CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — A metro Atlanta family is pleading for answers after their loved one disappeared and her case took a grim turn.
Police believe that Briana Winston could have been killed after they upgraded her missing person's case to a presumed homicide. Winston is a mother and a daughter who is loved by her family.
"Briana was a very sweet person. Outgoing, nice. She loved her little girl to death. She loved our family. We just miss Brianna," said Jasmine Walker, Winston's cousin.
Loved ones reported Winston missing on April 1 after learning her apartment was cleared out allegedly by Michale Edwards, the father of her child and live-in boyfriend.
Edwards and his wife, Brienna Phillips-Edwards, are considered persons of interest in Winston's disappearance. Her family wasn't aware that her live-in boyfriend was married until they learned about the latest in the case.
"We didn't know that he was married. And by him having a wife who was wondering why was he still after my cousin," said Walker.
Now, they continue searching for answers, wondering what happened to their loved one.
"I just wonder where could she be? If she is dead, where's her body?" her cousin questioned. "I just want to know where she is. When we find her and bring her home, that's when I would get my closure. But until then, I'm not giving up."
Walker expressed how she felt her disappearance was odd.
"She wouldn't leave her daughter with anybody without calling, and just by her leaving her baby, it's odd, it's strange, it's out of the ordinary," she added.
Shortly after her disappearance, authorities put a notice out on April 11 that Winston was missing and said her last known location was near the Garden Wood Apartments in College Park. Clayton County Police Department's Criminal Investigation Division said it's believed that Winston vanished during the early hours of March 17 under suspicious circumstances, indicative of foul play.
Detectives are now focusing their efforts on piecing together the events leading to Winston's disappearance and ultimately searching for remains.
Walker said that earlier in the case, she didn't feel that the detectives took her seriously when reporting her cousin's disappearance.
"I felt when she first went missing that the detectives, they weren't really serious about it and that they should have been," she added. "I'm sad because it's taken Briana's story this long to hit the media."
According to the Black and Missing in America, the media coverage of white and minority victims is far from proportionate. The organization added that most minority children are classified as runaways, which means they don't receive an Amber alert. The organization also added that missing Black adults are labeled as criminals.
The Clayton County Police Department urges anyone with information about Briana Winston's disappearance to come forward and assist in the ongoing investigation. Tips can be reported by contacting the department at 770-477-3747.