She Vanished While Walking Home One Evening In 2018, After Leaving One Shoe And Her Purse In A Friend’s Car
Born on February 22, 1990, Sarah Elizabeth Burton grew up in Joplin, Missouri, and went on to attend Joplin High School. While in school, she was on the cheerleading squad, regarded as a good student, and was even placed in a gifted program.
But, following graduation, Sarah unfortunately began to struggle with substance abuse. So, in 2010, she went to prison. Then, once she was released, she went to an addiction treatment center known as Lafayette House in Joplin.
By 2018, 28-year-old Sarah was living with her parents, Stephanie and Ronald Burton, in their home located on Irwin Street in Joplin. She also had two sons – a 3-year-old and an 8-month-old – and had steady employment. So, Sarah was just waiting to get placed in a local residential treatment program.
Yet, while Sarah seemed to be turning her life around, she vanished on July 16, 2018, and her family has been left without answers ever since.
It all began on July 11, 2018, when Sarah actually got into a car accident while driving in Pittsburg, Kansas. She’d been driving a used SUV, which her father had recently purchased for her.
So, after Sarah went out five days later, on July 16, 2018, she did not drive home. Rather, just past 12:00 a.m., one of her friends dropped her off at a service alley in Joplin located near 10th Street and Rex Avenue. Sarah reportedly intended to just walk to her parent’s house from there.
However, she never actually made it home, and no one has seen or heard from her since.
Sarah’s family ultimately contacted the Joplin Police Department and reported her missing on July 20, 2018. Once an investigation was launched, it was discovered that Sarah had left behind one shoe and her purse in her friend’s car that evening.
Then, in September 2018, it came to light that the last sighting of Sarah was actually at a residence located on the western side of Joplin – on North Pearl Avenue. She was reportedly last seen there the same morning after she was dropped off by her friend.
FBI – pictured above is Sarah
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This pushed investigators to search the residence on December 18, 2018, with the search including the home’s basement and two vacant lots.
Two days later, police also searched another property located in Pittsburg, Kansas. This search included a home, two outbuildings, and the surrounding region.
The following year, the Ozark Drug Enforcement Team then received a tip that a property located in Newton County may be linked to Sarah’s disappearance. So, authorities conducted a search there as well, but no information regarding the findings was released to the public.
At the time Sarah disappeared, she did have three pending charges against her – including drug possession, stolen identities, and stealing a motor vehicle. However, she was free on bail, and her parents believed she wouldn’t have run away due to her legal issues.
Rather, Sarah had actually shown up for all of her court appearances, and her attorney claimed that she may have been able to get two charges dismissed, as well as a suspended sentence for the third charge.
That’s why foul play is suspected in her case, and a $5,000 reward is currently being offered for any information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible for her disappearance.
“We are very concerned for her well-being. We are desperately asking for anybody that has any information to come forward,” stated Joplin Police Captain Trevor Duncan.
“She would not walk away from her family or her little boy. Somebody is holding her against her will, or God forbid, has done something to her,” said Sarah’s cousin, Michael Burton.
At the time of her disappearance, Sarah was five foot seven, weighed between 160 and 170 pounds, and had brown hair and blue eyes. She was last seen wearing blue jeans, a purple and white blouse, and black flats.
If you have any information regarding her case, you are urged to contact the Joplin Police Department at (417) 623-3131.
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