A missing 36-year-old woman was found safe and subsequently charged for removing an ankle monitor.

McMinnville resident Jennifer Mayfield was found in Michigan after being reported missing on March 18, 2023. She was last seen on the morning of Friday, March 17. McMinnville Police Department initially reported there was “some suspicion surrounding her disappearance.” 

As reported in Wednesday’s Southern Standard, Chellsie Reed received an apparently urgent DM shortly after noon on Friday, March 18 from Jennifer saying, “I need a ride bad.” Reed wasn’t able to respond to the message until hours later. The DM went unanswered as did the follow-up call she made. Reba Leach claimed to have found a “bracelet” belonging to Mayfield. When approached for clarification she noted it was an ankle monitor. Katelyn Cannon, the lead detective on the case, confirmed that Mayfield had cut her ankle monitor off.

Mayfield had been furloughed into the Adult Recovery Court in February of this year in relation to charges of aggravated burglary and theft and has a pending court date for those charges. Another oddity initially surrounding the case is the fact that the last TikTok uploaded to her page was from after she had been reported missing implying she, or someone with access to her phone and/or social media passwords, was in use after the police had been informed of her disappearance.

Friends of Mayfield were concerned due to reports from the police about what had been found at the scene. Cannon reports that Mayfield’s roommate returned to their residence to find the back door open. There was blood on the countertop and Mayfield’s purse was emptied out. The bedroom also appeared ransacked leading investigators and loved ones to fear that Mayfield had been kidnapped or worse. The McMinnville Police Department coordinated with law enforcement in Flint, Michigan where Mayfield’s father lives. Officers were sent to his address “and sure enough there she was,” Cannon said. Cannon feels that Mayfield thought the hoax kidnapping would be a distraction allowing her to go on the run and that local police wouldn’t bother to cast a wide enough net to reach her.

Mayfield is currently being extradited from Michigan back to McMinnville where she will be charged with escape for cutting her ankle monitor and not turning herself in at the jail.