Daughter Desperately Searches For Missing New Mexico Mother After She Disappears Under Mysterious Circumstances

It’s been more than four months since Jean Johnson disappeared from her New Mexico home, leaving few clues behind.

As the weeks stretch on since Johnson was last seen, her daughter Heidi Johnson continues to desperately seek answers about what happened to her 70-year-old mother.

“It's definitely taking a toll,” she told local station KOB of the mysterious disappearance.

Jean vanished in late May, while she was dog-sitting for a friend. Her purse and cell phone were found locked in her car, while the front door of her home in Capitan, New Mexico was left slightly ajar, NBC News reports. The dog Jean had been watching was still inside, but had several accidents throughout the home.

Heidi told Dateline she encountered the puzzling scene after she became concerned when she hadn’t heard from her mom in several days.

She last spoke to her mom on May 26, 2019 when the two talked about Jean’s dog-sitting.

“My mother was my best friend. We were very close. We talked at least three times a day,” Heidi told Dateline.

Jean Johnson Photo: Lincoln County Sheriff's Office

The next day, Heidi had a busy day and didn’t get to call her mom until later that evening. She never answered, but Heidi didn’t become concerned until she couldn’t reach her on Tuesday. The friend Jean had been dog-sitting for also called Heidi and reported that Jean never dropped off the dog on Monday as they had planned.

Heidi decided to drive out to her mother’s home and encountered the strange scene. Although the door to the home was left slightly ajar, nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary inside the home.

“Everything looked normal,” she said. “Except that the dog she was watching had some accidents. She would have never just left him there long enough for that to happen. My mother was very clean and kept things clean. And also, she just loved that dog.”

Initially, Heidi believed the only item missing was her mother’s .357-caliber pistol, but that was later found in a pouch sitting on top of a laundry bag.

In the days that followed, investigators scoured the 10 acres where Jean lived, but found no trace of her.

“They’re still searching and investigating, but there’s still a lot we do not know,” Heidi said. “They assume she just wandered off. But I know she wouldn’t do that. Someone took her and did something to her.”

Authorities weren’t sure what she was wearing but Officer Ray Wilson, a New Mexico State Police spokesman, wrote in a statement that the 70-year-old grandmother “usually has on a silver wedding band with three diamonds,” according to the Albuquerque Journal.

Heidi also told Dateline her mother usually wore a clear pendant around her neck that contained the ashes of her late husband, who died more than seven years ago.

As the search stretches on for the missing woman, Lincoln County Sheriff Robert Shepperd described it as “a pretty difficult case” for the department.

“This isn’t a typical investigation for us,” he told KOB. “When it’s a missing person, by this time they’re either found somewhere at a family’s house or maybe in a hospital somewhere.”

Heidi has become so determined to discover what happened to her missing mother that she has even visited several psychics—who have all reported the same thing, that her mother is no longer alive. She said they told her that her mother is buried not too far off the road.

One even provided more specific details.

“She told me she’s on private property north of Alamogordo buried in Afghan pine trees, and the owners of that property are unaware that she’s there,” Heidi told the local station.

But, without any concrete proof about where her mother may be, Heidi is still left searching for answers.

“I have to have some kind of closure,” she said. “It’s all I think about.”

Jean Johnson has been described as a white female, 5’6” tall and weighing 130 pounds with light brown hair and green eyes.

Anyone with information about the missing mother’s whereabouts is urged to contact authorities.