A 25-year-old Barberton woman missing since December 17 has been found alive and living out of her car in Jackson, Tennessee, police said on Sunday night.
The family of Ma’Ri’Ana Spaulding had feared for the woman’s safety after she failed to contact family members throughout the holidays, missing her own birthday and that of her four-year-old son. It was his first birthday out of the hospital after a heart transplant, Spaulding’s mother, Lavina Black, said in a January 11 interview.
Barberton police had asked the public for help after efforts to locate Spaulding had failed, and family members pleaded on social media for help locating her.
“We found her alive and ok!!!”
– Lavina Black, Spaulding’s mother
Police from as far away as Rockport, Texas, had sought information as news of Spaulding’s disappearance spread. Her family offered a $5,000 reward in an effort to locate her. On January 12, Ohio Attorney General David Yost’s office posted a plea on Twitter to help locate the missing woman.
In a text message Monday morning, Black celebrated the news that her daughter had been located.
“We found her alive and ok!!!” Black wrote.
Spaulding’s mother said on January 11 that she became increasingly worried when her daughter didnot call during the holidays.
“She missed Christmas, her birthday, her son’s birthday, New Year’s and then my birthday,” Black said.
In the Sunday statement, Barberton police said officers in Jackson checked on Spaulding’s welfare and notified her family that she had been found.
