Toledo native is missing in Georgia

Family has not heard from Deborah Crawford for several weeks

Deborah Crawford was seen at a KMart in Canton, Ga., Aug. 19. She was to meet a person whose identity is unknown.

It’s been nearly a month since family or friends of Deborah Crawford last saw the native Toledoan.

Her son, Floyd Crawford, 22, last saw his mother Aug. 19, the day before her 41st birthday.

Ms. Crawford was reportedly last seen at a Kmart in Canton, Ga., at 4 p.m. Aug. 19. She was dropped off by a friend and was supposed to be picked up by a man named Travis whom no one in the family knows anything about, said Mrs. Crawford’s sister Cynthia Crawford-Collins, 51, of Toledo.

The missing persons case was transferred from Canton police to the Bartow County Sheriff’s Office on Aug. 30 after investigators received a tip that Ms. Crawford was seen at a motel there.

Bartow County Sheriff’s Sgt. Jonathan Rogers said there are no records of Ms. Crawford being at the motel and surveillance video had already been taped over.

The sergeant said he has little to go on in pushing the investigation forward — phone records indicate Ms. Crawford, or someone using her phone, was in the area at some point. Financial records have not yielded any clues.

Ms. Crawford didn’t take anything from her home in Marietta, Ga., to suggest she was planning to be away for an extended period of time, the sergeant said.

“Everything is so suspicious,” Mrs. Crawford-Collins said.

Ms. Crawford, whose nickname is “Peanut,” moved to Georgia from Toledo about 18 months ago. She was planning to visit home soon, her sister said.

Mrs. Crawford-Collins believes her sister is still alive, but suspects that someone is keeping the woman against her will and “doing mean things to do, doing bad things to her.”

The family, with the New Order National Human Rights Organization, is hosting a prayer vigil Friday at the Canaan Missionary Baptist Church, 1333 Western Ave., at 6 p.m.

“We’re praying that she’ll be found and come back home where her family is,” Mrs. Crawford-Collins said.

Ms. Crawford is about 5 feet, 4 inches tall, 165 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. She has two tattoos: “Brent’s playground” on her chest and an image of praying hands on her right forearm.

She was last seen wearing blue jeans and a green shirt with a green M & M and frog on it.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Bartow County Sheriff’s Office at 770-382-5050.

Contact Taylor Dungjen at tdungjen@theblade.com, or 419-724-6054, or on Twitter @taylordungjen.