Women are missing.  Rumors are flying.  And people in the tristate, particularly women, are scared.  When Kristy Kelley of Boonville was reported missing Friday, August 15th, it seemed, at first, an isolated incident.  However, as more and more reports surface we are now becoming aware that there are several women missing from Southern Indiana, Western Kentucky and Southern Illinois and it seems, just maybe, there are common threads between them.  Is it possible that the tristate is home to some sort of serial abductor?  Do these women truly share common traits and were they chosen targets of some thief in the night?  I have spent the last couple of nights combing through police reports, news accounts and Facebook sites dedicated to each woman and I have found what I consider to be some disturbing similarities.

I have to preface this blog by saying that I am, in no way, a forensics expert.  I am no expert in crime scene investigation.  I am merely an interested observer.  I only know what I see.  Or, in the unsolved cases of these missing women, I only know what I think I see.  That said . . . here goes.

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For me . . . this is an immediate warning flag that something is wrong.  The striking similarity between Kristy Kelley and Brianna DiBattiste will knock you for a loop.  Those two girls are practically identical.  In fact, I showed my friend Melissa these photos just this morning and she audibly gasped.  The fact that these two women look so much alike will simply take your breath away.  To know they are both missing under very mysterious circumstances will punch you in the gut.

Let's begin with Kristy Kelley.  Here's what we know.  She was last seen at the VFW Post in Boonville, Indiana and there is surveillance footage, grainy at best, of her vehicle after leaving the lot.  Kelley is 27-years-old, 5'5" and weighs roughly 135 pounds.  She has brown hair and blue eyes.  And she, for days now, has been a ghost.

Brianna DiBattiste has been missing since June 16th, 2014, nearly a full month longer.  She is 25-years-old, 5'4" and weighs approximately 110 pounds.  She has brown hair and hazel eyes.  DiBattiste has a history of drug use (heroin) and authorities near Dunkirk, Indiana quickly attributed her disappearance to some sort of drug-related crime.  However, those theories never panned out and her case remains unsolved.  She, too, remains a ghost.  A ghost who looks a whole heckuva lot like Kristy Kelley from Boonville.

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Then there's Joelle Lockwood, a 30-year-old mother from Evansville, Indiana.  Joelle was last seen, on foot, July 9th, 2014.  Authorities admit there are some eerie similarities (like the fact that each is the mother of two) between Joelle's case and Kristy's.  The ladies most definitely have a similar body type.  Joelle is 5'3", weighs 125 pounds and has brown hair and hazel eyes.  But Joelle shares those same characteristics with Brianna DiBattiste as well.  We now have three women, all from Southern Indiana or Central Indiana, who have gone missing in the last month and they, for all practical purposes, look alike.

But they're not alone.  July 3rd, 2014.  Megan Nichols, a 16-year-old teenager from Fairfield, Illinois was reported missing.  Authorities believe that Megan is a runaway.  In fact, when she disappeared they quickly questioned her biological father, but that questioning turned up no leads.  Megan doesn't quite fit the profile of the other women.  She is 5'6" and she weighs a mere 111 pounds.  That seems about right.  However, she is blonde.  Well, at least we think.

When I was combing through the Facebook page dedicated to Megan I was convinced that she didn't fit the physical profile of the other missing women.  That is until I saw this . . .

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Megan, in a few of the photos above, has brown hair (or is portrayed as having brown hair).  Is it possible this young lady actually does fit the profile or did when (and if) she was targeted?   Again, I am not an expert.  I am just asking.  But I think the possibility makes that question worth the ask.

While much of the attention paid in this case has focused on Southern Indiana, we actually have an Owensboro resident who's been missing for months as well.  It was March 18th, 2014 that 23-year-old Ashley Higgs was last seen.

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Ashley definitely has the physical characteristics of the other missing ladies.  She's 5'5", a little heavier at 220 pounds, but has brown hair and blue eyes.  Police have stated they suspect no foul play in the case . . . but she's gone.  No one has heard from her.  No one has seen her.  She, like the others, is a ghost.

There's one interesting fact that links Ashley Higgs to Brianna DiBattiste.  Actually, there are two.  Ashley is the first woman of this group to be reported missing.  At the time of her disappearance, Ashley was living (according to authorities) at the Cadillac Motel.  Nearly three months later to the date, Brianna DiBattiste was reported missing near Muncie, Indiana and guess what?  The initial police investigation included sweeps of motels in that area.

But it's the geography involved in DiBattiste's disappearance that proves so interesting.  There are actually three other women from the Indianapolis area who have been reported missing and the cases date back a couple of years.

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It was April 15th, 2013 that Jessica Masker was reported.  Like Kristy and Joelle, she was a young mother of two.  She is 5'2", weighs 95 pounds and has brown hair and hazel eyes.  And tell me she doesn't look like Kristy and Brianna.  She, like the majority of others, also has tattoos visible to the naked eye.  In fact, I have to tell you at this point that tattoos are a common theme among these women.  Joelle Lockwood has tattoos.  Briana DiBattiste has tattoos.  Ashley Higgs has a tattoo of a pistol on her abdomen.  Jessica has visible tattoos (arm, wrist).  If there is truly a pattern here, tattoos may be a significant part of it.

It's also interesting to note at this point that Jessica is the only woman among the group to be reported missing in 2013.  And you have to realize that there were no women reported missing in this area at all in 2012.  However, there are two unsolved missing person cases from 2011 and guess where the women lived?  Yep.  Near Jessica in Central Indiana.

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Sarah Kilgore was last seen on October 15th, 2011.  She's 31-years-old, stands 5'7" and weighs between 120 and 130 pounds.  She has brown hair and blue eyes.  And she has tattoos.  She has the name "Patrick" on her lower back and a Tweety Bird tattoo on her right leg.  She was last seen walking in her neighborhood and then . . . she vanished without a trace.

But Sarah wasn't the first young lady in this region to completely disappear.  That's Lauren Spierer, an IU student who went missing on June 3rd, 2011 in Bloomington, Indiana.  20-years-old, 4'11" and 100 pounds.  Interestingly enough, Laura did not have brown hair.  She was a blonde.

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It's important to note also that Lauren's disappearance was highly publicized.  Investigators initially suspected three college men that Lauren was allegedly seen with earlier in the evening.  But questioning of those men and follow up on over 3,000 other leads all proved to be dead ends.  No one ever solved Lauren's case and her file is still active.  She is still listed a missing person.

When I initially read over the details of Lauren's disappearance I honestly didn't think there was any correlation between her story and the others listed above.  And, on the surface, there wasn't.  But listen to this.  There are three details about Lauren's disappearance that are nearly mirror images of the facts surrounding Kristy Kelley, the most recent victim.

Lauren was last seen near Kilroy's Sports Bar in Bloomington on June 3rd of 2011 . . . a Friday night.  Remember, Kristy Kelley was last seen at the VFW in Boonville on August 15th, 2014, a Friday.  Police reports indicate that Kristy Kelley left her cell phone behind at the VFW.  Lauren's cell phone was found inside Kilroy's.  And the third shared fact is the one that actually suggests that these two could represent some sort of pattern . . . or ideal  target image.  Both, at the times of their disappearances, were wearing tank tops.  In fact, they weren't the only two.  Joelle Lockwood of Evansville disappeared wearing a tank top and blue jean shorts.  Kristy Kelley of Boonville disappeared wearing a tank top and jean shorts.  Lauren Spierer disappeared wearing a tank top.

So what is going on?  Authorities are, for the most part, discounting connections between these missing persons.  But their stories are starting to get the attention of prominent news sources.  The Huffington Post has been covering some of the stories individually and is now covering them collectively.  On Monday night, Nancy Grace gave a quick overview of the Kristy Kelly case.  One night later, she was discussing how six of these ladies may be connected.  But are they?

Again, I am no expert.  I can only comment on what I see.  Or, as I mentioned before, what I think I see.  And I think I see distinct patterns in the chaos.

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