It’s been more than a year since Ashleigh Crosbie went missing in Brooklyn, but her family say they have not given up the search for her.
“We have been scammed and left with more questions than answers, but we will not give up,” said Tracy Franco, the 51-year-old woman’s sister.
According to the family, Ms Crosbie was last seen on Sunday September 18 last year and police started searching for her the following month, but all leads and information on her whereabouts have led to dead ends (“Family of missing woman plead for help to find her,” Tabletalk, November 9, 2022).
It is believed that Ms Crosbie was attending a party in Brooklyn with her dog and was last seen driving a silver BMW 3 Series rental.
Ms Franco said her sister’s disappearance had taken an emotional, physical, and financial toll on the family, but they would not give up until she was found.
Several times since October last year, different people had contacted the family demanding a ransom for Ms Crosbie’s release, but they had been unable to provide enough information about her to be regarded as anything but con artists, said Ms Franco.
“Since her disappearance, we were given so much false hope. My mother is battling with a number of health issues, including depression, because of this. But I have to be strong.”
Other anonymous callers have offered to reveal Ms Crosbie’s supposed whereabouts… for a fee.
The family have hired a private investigator who has been passing on information to the Milnerton police, but so far nothing has come of this.
At the end of this month, the family plan to consult a pet psychic in the hope that Ms Crosbie’s dog will be able to reveal her whereabouts.
“The family has spoken to a number of different psychics, but we still have no answers, only questions,” Ms Franco said.
The family continue to circulate missing-person flyers.
“We had so much support from people in the beginning, but that has stopped. People have tried to convince us that the case has gone cold, but I refuse to believe that,” Ms Franco said.
She said she had lost faith in the Milnerton police long ago.
“I have sent them all the information, all the leads, even that the car she had been renting was spotted, but nothing.”
“We have checked mortuaries in Cape Town, hospitals, and every place that we could think Ashleigh would possibly be but no sign of her leaves us thinking that something might have happened to her,” she said.
Ms Crosbie has “Carl” tattooed on her upper back and “Casper” on her arm. She has a piercing in her nose and an appendectomy scar. She is 1.6m tall with blonde hair and brown eyes. If you have information about her whereabouts, contact the Western Cape Missing Persons Unit at 071 639 8344 or 061 494 2032. Or email Ms Franco at tracyjeanfranco@gmail.com
Lezanne Basson, from the Western Cape Missing Persons Unit said: “We have been to the morgues, and get a monthly update about unknown persons who are brought into our Western Cape hospitals, but we still haven’t found Ashleigh.”
Milnerton police were given two weeks to respond to our questions, after we emailed them on Thursday, October 5. On Monday October 17, the station’s spokeswoman, Captain Nopaya Madyibi, said the detective handling the case was on leave, and once he returned, they would inform us about any new information.
Gamers gather at Playtopia