The family of Lauryn Garrett, a missing 23-year-old Sequim woman, continues to seek any information about her whereabouts after local law enforcement announced plans to stop its investigation.
On May 21, the Sequim Gazette reported the Port Townsend Police Department believed Garrett to be OK and in the Shoreline area where she formerly lived.
Patrick Fudally, public information officer for the Port Townsend Police Department, said on Friday, May 23, that their task force will meet next week and decide the best course of action going forward in the case and that they have a few reasons to stop the investigation.
“Since day one, there was no indication of any crime,” Fudally said. “The best leads we have were that she was in the Shoreline area. She lived there prior to entering rehab and has chosen to go on her way and not make contact with her family.”
However, Garrett’s mother Eleana Christanson said since there are no leads or evidence to prove her daughter’s well-being or whereabouts they are more concerned now.
“She hasn’t made any contact with cousins or friends. There’s been no contact which isn’t normal for her,” she said. “There’s nothing there to indicate she left the (Port Townsend) area.”
Garrett’s step-father Bret Christanson said following the Gazette’s story, he received several texts from friends saying they were glad she’s OK.
“We don’t know (if she’s OK or not),” he said. “No one person has seen her or spoken with her. It’s like she’s vanished.” He said one confirmation that his daughter is alive and OK would end the family’s search.
Family members said they are continuing to search and seek tips that may lead to finding Garrett, a 2009 Sequim High School graduate.
Garrett, who was last seen on May 1 in Port Townsend in Safeway buying liquor and soda, was to meet her father, Fred Garrett, on May 2 at the Port Townsend ferry.
However, she phoned her father at about 7:30 p.m. on a borrowed cell phone the evening before, asking for a ride.
Her father said she was traveling to Sequim from Sedro-Woolley after finishing two months in the Pioneer Center North chemical dependency center.
Fudally said police could not confirm whether Garrett was released on her own because of HIPPA privacy regulations.
A member of the task force assigned to find Garrett followed a lead with a witness who said he was “99 percent sure” he spoke with her on a bus in Shoreline, Fudally said.
“It was the first significant tip we had to that point,” Fudally said. “According to the eyewitness on the bus she didn’t appear to be injured or in distress. Again there was no indication there was anything wrong with her or being forced to do something she didn’t want to do.”
One of Garrett’s two bags were found by her mother five days after she went missing within 200 yards of Ka Thai Park next to a homeless man who was waiting for its owner to come back.
Fudally said the bag didn’t appear to be ransacked.
Family members said Garrett likely has her ID with her, hence buying alcohol, and another bag with clothes in it.
Garrett remains a missing person, Fudally said.
Her family said Garrett’s hobbies including writing, photography, music, art, basketball and running.
Lauryn Garrett is 23, 5 feet 7 inches, with brown hair, hazel eyes, weighs 120-130 pounds and has a tattoo behind left ear of a bird and a tattoo on her wrist of Washington.
If you see Garrett or have information on her whereabouts, call 9-1-1 or Port Townsend Police at 360-385-3831, ext. 1.
