More of Michigan's Missing: Another Five Unsolved Disappearances From the Mitten State

According to NamUs, over 600,000 people go missing within the United States every year. For every 100,000, there are approximately 6.5 missing people out there. While most missing person cases get quickly resolved - and that the number of missing persons has declined since 1997 (thanks in part to technological advances) - some remain lost in limbo.

Unfortunately, Michigan remains one of the top ten states in terms of the number of missing persons cases. At this moment, there are about 556 missing persons cases in The Mitten State. Some of those cases are open and remain hot, but others went cold long ago.

The following are five missing persons cases from my beautiful home state.

Randa Jawhari

On the night of February 11, 2009, 42-year-old Randa Jawhari told a family member over the phone that she was heading off to bed. It was approximately 11:30 P.M. on the 3400 block of Shiawassee Avenue in Fenton, Michigan, just shy of where US 23 runs past.

She never met the scheduled ride service that showed up at 8 A.M. the following morning. A relative went to her apartment after 8:30 A.M. when Randa did not answer their phone calls. It simply just wasn't like Randa to not show up, to not answer.

The family member found the front door of the apartment open and the bed made. Randa's clothes for that day were still laid out, plus there was absolutely nothing missing from the home - not even Randa's coat, cigarettes, or ID. Randa also took bipolar medications to manage her symptoms, but those were present, and it was clear she had not been taking them for about three months.

The apartment complex in which Randa lived had security cameras installed and working, but none of them showed Randa leaving her apartment that night.

Randa came from a large family of six sisters and a brother. What's more, at that time, her mother was caring for Randa's five-year-old daughter. She and her family checked in on each other virtually every day. Randa did not have her cell phone on her when she vanished, and she did not have any real money to her name at that time, either. A few days prior to her disappearance, a police officer had picked her up off the street for panhandling. He drove her from the spot near a restaurant back to her home.

An unidentified male's portrait was released by local police handling her case. The man in the image went with her to some dental appointments in October and November of 2008, acting impatient with her in front of others, asking how much longer she'd take. The unidentified male was described as being between 30 and 35 years old and wore a black leather jacket with silver chains. While he is not considered a suspect, police would like to know if he has any helpful information about the case.

Randa was born in Lebanon in 1966 and sometimes uses the first name Brandi. There is a C-section scar along her abdomen, and she has her ears pierced. She wears a partial dental bridge and is missing some of her molars. Randa tends to walk slowly and is known to chain-smoke cigarettes.

It is possible that, when she disappeared, Randa was wearing a light blue bathrobe with a long brown jacket with a white wool collar and sleeves. Randa previously lived in Miami and Hawaii and has family in Parma and Cleveland, Ohio. Her mother is her legal guardian and was noted by her doctor as having been taking her medications and was feeling well before she disappeared.

Loved ones note that Randa was deeply devoted to her daughter. Therefore, it would be highly unlikely she would choose to leave. Foul play is a possibility.

Donnie Martin III

On August 3, 2017, 31-year-old Donnie Martin III got off work between 11 A.M. and noon, texting his girlfriend about 20 minutes afterward as he headed home on foot. Donnie was never seen or heard from again.

When he disappeared, Donnie was walking near 10 Mile and Dequindre in Madison Heights. He was known to frequent John R Street and State Fair Avenue in Detroit and was battling an addiction. His family and friends began searching abandoned buildings between Madison Heights and Detroit, as well as throughout many neighborhoods, but they came up empty-handed.

Donnie was wearing a red work shirt with the company's name, ABK Tree Service, emblazoned on the front. He was also wearing jeans and tennis shoes and might have had his lip and nose rings in. He also has several tattoos: MARTIN on his lower back, a partial sleeve on his right hand and forearm, D on his left ring finger, and a Chinese symbol on the side of his neck.

Donnie developed an addiction to prescription painkillers after getting hurt at several jobs and being prescribed multiple pills to combat the pain. Over time, Donnie's system built up a tolerance, and he took to the streets to find harder substances, according to his father.

If you have any information about Donnie's disappearance, please call Madison Heights Police Department at 248-585-2100. There is also a Facebook page dedicated to finding Donnie.

Kevin Graves

Here in Michigan, there is no time like summer for a huge outdoor music festival. And that's just what Kevin Graves was doing when he vanished, never to be seen again, on July 1, 2018.

Rothbury is home to the Electric Forest Music Festival each summer. This tradition started in 2008 and only paused due to COVID-19. Now, with the 2023 Electric Forest Music Festival approaching, it is hard not to think of Kevin Graves and what might've happened to him.

Kevin was at the festival with his girlfriend, so he was not there alone. However, the festival had gone for a few days without any problem. July 1, 2018 was the final day of the festival. At 1:55 P.M. that day, Kevin texted his sister:

Everything is good. I love you the most.

All might not have been well, though, as his girlfriend reported Kevin acted "odd" - paranoid,even - all week. She stated that Kevin suspected she had reported him to the FBI and was cheating on him. This led her to suspect that his bipolar depression symptoms were resurfacing. After a fight with his girlfriend, Kevin said he was going back to their tent to rest. Unfortunately, he was not there when she returned, having left his personal belongings - including his phone - behind.

One of the things other concert-goers mentioned in their statements to police is that busses from a supposed cult had been at the event. Some folks even tipped Kevin's family off after his disappearance that he had joined a Christian fundamentalist group called the Twelve Tribes, which has a chapter stationed near Battle Creek.

Search And Rescue (SAR) was working on tracking Kevin with scent dogs, but when the team's leader passed away from COVID-19, the team was unable to go back to their business of finding Kevin. In 2022, Kevin's family and friends resumed the search on their own.

Michigan State Police turned the investigation over to Oakland County Sheriff's Office, as that is the county in which Kevin and his girlfriend resided. However, according to Kevin's father, they have to pester the police to do anything regarding the case and has apparently been told they're causing 'bad PR' for Oakland County cops.

While Kevin's mother holds out hope that he is still alive, his father believes Kevin is dead and buried somewhere out in those woods. Others believe Kevin intentionally disappeared, given that he allegedly told his girlfriend's father he would not be returning home after the festival ended. Still, Kevin was not one to go out-of-touch with his family members, which is why some believe that Kevin met with foul play.

Kevin was known to have issues with bipolar disorder and misused drugs and alochol in the past. Two months before the concert, he stopped taking his bipolar meds as he reported they made him feel too lethargic.

Kevin was 28 years old when he disappeared. He is 6'3" and weighs 165 pounds. He wore khaki pants and a multi-colored shirt. His eyes are blue and hair blonde. He wore a full beard. Kevin also had a series of tattoos: an Aquarius tattoo on his right forearm, a "USMC" tattoo on his left shoulder, and red lip-prints on his right hip.

Patricia Spencer & Pamela Hobley

This case involves two young women - schoolmates Pamela Hobley and Patricia Spencer. Eerily enough, it happened on Halloween of 1969.

Oscoda is a small - and I mean small (733 is the current population) - town right along the shores of Lake Huron. Aside from being Halloween, it was also the night of the high school homecoming football game.

Despite going to the same school in a small town, Pamela and Patricia didn't really know each other that well. They weren't exactly best friends who were known to hang out together. Both had plans to go to the homecoming game, and, later that night, a Halloween party. Both had apparently both skipped classes that afternoon in order to prepare.

The last time Pamela and Patricia were seen was together, walking down River Road, away from school, leading into the town's business center. A motorist passing by noticed the girls, stopped, and gave them a ride to a gas station at River Road and Interstate 23. This was the last time either girl was seen. The driver who picked the girls up was interrogated and ruled out as a suspect (and is now deceased), so that left police with very few leads. Thus, the case grew cold.

Pamela and Patricia were not carrying their IDs on them or any kind of purse. Authorities thought perhaps the girls ran away to Flint, but after several weeks of zero contact from either girl, investigators had to consider that the girls might've been taken against their will, possibly even murdered.

Pamela was not likely to run away, as she recently got engaged to her high school sweetheart. According to her sister, Pamela was a happy girl who was excited about where her life was going. Patricia - 'Patty' to her loved ones - was also unlikely to go without contacting her family. It dawned on police pretty early that foul play was a strong possibility.

Patricia was 16 years old when she went missing. She was between 5'3" and 5'4" and weighed roughly 120 pounds. She was wearing a gray-and-green plaid jacket, a brown sweater and matching skirt, thick-heeled brown shoes, and a silver necklace with a peace sign pendant. She had brown hair and blue eyes, normally wearing glasses. However, she did not have them with her that day. Also, she had a bite mark from a dog on one leg.

Pamela was 15 years old when she disappeared. She was somewhere between 5'6" and 5'8" and weighed about 100-115 pounds. That day, Pamela was seen wearing a three-quarter-length white imitation fur coat laced with brown trim, a brown-and-white plaid skirt, ruffled cuffs on her long-sleeve shirt, white knee socks, and chunky-heeled shoes. A birthmark or scar could be seen in the corner of her lips, and she had a scar along the bridge of her nose.

Anyone with information related to the case is encouraged to contact the Oscoda Township Police Department at either 989-739-9113 or 989-362-1430.

Yvonne Renee Scott

In 2004, Yvonne Renee Scott, age 31, was last seen walking along the 2900 block of Clyde Park Avenue SW in Wyoming, just outside of Grand Rapids. She was last spotted on January 3 at around 11 P.M.

Earlier that day, Yvonne had called police to say that two people robbed her. She gave police a statement once officers reached her location. A formal report was filed with Wyoming PD. After the officers left, Yvonne took off on foot along 28th Street, heading eastbound along that always-busy street.

One suspect was identified following her disappearance, but a search of their home and vehicle turned up no concrete evidence. Although no arrests were ever made, investigators did suspect her death could be linked to a slew of other murders in the area at that time. The other victims were prostitutes. There is a strong suspicion of foul play in this particular case.

Let me tell you a little bit more about Yvonne. Yvonne was married at the time of her disappearance and was a mother to two sons. According to her husband, Yvonne struggled with crack cocaine use for a while but had been trying to get her life back on track. It is possible that Yvonne went out to purchase drugs when she disappeared.

A Native American woman, Yvonne was a member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians. Also known by her nicknames Yvonnie, Vonne, or simply V, Yvonne was only 31 years old when she went missing. She had a medical condition that required monitoring, so she is considered an endangered missing person.

Yvonne cut an imposing figure at 6' tall and weighing approximately 145 pounds. She wore her dark hair long and sported gold wire-framed glasses over her beautiful brown eyes. There is a mole inside of her right ankle and a scar under her chin. The night she went missing, Yvonne wore a white pull-over shirt, black sweatpants with 'Bing Bang' written in pink text, black medium-heeled slip-on shoes, a black trench coat, and a cross pendant necklace.

EDIT 4/3/23: After filing a FOIA request, I was able to obtain a partially redacted copy of the police report filed regarding the robbery. Here is what I learned:

The robbery took place at 2950 Clyde Park SW, which is now a church. Officer Patrick Spelman was the responding officer. In his written report, Officer Spelman says he was dispatched to a strong arm robbery at 2950 Clyde Park, where he saw the victim, Yvonne, walking away from the scene headed eastbound on 28th Street where she had gone to call the police.

In speaking with Yvonne, Officer Spelman learned that she was picked up by two males in a gray pick-up truck and taken to the parking lot at 2950 Clyde Park, which was then known as Omega School. There, she performed a sex act for money, when when she refused to do more, the passenger assaulted her and took back the money they had just given her for the first sex act. After he kicked her out of the truck, she went to Family Dollar to call the police.

In the interview, Yvonne stated she walked north on South Division near Alger when a late model gray pick-up truck with a black stripe on the side pulled up next to her. There were two men in the truck. The driver was a white male, approximately 5'11" and 140 lbs, with black hair, clean-shaven, and in his mid-20s. His tan coat might've been a Carhartt, and he was wearing a white T-shirt. The passenger was a white male, 5'9", 130 lbs., clean-shaven, and had brown hair. Yvonne couldn't say what he was wearing.

It was the passenger who called Yvonne over to the truck and told her to get in, which she did, climbing into the backseat. The men both told her to perform oral sex on them, but Yvonne said she didn't know what they were talking about. She was uneasy that they could be police in disguise, but they proved they weren't police by exposing their genitalia to her. She told them it would be $20 each, coming to a total of $40 for the oral sex. The men agreed to this price and went to the parking lot at Omega School, where Yvonne performed oral on each man.

The passenger wanted more and told Yvonne he wanted her to have sex with him. Yvonne refused. The passenger, angry at the rejection, climbed into the backseat, got behind Yvonne, and placed her in a choke-hold. He demanded his money back or else he'd kill her. He then said she'd have sex with him or else he'd kill her. Yvonne withdrew the money from her pocket and gave it back to the men. The passenger loosened his grip on Yvonne and kicked her out of the vehicle, heading westbound on 28th Street.

Yvonne told Officer Spelman she had left a black coat in the back of the truck and that a lens from her glasses fell out during the scuffle and was in the vehicle. She was also able to provide the license plate of the truck.

Yvonne wanted to press charges but would not let officers collect evidence (I'm guessing swabs) and providing police sketches of the assailants. She was given instructions for how to proceed and gave a witness statement. Then, Officer Spelman let her go.

On Thursday, January 8, Officer Bivins reported that they attemped to contact Yvonne, but her mother told them that she had not heard from Yvonne since the day the robbery occurred. According to her mother, Yvonne worked at a place on Division, but it turned out she was supposed to have an interview there that previous Monday - for which she never showed up. Bivins had to close the complaint since they were unable to contact Yvonne. Unfortunately, it appears as though Yvonne met with foul play after Officer Spelman took her statement, and to this day, no one has heard from Yvonne Scott.

If you know anything about Yvonne's disappearance, please contact Kent County Sheriff's Department at 616-632-6125.