Police in Greensboro, North Carolina are asking the community to share related information The case of Marissa Carmichael, a black mother of five disappeared a year ago on January 14, 2024, from an Exxon gas station shortly after making a distress call to 911.
“We appreciate your interest in the Marissa Carmichael case and keeping it in front of your viewers and our community,” a spokesperson for the Greensboro Police Department (GPD) told ABC News on Tuesday afternoon. “While there are no public updates at this time, the investigation remains active and we encourage anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers to share tips anonymously.”
Carmichael’s mother, Sara Carmichael, told ABC News in an interview Tuesday that the family, including Marissa’s five children, is distraught pending updates from detectives working the case.
“Every day I wake up and it’s just a day where, you know, I’m going to get news,” Sara Carmichael said. “Is this, you know, maybe some answers for me, for his kids? Sometimes it’s just – this doesn’t seem real. It still doesn’t seem real.’
Marissa Kay Carmichael is pictured in an undated photo by the Greensboro Police Department.
Greensboro Police Department
Sara Carmichael, who spoke with ABC News in February 2024, along with Marissa’s sister Emma Villegas, as the search for her daughter reached the month mark, said Tuesday was a “tough day” for the family, marking the one-year anniversary. anyone seen or talked to Marissa.
“It’s been a really tough day and I’m hoping that with the new detectives working on the case things will come to light soon,” said Sara Carmichael, adding that she has also suffered from anxiety, depression, insomnia. frequent panic attacks since her daughter’s disappearance.
“It’s like a constant state of panic, a state of worry, you know, of not sleeping, always wondering what, what could happen? You know, is he still alive?” she said.
Marissa Carmichael is pictured in an undated photo.
Sarah Carmichael
According to police, Carmichael was last seen at 3:46 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 14, at the Exxon gas station at 809 East Market St. in Greensboro and made a distressed call to 911 before disappearing.
In the 911 call — audio obtained by ABC News — Carmichael appeared distressed and was pleading for help finding a ride home. According to an incident report obtained by ABC News, when police arrived at the gas station, Carmichael was gone.
Marissa Carmichael is pictured with her five children.
Sarah Carmichael
In the 2-minute call, Carmichael, whose name is redacted when he identifies himself, tells the 911 dispatcher that a man asked him to pick up some items at the gas station, but that he left while he was inside and didn’t. the way to get home The police have confirmed that the call is from Marissa.
“I don’t know where I’m in Greensboro…he came out with my phone. I have no clue where I am. I don’t have a number,” Carmichael told the dispatcher.
Marissa Carmichael is pictured with her five children.
Sarah Carmichael
Sara Carmichael said the family last saw Marissa on Saturday, January 13, and was with her all day, but since January 14, her daughter – an avid social media user – has not been active on her accounts and her phone has been on. off, going straight to voicemail.
According to Carmichael, the night before she disappeared, Marissa told her sister Emma that she was going to the club and asked her not to tell her mother because she didn’t want to worry.
Sara Carmichael said after talking to her daughter’s friends, she found out Marissa went to One17 SofaBar. & Lounge, then went to an Airbnb for a party, then got dropped off at the Exxon station.
“When I woke up around noon, Sunday (January 14), and he wasn’t at home, and then I found out that he didn’t go to work, which is not like that at all,” he said when asked what. prompted him to report his daughter missing. “He’s always in touch with me. So I had a feeling.”
Marissa Carmichael (right) is pictured with her mother, Sara Carmichael (left), and her sister, Emma Villegas.
Sarah Carmichael
That day, Sara Carmichael filed a missing person’s report, a copy of which was obtained by ABC News.
Police told ABC News in February 2024 that they are “increasingly concerned” for Marissa Carmichael’s “welfare” and have shared several tips over the past year asking the community for tips on her whereabouts.
The mother of five, who was 25 at the time of her disappearance, is described by police as a 5-foot, 4-inch, 260-pound biracial woman with long black and blonde braids.
He also has a tattoo of a heart on his face and a butterfly near his eye and was wearing a white Tweety Bird T-shirt, blue jeans and yellow sneakers when he was last seen, police said in sharing a surveillance photo of Carmichael with ABC News. He was seen at the Exxon gas station last night.
Police are asking anyone with information about Marissa Carmichael’s whereabouts to call Crime Stoppers at 336-373-1000.
