ATLANTA, GEORGIA: The FBI recently executed a raid on a home situated on the outskirts of Atlanta said to have been connected to the disappearance of Morgan Bauer, a 19-year-old who went missing in 2016. Bauer's last known sighting was in an Instagram video that showed at a local park, located merely a ten-minute walk away from the property that was raided.
"The search warrant was obtained based on credible information and evidence gathered during the course of this investigation," said Porterdale Police Sergent Michael Walden in a press briefing about the development. Multiple agencies, including the Porterdale Police Department, Atlanta Police Department, Peoria, Illinois Police Department, Newton County Sheriff’s Office, and Newton County District Attorney’s Office, participated in the raid, as per reports, but the presence of the Illinois force members are yet to confirmed by the officials. Notably, law enforcement officials revealed that they have recovered "items of evidentiary interest" related to her search.
Who is Morgan Bauer?
Originally from South Dakota, Bauer had relocated to Georgia two weeks before her disappearance, seeking a fresh start, and had been working as a stripper at a bar named 'Teasers'. In a 2017 interview, Bauer's mother, Sherri Sichmeller, disclosed that her daughter had just $20 to her name when she moved to Georgia and was expecting a tax refund that never materialized. "She was planning on staying with somebody that she had talked to on Craigslist," Sichmeller told WSB-TV. However, that arrangement ended after a single night due to conflicts with her new roommate.
"From what I understand she’d left her clothes there because she didn’t know what to do. And then she went to go try to find a place to stay a hotel, and that’s what brought her to dancing," Sichmeller said. A Waffle House employee located across the street from Teasers revealed that she had spoken with Bauer on several occasions when the 19- year-old would visit after finishing her work. "You know, like I said, we don’t (often) see Caucasian women over there at that club, and I asked her if she was dancing or bartending and she said that she was dancing over there," the worker said.
'This changes the entire timeline of events!'
On the day of the raid, Bauer's mother expressed her gratitude for the support saying, "My family and I are doing our best to be grateful, graceful, peaceful, and prayerful." "I would just ask for patience and of course they have waited so long and I'm asking them to wait a bit longer," Walden said on Thursday, July 27, adding "The professional men and women out there searching in the conditions they are, in they are trying. So, if they could just be patient with us a little bit, we will update them as soon as we know something and can tell them. We understand that incidents like these can cause concern among residents, but we want to assure the public that we are actively working to address the situation and maintain the safety and security of our community."
The search for Bauer's whereabouts has been an ongoing effort, with recent discoveries indicating a change in the timeline of events. Investigators found that her last social media post which show her in a park with a man walking behind her, was on February 26, 2016, and not on the 25th as previously stated. The location and identity of the man remains unknown at this time. "This changes the entire timeline of events," her mother said in February, adding, "It also changes the last person known to have seen Morgan."
A tip line, 1-855-MORGANB, has been set up to assist in providing information, and a $10,000 reward is being offered for any details related to Morgan Bauer's disappearance.
