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Kansas Pastor’s Wife Goes Missing On Way To Alabama After Making 'Concerning Statements' To Her Family, Police Say
A witness possibly spotted missing mother of three Marilane Carter Monday at a gas station in Southhaven, Mississippi.
A Kansas mom has gone missing on her way to Alabama making “concerning statements” to her family, police said.
Marilane Carter, 36, was last seen by her family leaving her home in Overland Park, Kansas on Saturday around 8:15 p.m., according to a statement from the Overland Park Police.
Det. Blake Larsen told Oxygen.com that Carter had been on her way to Birmingham, Alabama to visit family. She stayed in a hotel Saturday night and then talked with both her husband and her mother around 8 p.m. on Sunday evening shortly before her phone was turned off.
Larsen said investigators did a ping on the phone and determined that she had been in the area of I-55 where West Memphis, Arkansas borders Memphis, Tennessee, at the Mississippi River, at the time of her last contact with family.
Police said she had made “concerning statements” to her family during the calls—prompting family members to become concerned about her whereabouts.
Her brother-in-law, Brady McLaughlin, told AL.com that Carter had been planning to get mental health help at the time she disappeared and may have reached out to the Grandview Medical Center or The University of Alabama at Birmingham at some point before she vanished.
Larsen told Oxygen.com that a woman reported seeing a someone she believed to be Carter at a gas station in Southhaven, Mississippi—not far from Memphis—on Monday night at approximately 11 a.m.
There has been no credit card activity on Carter’s accounts since Sunday. The woman who reported the possible sighting on Monday told police the woman she believed was Carter told her that her credit or debit card wasn’t working and asked for some money.
“The woman actually gave her $10 to put on gas and gave her $3 cash,” Larsen said.
One of the challenges for investigators in Kansas has been the distance between their location and Carter’s last known whereabouts.
“It’s very difficult to conduct an investigation from 400 miles away,” Larsen said, though he added that a federal agency had agreed to help the police Thursday to try to find the missing mom.
Larsen said at this point he doesn’t not believe foul play is involved, but said he couldn't rule out any possibilities.
“We are doing everything we can and trying to help the family," he said.
Carter is the wife of the Rev. Adam Carter, who serves as the lead pastor of Leawood Baptist Church in Kansas, where he and his wife are raising their three young children.
The couple’s children are currently being cared for by family members, while Adam Carter has been helping to search for his missing wife, AL.com reports.
Police described Marilane as 5’8” tall and weighing approximately 130 pounds. She has long brown hair and green eyes.
She was last seen wearing a green T-shirt and black yoga pants and had been driving a dark grey 2011 GMC Acadia with Kansas plates 194 LFY.
Anyone with information about the case is urged to contact authorities.
