Xavier," her cousin said, adding Ciera was worried she would get joint custody if the two divorced.
Still, her family said she was making plans to leave him. She was reportedly socking away money in a secret bank account and had been talking to her parents about moving back in with them for a time to get back on her feet.
Her family believes she was just waiting for a "calm moment" to make her move. That moment appeared to have never come.
Ciera’s parents have since been granted custody of the couple’s child.
Xavier Breland told his kids she was kidnaped, police say
Investigators got ahold of a jailhouse video in March 2022 which shows Xavier Breland telling his children that Ciera will not be coming home because she had been kidnaped. This contradicts what he told Carmel Police about her disappearance.
"He just creates a different story for everybody he’s talking to," her father said in a recent Investigation Discovery documentary about her disappearance.
Her family said they remain adamant that he knows what happened to her and that he is the only one who can give them the answers they need to find closure and finally let Ciera rest in peace.
Effort to find Ciera Breland continues
Family and friends of Ciera Breland pass out flyers in Johns Creek on March 11, 2022. (FOX 5)
Over the last year, there have been multiple organized searches, some targeting specific areas, but still no clues as to what happened to the new mother.
As investigators continue to try to piece things together, officers have been busy handing out flyers and even using electronic signs to try to raise awareness.
Ciera is described by police as being 5-feet tall and weighing about 120 pounds with blonde hair.
The couple was driving a white 2017 Volkswagen Tiguan with Georgia tag RMB 5869. An FSU Law School frame surrounds the license plate.
Anyone who may have seen her or her car in February is asked to call the police.
The Johns Creek Police Department put up electronic signs asking for help in finding Ciera Breland on March 11, 2022. (FOX 5)
The family also continues to hope a $10,000 reward will get them the tip that will break the case open.
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).
This story is being reported out of Atlanta