Missing Woman: Sherry Ann Milton -- AL -- 08/14/2005

[Denise]

Endangered Missing Adult

If you believe you have any information regarding this case that will be helpful in this investigation please contact:
Birmingham Police Department at (205) 933-4113

Name: Sherry Ann Milton

Classification: Endangered Missing Adult
Date of Birth: 1979-05-05
Date Missing: 2005-08-14
From City/State: Ensley, AL
Missing From (Country): USA
Age at Time of Disappearance: 26
Gender: Female
Race: White
Height: 66 inches
Weight: 138 pounds
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Brown
Complexion: Medium
Identifying Characteristics: Small black round scar on bridge of nose, scar approximately 2" long on left side of chest, black mole above upper lip on right side, slightly crooked nose, crooked upper tooth between right front tooth and right incisor, double pierced ears, pierced navel with swirled blue and white curved barbell, previously fractured nose.
Clothing: Multi-colored v-neck capped sleeved shirt with horizontal stripes, light tan khaki capri pants, flip-flops.
Jewelry: Two medium size gold hoop earrings, possibly wearing two small 1/4 carat diamonds set in gold

Circumstances of Disappearance: Unknown. Sherry was last seen between 2:00am and 3:00am at a gas station located off Exit 121 from I-20-69 in Ensley, AL. Her yellow 1994 Ford Mustang convertable was located the following day in the vicinity of 41st St. and Industrial Blvd. in Midfield, AL.

Investigative Agency: Birmingham Police Department
Phone: (205) 933-4113
Alternate Phone: (800) 324-0326
Investigative Case #: 050839135
NCIC #: M-925121143
Phone: (800) 324-0326

Print a Poster: http://www.theyaremissed.org/ncma/ga...hp?A200503304S

[Denise]

'I believe she was abducted'
Man scours Ensley for 26-year-old

Posted August 18, 2005
By DANIEL JACKSON
BIRMINGHAM POST-HERALD

Charlie Hovell is scouring the streets of west Birmingham, hanging fliers that promise a reward for the safe return of Sherry Milton.

Hovell said Milton, a 26-year-old Tuscaloosa woman who vanished in Ensley about 3 a.m. Sunday, has been like his own daughter since her adopted parents died about four years ago.

When Milton's boyfriend called him Monday morning with news of her disappearance, Hovell said he immediately left work and drove to Birmingham from Calvert, about 30 miles north of Mobile.

Since then, he's hardly eaten and hasn't slept but two hours, focusing all his time on the search. At this point, he's heard nothing positive from detectives or residents in western Birmingham.

"They say the first 48 hours are the most critical — I hope that's not the case," Hovell said Wednesday evening, more than three days after anyone has seen or heard from Milton. "I can't tell you how terrible I feel."

"She has no family but me," said Hovell, who also has four daughters of his own who are close to Milton, too.

While hanging fliers in a Birmingham neighborhood Wednesday, Hovell said a man approached him and said if Milton was abducted, "there's nothing you can do."

The stranger identified himself as a drug dealer and told Hovell an abductor probably would "dope her (Milton) up on something and pass her around. As soon as they get through using her and abusing her, they'll dump her on some street corner."

Hovell said the stranger's cruel speculation made him sick to his stomach.

He's hoping a $5,000 reward will produce information that is more hopeful and helpful to his search. Anyone with information about Milton's whereabouts should call Birmingham police at 933-4113 or Hovell at (251) 599-8732.

Milton drove to Birmingham with a friend Saturday night and went to "some country (music) club," leaving her 8-year-old son, David, with her friend's husband, Hovell said.

Milton's friend told him they were driving home on Interstate 20/59 in Milton's Ford Mustang when they exited in Ensley to get a book of matches.

They stopped at an Exxon service station near the exit ramp at 19th Street and Avenue V Ensley. Milton's friend went in to get the matches, but when she returned Milton and her yellow convertible were gone, Hovell said, recounting the story as it was told to him.

And yet, Hovell said Milton used her cell phone twice after she disappeared from the Ensley service station, calling her friend at the gas station to tell her she would return. Thirty minutes after she disappeared, Milton called a friend in Montgomery and said she was lost, Hovell said.

"It all doesn't add up," Hovell said. "I believe she was abducted at that store. Then someone made her call and tell her friend she was coming back."

Milton's friend called her husband, who drove to Ensley and brought her home. When Milton failed to return home Sunday morning, her friends drove back to Ensley to look for her. They filed a police report that night.

Hovell, who said he had been trying to reach Milton on her cell phone, said he called her office in Tuscaloosa and found out she hadn't shown up to work.

"I came straight up," he said.

Her Mustang was found abandoned at 9 p.m. Monday at 41st Street and Industrial Boulevard in Midfield. An initial search of the car Tuesday did not reveal any evidence of foul play, police said.

When asked if Milton would disappear on her own, Hovell said she loves her son too much to do that. David, he said, is with his grandfather in Prattville.

"She loves that boy like she loves her own life," he said. "She'd never let anyone get her car away from her. She practically sleeps with her cell phone in her hand. And she never would have left her friend in a bind. She's real kind-hearted."

Hovell said he can't help but think about Mountain Brook teen Natalee Holloway, whose parents have tirelessly searched for her since she disappeared from Aruba in late May.

"I told my wife I couldn't imagine losing a daughter like that, and now here I am searching for Sherry," he said. "It makes me sick."

http://www.postherald.com/me081805.shtml

[Denise]

Reward offered in case of missing Tuscaloosa woman

Thursday, August 18, 2005
The Associated Press

A missing Tuscaloosa woman's family is offering a $5,000 reward for her the safe return.

Sherry Ann Milton, 26, was last seen about 2 a.m. Sunday as she drove away from an Exxon gas in the Ensley area of Birmingham. Her last known contact with anyone was about 30 minutes later when Milton placed a cell phone call to a friend and said she was lost. Birmingham police discovered her yellow 1994 Ford Mustang with a white convertible top about 9 p.m. Monday in Midfield, about five miles southwest of Ensley.

Birmingham police spokesman Lt. Henry Irby said there were no new developments in the case.

Marc Taylor, a project manager at A & B Electric where Milton works, said it had been hectic around the office the past couple days as the employees tried to do their jobs while worrying her.

"She's a good girl, a good worker," Taylor said. "She's got a son who wants his mom back. She's got friends and family who want her back safely."

http://www.timesdaily.com/apps/pbcs....mp;cachetime=5

[Denise]

Sherry Ann Milton

Date Of Birth: 5/5/1979
Current Age: 26 Year(s)
Sex: Female
Race: White
Height: 5 ft. 06 inches
Weight: 138
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Brown
State of Residence: Alabama
NCIC#: M925121143

Circumstances:
Sherry Milton was reported missing on August 15, 2005, after she disappeared from an outing with a friend in the Birmingham, Alabama area. Her vehicle, a 1994 canary yellow Mustang convertible, was located in Midfield, Alabama but she was not in it. If you know of Ms. Miltons whereabouts, please contact Crimestoppers or Birmingham Police Department.

Contact Information:
If you have any information, please contact the Birmingham Police Department Family Services , , 205-254-6312 or the Alabama Bureau of Investigation Center for Missing and Exploited Children by phone at 1-800-228-7688 or via Internet e-mail: acmec@dps.state.al.us

Alabama Department of Public Safety

[Denise]

Man searches for Tuscaloosa woman missing since Aug. 14

The Associated Press

Charlie Hovell's black Hummer has become a familiar sight in the neighborhoods where he is searching for a Tuscaloosa woman who mysteriously disappeared earlier this month.

Hovell has spent days checking tips about Sherry Milton, 26, but he still doesn't know what happened to her. She became part of his family after her adopted parents died in 2001. He is offering a $10,000 reward for her safe return.

"I just don't know what she's going through," Hovell said. "We're helpless. We just ride and look, but I'm not going to give up looking."

Milton was last seen on Aug. 14 when she stopped at a gas station after a night out in Birmingham. Milton's yellow Ford Mustang was found abandoned on Aug. 15 on the shoulder of a road.

Hovell has gotten tips indicating Milton may have been taken to a motel by a man, but police didn't find her after searching a room and talking to the occupants.

Milton's boyfriend, David Burt, last spoke to Milton about 10:30 p.m. the night she drove to Birmingham for a night out with a girlfriend.

Milton called Burt's cell phone about 10 times between 2 a.m. and 2:30 a.m. the next day, while she was in Birmingham. Burt said that on the last voice mail message she left him, Milton said: "Help me, please. Where are you? ... This is unbelievable."

Burt said he was sleeping when she called and didn't answer.

Milton's girlfriend told Hovell and police they were driving home to Tuscaloosa on Interstate 20/59 when they decided to stop for matches at the gas station. The friend initially said Milton disappeared while she was inside the store.

But Hovell said two witnesses gave him a different version. They said Milton was begging her girlfriend to get in the car, but the girlfriend was mad and had called her husband to come get her, Hovell said.

---

Information from: Birmingham Post-Herald
http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/p...plate=dateline

[Denise]

Katrina interrupts search for woman

DANIEL JACKSON
BIRMINGHAM POST-HERALD

Up until Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, Charlie Hovell spent every day searching the streets of west Birmingham for Sherry Milton, a 26-year-old woman who disappeared there Aug. 14.

Hovell said Milton's adopted parents died four years ago and she became part of his family — a family devastated first by her disappearance and then by last week's hurricane.

After Katrina made landfall, Hovell said he went home to be with his wife and daughters in Calvert, a town north of Mobile.

But Hovell said he has not given up his search for Milton. He plans to return to the Birmingham area Friday, he said during a telephone interview.

"I call up there every day," said Hovell, who added that he has friends still searching for Milton while he is away. "But we haven't found one trace of her. It's like she just disappeared off the face of the Earth."

Hovell's daughter Tina Denton, 31, lost her new home in Pascagoula, Miss., and three rental homes to the hurricane. Katrina also destroyed the roof of his 29-year-old daughter Mandy Boswell's home in Hurley, Miss. And his youngest daughter, Kacie Hovell, a 21-year-old student at Tulane University, is looking for another college to attend while the New Orleans campus is closed.

"We got her (Kacie Hovell) out of New Orleans, but she lost everything she had," Charlie Hovell said of his youngest daughter. I just bought her books a few weeks ago."

Denton, he said, moved into a new house four blocks from the beach in Pascagoula on Aug. 25, four days before Katrina demolished New Orleans, coastal Mississippi and parts of south Alabama.

"Katrina wiped her (Tina Denton's) new home out completely. There was nothing left but a slab," he said. Kacie Hovell and Denton are temporarily living at his house in Calvert, where they were without power until Sunday.

Charlie Hovell said his daughters were all close to Milton, who lived in Tuscaloosa with her 8-year-old son, David. Milton was last seen at an Exxon service station near the intersection of 19th Street and Avenue V Ensley.

Milton and a friend were westbound for Tuscaloosa on Interstate 20/59 when they decided to stop at the Exxon, which is near an interstate exit ramp. For unknown reasons, Milton's friend called her husband in Tuscaloosa and had him drive to Ensley to pick her up at the service station. At some point, she and Milton were separated and Milton was never seen again, Charlie Hovell said.

After leaving the service station, Milton did leave phone messages with a few of her friends, saying she was lost and needed help, he said. Police recovered her abandoned yellow Ford Mustang on Midfield Industrial Parkway on Aug. 15.

On the same day, Charlie Hovell drove to Birmingham and began to search for her. He is offering a $10,000 reward — no questions asked — for her safe return. But he doesn't have a clue where she is.

Despite personal disaster, Charlie Hovell said his daughters want him to keep searching for Milton.

"They love Sherry, too," he said.

http://www.postherald.com/me090805.shtml

[Denise]

Governor offers rewards in missing persons cases

The Associated Press

October 19, 2005

Gov. Bob Riley is offering rewards of five-thousand dollars each to help Birmingham police solve two separate disappearances in Jefferson County.

The first case involves 27-year-old Jayson Jones, a black male, who has been missing since August eighth. He was last seen at an apartment complex on 17th Street in Birmingham.

Another is the mysterious disappearance of a Tuscaloosa woman. Authorities say 28-year-old Sherry Milton, a white female, vanished August 14th. She was last seen at about 2:30 a.m. at an Exxon gas station on Avenue V in Ensley. Police found her yellow 1994 Ford Mustang with a white convertible top in Midfield.

Riley said anyone with information pertaining to these disappearances are asked to contact Birmingham police detective Vincent Green at 205-933-4113.
http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/p...plate=dateline

[Denise]

Police Seek Person Of Interest In Woman's Disappearance

POSTED: 6:44 pm CST January 3, 2006
UPDATED: 7:10 pm CST January 3, 2006

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Birmingham police are hoping the public can help them find a person of interest who may have information in the disappearance of a Tuscaloosa woman.

Police said 41-year-old Bryant O'Neal Craig is not a suspect but that he may know the whereabouts of Sherry Milton.

Milton, 26, was last seen Sunday, Aug. 14 at an Exxon service station in Ensley.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Sherry Milton or Bryant O'Neal Craig is asked to contact police.

http://www.nbc13.com/news/5826029/detail.html

[Denise]

http://www.doenetwork.us/nampn/cases...herry_ann.html

Sherry Ann Milton

Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance

Missing Since: August 14-15, 2005 from Birmingham, Alabama
Classification: Endangered Missing
Date Of Birth: May 5, 1979
Age: 26
Height: 5'6"
Weight: 138 lbs.
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Brown
Race: White
Gender: Female

Distinguishing Characteristics: Small black round scar
on bridge of nose, scar approximately 2" long on left side of
chest, black mole above upper lip on right side, slightly
crooked nose (previously fractured), crooked upper tooth
between right front tooth and right incisor, double pierced ears,
pierced navel.

Clothing: Multi-colored v-neck capped sleeved shirt
with horizontal stripes, light tan khaki capri pants, flip-flops.
Jewelry: Swirled blue and white curved barbell in navel.

NCIC Number: M-925121143
Case Number: 050839135

Details of Disappearance
Sherry Milton was reported missing on August 15, 2005, after she disappeared from an outing with a friend in the Birmingham, Alabama area. On August 14, she was seen at about 2 a.m. as she drove away from an gas station in the Ensley area of Birmingham.

Milton's friend has said that they were driving home on Interstate 20/59 in Milton's Ford Mustang when they exited in Ensley to get a book of matches. They stopped at an Exxon service station near the exit ramp at 19th Street and Avenue V Ensley. Milton's friend went in to get the matches, but when she returned Milton and her automobile were gone. Milton used her cell phone twice after she disappeared from the station, calling her friend to tell her she would return. Thirty minutes after she disappeared, Milton called a friend in Montgomery and said she was lost.

There have been other versions of the scene at the gas station. Two witnesses said Milton was begging her girlfriend to get in the car, but the girlfriend was mad and had called her husband to come get her.

According to her boyfriend, David Burt, the last message he received from Sherry was on Sunday, around 2:30 a.m. Milton called Burt's cell phone about 10 times between 2 a.m. and 2:30 a.m. while she was in Birmingham. Burt said that on the last voice mail message she left him, Milton said: "Help me, please. Where are you? ... This is unbelievable." Her vehicle, a 1994 canary yellow Mustang convertible, was located in Midfield, Alabama but there was no trace of Sherry found. She left behind a young son, which friends say is atypical of her.

At this time, there is no evidence of foul play.

Investigating Agency
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Birmingham Police Department
Family Services Unit
(205) 254-6312
(800) 324-0326
OR
Alabama Center for Missing and Exploited Children
(800) 228-7688


Source Information
Alabama Bureau of Investigation
National Center for Missing Adults
The Times Daily
Birmingham Post-Herald
Tuscaloosa News

[Denise]

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/m/milton_sherry.html

[align=center]Sherry Ann Milton

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Above Images: Milton, circa 2005
Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance
[item]Missing Since: August 14, 2005 from Ensley, Alabama [/item][item]Classification: Endangered Missing [/item][item]Date Of Birth: May 5, 1979 [/item][item]Age: 26 years old [/item][item]Height and Weight: 5'6, 138 pounds [/item][item]Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian female. Brown hair, brown eyes. Milton's ears are double-pierced and her navel is pierced. She has previously fractured her nose and it is slightly crooked as a result. Milton's upper tooth between her right front tooth and her right incisor is crooked and she has a black mole on her upper lip, a small round black scar on the bridge of her nose, and a two-inch scar on the left side of her chest. [/item][item]Clothing/Jewelry Description: A multicolored v-neck capped-sleeve shirt with horizontal stripes, light tan khaki capri pants, flip-flops, a swirled blue and white curved barbel in her navel, and two medium-sized gold hoop earrings. [/item][align=center]
Details of Disappearance
Milton was last seen between 2:00 and 3:00 a.m. on August 14, 2005 at an Exxon gas station located off Exit 121 from Interstate 20/69 in Ensley, Alabama. She and a friend were together that evening. Milton's friend stated they stopped at the gas station to get matches. The friend went inside to make the purchase; when she returned, Milton had vanished along with her car. She called her friend on her cellular phone and stated she would return soon. Thirty minutes later, she called her friend again and said she was lost.

Other witnesses contradicted Milton's friend's statement and said the two women actually got into an argument at the gas station and the friend left Milton and called her husband to take her home. This information has not been confirmed. Around that same time, Milton reportedly attempted to call her boyfriend ten times in half an hour. He was asleep and she left messages on his cellular phone. In the last message, she said, "Help me, please. Where are you? This is unbelievable." She has never been heard from again.
Milton's canary-yellow 1994 Ford Mustang, which has a white convertible top and license plates numbered 63P631B, was located at 9:00 p.m. on August 15, in the vicinity of 41st Street and Industrial Boulevard in Midfield, Alabama, about five miles southwest of Ensley. There was no sign of her at the scene.

Sevral days after Milton disappeared, authorities identified Andrew Givens of Docena, Alabama as a person of interest in her case. In September, Nathan Doss was also identified as a person of interest was interviewed. In January 2006, Bryant O'Neal Craig was also named as a person of interest. Investigators did not identify any of the men as suspects or reveal what made them believe they had information about her disappearance.

Milton was employed at A & B Electric in August 2005. She has a young son. Her loved ones stated she is a devoted parent and it is uncharacteristic of her to leave without warning. Milton's case remains unsolved. Birmingham, Alabama police are investigating.
[align=center]
Investigating Agency
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Birmingham Police Department
205-933-4113
OR
800-324-0326

Source Information
The National Center for Missing Adults
Alabama Department of Public Safety
WMPI NBC 15
NBC 13
The Birmingham Post-Herald
City of Birmingham
The Decatur Daily
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[Denise]

http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20080520/NEWS/611229434/1007

Published Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Police look into tip on missing woman

By Stephanie Taylor
Staff Writer

A tip made to Birmingham homicide investigators about a Tuscaloosa woman who has been missing since 2005 yielded no clues on Monday.

Investigators with cadaver dogs spent the day digging in the back yard of a home in the Wenonah community of Birmingham.

Several media outlets indicated that the tip involved Sherry Ann Milton, who was last seen at a gas station near Interstate 20 in Ensley on Aug. 14, 2005. Birmingham Police Department spokesman Lt. Henry Irby would not confirm that the excavation was related to the Milton case, but did say that crews stopped working just after 3 p.m. and would not continue their search. Irby declined to release additional information.

Milton, who was 26 when she disappeared, was last seen at the Exxon Station in Ensley at about 2 a.m. that night. She called friends about 30 minutes later to say she was lost.

Her son, who was 8 at the time, went to live with his father in Prattville after her disappearance.

Milton's boyfriend, David Burt, told the Associated Press in 2005 that he last spoke to her at 10:30 p.m. that night. He was asleep when she called about 10 times between 2 and 2:30 a.m., he said at the time, and recounted the last voice mail message that she left: 'Help me, please. Where are you? ... This is unbelievable.'

Her car was found the following Monday at the intersection of 41st Street and Industrial Boulevard in Midfield, about five miles southwest of Ensley.

Jefferson County Chief Deputy coroner Pat Curry said that his office's body recovery team was at the scene Monday in case investigators found a body.

[Denise]

http://www.cbs42.com/news/local/19098639.html
Search for Body comes up Empty

CBS 42 News
2008-05-20 08:11:30.0 
   
 A search for the body of a missing Tuscaloosa woman turns up nothing in the Wenonah community.  This after search and recovery crews spent hours digging behind a home on Carrol Street on Monday.

A tip led the Birmingham homicide unit and the Jefferson County coroner there on speculation that Sherry Ann Milton's body might be buried there.  She vanished nearly three years ago, after stopping to get gas in Ensley.

After cadaver dogs canvassed the area, the search was called off.  Police tell CBS 42 they are not going to return to this area to search. 

[Denise]

http://www.wrcbtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=8351446

Search for missing Alabama woman yields no clues
Associated Press - May 20, 2008 8:44 AM ET

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) - A search for a Tuscaloosa woman missing since 2005 has yielded no clues.

Investigators with cadaver dogs spent Monday digging in the back yard of a home in Birmingham's Wenonah community.

Media reports indicated the search was for Sherry Ann Milton, who was last seen at a gas station near Interstate 20 in Ensley on August 14th, 2005. Birmingham Police Department spokesman Lt. Henry Irby would not confirm that the excavation was related to the Milton case. He said crews stopped working just after 3 p.m. and would not continue the search.

The 26-year-old Milton was last seen at a gas station around 2 a.m. She called friends 30 minutes later to say she was lost.

Her car later was found about 5 miles southwest of Ensley.

[Denise]

http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2008/05/coroners_office_will_not_resum.html

Search abandoned for body at Carroll Street

Posted by Jeremy Gray -- The Birmingham News May 20, 2008 8:19 AM

A recovery team with the Jefferson County Coroner's Office will not return to an abandoned Birmingham house where police dug for a body Monday.

Birmingham homicide detectives and the coroner's crew dug up the back yard of 305 Carroll Street after receiving a tip a body was buried there.
 
The tipster said Sherry Ann Milton, 26, of Tuscaloosa, last seen in Ensley in August 2005, might be buried there, said Sgt. Scott Praytor.

Nothing was found during the daylong search.

Unless some new information leads detectives back to the area, the coroner's office will not resume the search, Deputy Coroner Stan Pitts said this morning.

[Denise]

Sherry has now been missing for 3 years.  Our thoughts and prayers are with her family and loved ones for her safe return.