
Mother drops her son off at an alleged friend's house; He is never seen again, and his cellphone data provides some concerning info regarding his last moves- Where is Robert Alexander "Alex" Easterling? (2022)
Hello everyone! As always, thank you for all your comments and votes under my last post about the Middlesex County John Doe- I hope that he will be identified soon.
Today I'd like to highlight a disappearance case.
BACKGROUND
Robert Alexander "Alex" Easterling was 30 when he went missing from Pickens, Mississippi, USA.
One article noted that he was a "young father", but no details were given about this part of his life.
DISAPPEARANCE
Alex was last seen on the 20th of April at 8:15 PM on Stockyard Road in Pickens. His mother, Ashley E Martin, had picked Alex from jail and then dropped him off at his acquaintance’s house at Alex's request. Alex's mother had a bad feeling about the place one they arrived, and later described it as a "chop shop".
Before he left, Alex asked his mother to text him when she comes home, so that he'd know that she returned safely. Ashley kept her promise and both called and texted Alex, but recieved no reply. When there was still no word back from Alex by the next morning, Ashley knew that something was wrong.
After Alex was reported missing, Ashley learned how to analyze phone data from a friend who was involved in law enforcement. According to that data, Alex was on his friend's porch, and then, minutes later, the phone appeared to stay in one spot. According to the interpretation of data from Alex's phone, he then ran off the back porch and "fell flat"- the next phone ping was sent at 12:23 AM, and it came from across the street from the friend's residence.
A search party with dogs was meant to search the friend's property, but the friend revoked his permission after he initially granted it. It doesn't seem like any physical clues were found during the search.
CONCLUSION
The info I'll give below comes from Alex's websleuths.com thread from a user claiming to be Ashley. This user has not been verified, so we can't be 100% sure that it is indeed Ashley, but I still found the details provided notable enough to include. Approach these with a grain of salt.
- Alex was in jail due to an outstanding warrant in Hinds County from 2020 for Grand Larceny. He was arrested on the 16th of February. His charge was reduced to a misdemeanor and Alex was released on Pretrial Intervention Program (PTI).
- Alex has struggled with substance abuse issues for a few years before he went missing. His larceny charge was a result of that.
- Ashley didn't know it at the time, but the house she dropped Alex at belonged to a known drug dealer. She said that the place looked "shady" and like "a junk yard with old cars everywhere, high wooden fencing, flood lights, etc".
- An officer went to the friend's house on the 22nd to talk to him about Alex's disappearance. The friend claimed that Alex did come by that evening and that the two talked on the porch. Alex allegedly asked the friend to give him some phone numbers, as he had a brand new phone with no new contacts. The friend allegedly went inside to grab his phone, and when he returned, Alex was gone. When Ashley's father went to talk with the friend a bit later on the 22nd, he said that he went inside to put on a t-shirt, and when he came back, Alex was gone. Even later on the 22nd, a deputy came by to the friend to talk about Alex- the friend claimed that he went in to grab a cigarette, and when he came back, Alex was gone. The friend gave three slightly different versions of the story overall. He hasn't been questioned by the police in an official capacity (at least by the 12th of July 2022, no idea if that has changed since).
- The area where Alex went missing at was looked through using drones and sniffer dogs at the 27th and 28th of April 2022. The friend had denied them access to the property at first, but then changed his mind. The dogs immediately hit Alex's scent and lead the handlers from the front gate straight to the front porch. The dogs then tried to lead the handlers to the back of the house, but the friend said that Alex "didn't go back there" and didn't want to let them through. A deputy was called during the search, but once he arrived at the property, he didn't even exit his car and didn't acknowledge Ashley, her husband, or her father, who were also at the scene.
The friend who owned the house that Alex was last seen at is considered a person of interest.
There is a $10,000 reward for any info in Alex's case.
Robert Alexander "Alex" Easterling was 30 when he went missing and would be 34 now. He is a white man, 5' 9" (69 Inch / 175 cm) and 160 lbs (73 kg). He has brown hair and hazel eyes. He has a large cross tattoo on his back. He wast last seen wearing a black t- shirt with a white Egyptian design on the front, blue jeans, and military style boots.
If you have any info about Alex's whereabouts, contact the Holmes County Sheriff's Department at (662) 834-1511 (case number 289622-HSO).
SOURCES:
Alex's websleuths.com thread