COVINGTON, Ga. — The search is on for a Covington mom and her 12-year-old son after police say they vanished while running errands together Saturday, April 22.
Brittany Wiley, 37, and her 12-year-old son, Rodney Wiley Jr., disappeared during a trip to Ross Dress for Less and Food Depot in Covington, while driving her mom's red Ford Escape, police said.
Wiley had told her mother that she and her son would be right back, according to Covington police.
Police said the vehicle was last spotted by Flock cameras at 6:00 p.m. April 22, traveling south on Turner Lake Road, toward the Food Depot just down the street. The license plate of the red Ford Escape appears to be: CS07682
Brittany is 5 feet tall and weighs 135 pounds. She has black hair and brown eyes.
Rodney is 4 feet 6 inches tall and weighs 100 pounds. He also has black hair and brown eyes.
Wiley's mother, Florence Jones, told 11Alive Friday evening that her daughter had said she wanted to borrow her SUV to drive to Ross Dress for Less, off Highway 278, two miles from their home, to shop for an outfit for a church event the next day, Sunday.
Jones said she was preparing Sunday dinner for family, and she asked Wiley to stop on her way back from Ross at the Food Depot, on Highway 278 a mile from their home, to pick up some ingredients she needed.
"I watched them go," Jones said, "waved goodbye from the porch and told 'em, 'I'll see you in a little bit.'"
About an hour and a half later, Jones said, her daughter called her from the SUV, with Rodney next to her, telling her they were on their way to the grocery store.
“That was the last time that I had heard from her,” Jones said.
Jones said she started to worry when they didn't come home, and she called and texted her daughter repeatedly, but Wiley never responded.
"She's never without that phone," Jones said.
Jones started calling everyone Wiley knew, trying to find out where they'd gone, who they'd gone to visit, and she called Covington Police to file a missing persons report.
"I thought for sure they'd come home Sunday in time for church, or dinner," Jones said. "Then when they didn't come home, I thought, they'll be back by Monday morning so Rodney can get to school on time."
Jones said her daughter has never before left home without telling her where she'd be.
She said there's no indication Wiley had taken any clothing or other personal items from the home, there's nothing to indicate to her that her daughter had packed bags for herself and Rodney.
"When I saw them leave, all she had were her purse and her phone," Jones said.
Police told 11Alive that Wiley's phone hasn't been used or switched on since the day she and her son disappeared.
Police were not ready to disclose, publicly, yet, details of their investigation, such as whether they've been able to pull together a timeline of her movements in the hours and days before she and her son disappeared; whether they've accessed her cell phone records; whether evidence can place her at the Ross, the Food Depot, and other specific locations; and whether they've been able to interview, yet, relatives, friends and acquaintances who might have information about her and her son that might shed light on what happened to them.
Jones said Wiley has been going through a difficult divorce from Rodney's father, and that she and Rodney had recently moved out of their house and into Jones's home, temporarily.
“Right now I just want to feel like my daughter and my grandson are okay, and that maybe emotionally it got to be too much, too heavy, and just needed to go. Just needed to take off for a little bit. And honestly, I hope that's all it is."
Police are not ruling out any possibility, working around the clock to try to locate them and make sure they are okay. Police are asking anyone who might know where Wiley and her son are to contact:
Sgt. Brian Shockley
- 678-779-3762
- brian.shockley@covingtonpolice.com
Lt. Daniel Digby
- 770-385-2126
- daniel.digby@covingtonpolice.com