A Black Family’s Fear Grows After Missing NYC Grandmother’s Phone Sends Suspicious Texts

The family of a 63-year-old missing grandmother of five filed a missing persons report after they were unable to contact her while on a trip to visit a friend. Then they began receiving suspicious messages from her phone.

Alisa Goods traveled to Las Vegas earlier this month to visit a longtime friend, according to CBS News. But on Aug. 8, she left his apartment to catch a bus to a nearby CVS and never returned. It’s been over a week since she was last seen. Still, her family remains hopeful.

“I am hoping to God for the best, but my heart can’t take what it could be, which is the worst,” Goods’ daughter, Kristen, told CBS. 

At first, there was only uncertainty. Goods’ friend of nine years, Roger John, expected her to come back after shopping. “Last I saw her, she was going down the stairs. And I said, ‘OK, see you later,’” he said in an interview with Fox 8 News. He reportedly left the house about 15 minutes later. But when he returned after three hours, that’s when he started to worry.

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“I was like, ‘she should have been home already.’ I didn’t think much of it, because sometimes she’d go out and she’d shop. She stays out,” he said. “I kept texting and calling and texting and calling.”

Records show that the family reported Goods missing two days later, on Aug. 10. By then, her phone appeared to be disconnected, according to the family. But days after the report was filed, they began receiving text messages from her phone number.

Goods’ niece, Alana Calloway, recalled the texts that immediately raised alarms. “I said, ‘Hey, could you call me back? Something happened to mommy. It’s an emergency.’  And I kind of went on and on trying to get the person to actually call me.  But they kept putting it off and saying, ‘Now my card’s not working,’” Calloway told Fox.

At one point, the sender mentioned someone named Kelly — a person Calloway said does not exist in their family, the New York Post reported. The sender asked for money, requested Bitcoin and claimed to need gas. The problem was that Goods did not have a car in Las Vegas.

“I want to know that she’s OK and that she is alive,” Calloway said. “She has a family that loves her, cares about her. We want her home and want her home safe and alive.”

The family’s fear deepened once Goods’ son, Keven Newton, also received strange messages seeking money, Fox 8 reported. To them, the phone was no longer reassuring evidence that their loved one was communicating. It was another mystery.

Now, the family is facing the terrifying possibility that someone else might have Goods’ phone.

“Every time the person texts back, it just felt like my heart was in my stomach because I knew it wasn’t my aunt,” Calloway said.

Meanwhile, the search continues in Las Vegas.

According to CBS News, relatives contacted hospitals, jails and the coroner’s office while Goods’ daughter traveled to the city to find answers. Friends put up missing-person flyers around the area where Goods disappeared.

Police say the investigation remains active and are asking anyone with information to come forward.

“She is still out there, and we’re looking for her,” Kristen said. “We want her home. We want her back.”