Missing Person: Katelyn Marie Craven

Claim:   A 22 year-old woman named Katelyn Marie Craven is missing from the Alexandria, Virginia area.

OUTDATED

Example:   [Collected via e-mail, January 2014]

Is this for real? Been going around on Facebook.
 

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THIS IS MY DAUGHTER WHO HAS BEEN MISSING FOR 2-1/2 YEARS. I HAVE DONE EVERTHING POSSIBLE TO LOCATE HER. SHE STAYED IN TOUCH WITH ME AND THEN SUDDENLY NO MORE! ITS LIKE SHES VANISHED! NO ONE SEEMS TO BE ABLE TO HELP ME. NOT EVEN AUTHORITIES. SO I AM HERE ON FACEBOOK ASKING PEOPLE TO PLEASE JUST CLICK THE SHARE BUTTON. PUT HER FACE OUT THERE. HER NAME IS "KATELYN MARIE CRAVEN" DOB: 01-29-92. SHE HAS EPILEPTIC SEIZURES. SHE MAY EVEN HAVE BLACK HAIR. LAST KNOWN LOCATION WAS ALEXANDRIA VIRGINIA. SHE WORKED AT HOPS RESTAURANT AND NEW INFORMATION SAYS SHE WAS HOMELESS AT THE TIME SHE WORKED HERE. ALL I AM ASKING IS FOR EVERYONE, EVEN IF YOU DONT KNOW HER. TO CLICK SHARE! I DONT KNOW WHAT ELSE TO DO!! IF ANYONE HAS INFORMATION ON HER WHEREABOUTS PLEASE EMAIL: K.ELDRIDGE@YMAIL.COM OR DOUGELDRIDGE65@YAHOO.COM

Origins:   In late January 2014 a Facebook page entitled "Katelyn MARIE Craven Information" was established for the stated purpose of helping to locate a 22-year-old woman (actually just a few days short of her

22nd birthday) named Katelyn Marie Craven, who was said to have gone missing from the Alexandria, Virginia, area around mid-2011 after a disagreement with her mother and stepfather, Kimberly and Doug Eldridge.

Information documenting that a young woman by that name had been missing for over two years was lacking: There appeared to be no listing for a Katelyn Marie Craven in either the FBI's national missing persons database or any other national or local registry of missing persons, and this circumstance led many to speculate that the plea to help find Katelyn was some form of scam or hoax. However, as Katelyn would have been an adult over the age of 18 who voluntarily left at the time she was last seen by her parents, she could not have been classified by law enforcement as a runaway or a missing person.

The Alexandria, Virginia, police department said in response to an inquiry that:

As of the evening of 25 January 2014, the Eldridges reported on their Facebook page that Katelyn had been located: "KATELYN MARIE CRAVEN HAS BEEN FOUND. DO NOT CONTACT ME AS TO WHERE SHE IS. SHE WISHES FOR THIS TO REMAIN PRIVATE. THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR HELP."

Last updated:   27 January 2014