Sixty-five-year-old Starla Goings has been missing since Friday, August 15, and her loved ones are feeling the pain of her absence.
“A lot of people have told me lately, they’ve said, ‘Your mom was really easy to love,’” daughter Steffanie Goings told Dateline. “And she was just that– she was very bubbly. She was very positive. She was always smiling.”
Starla is a bank teller in Munising, Michigan, where she lives with her husband, Steffanie’s father. Steffanie and her husband, Anthony Owens, live in Orlando, but keep in regular touch with Starla. “We speak to her at least every two to three days,” Anthony told Dateline. “She was doing good. She was handling her affairs and going about life in the best way she knew how.”
Steffanie and Anthony last spoke on the phone with Starla on the afternoon of August 15. “It was just a normal, standard talk of how are you doing, how are things going, what’s up,” Anthony said. At the time of their last conversation, Starla said she was at the State Fair in Escanaba, Michigan. They haven’t heard from her since.
On Sunday the 17th, after they reached out to Starla’s friends and Steffanie’s brother, the couple learned that no one had heard from Starla for the entire weekend. “No one — not anyone — had heard from her,” Anthony said. “We all got worried Sunday, and then called around and ended up finding out she was not there — she has not been seen since Friday.”
That was when the Alger County Sheriff’s Office got involved. “We got a report from a family member,” Sheriff Todd Brock told Dateline. “We get a call to do a welfare check on Starla.” An Alger County sheriff’s deputy met with Starla’s husband at the residence and completed the welfare check on the evening of Sunday, August 17.
According to Sheriff Brock, Starla was last seen by her husband, who said she left around midnight on August 15. “She leaves the home — tells her husband she’s leaving, and leaves the home,” he said. On the night of August 17, Starla’s vehicle was located approximately 3.5 miles from her home.
Starla’s case is considered an active missing person’s case. “We’re treating it as a missing person,” Sheriff Brock told Dateline. “We have not named a person of interest at this time, but we’re continuing to work the investigation, and if that changes, I will put out a statement through our local prosecutor.”
The sheriff’s office has partnered with the Michigan State Police, the Department of Natural Resources, and other local agencies to conduct a full investigation, including canine units, aerial, and ground searches. “We’ve got a grid and a map that we’re using, and we’re just marking off quadrants as we search them,” Sheriff Brock said. “We’re all working collectively together to do an organized, methodical search from the home, out from the home, in areas where the tips take us or leads might take us.”
As the search for Starla continues, Steffanie and Anthony have faith that investigators are doing everything they can to locate her. “The police force is doing everything they can, and they have shown us that they’re doing everything possible,” Anthony said.
The public can help in the search for Starla. “Just please be vigilant,” Sheriff Brock urged. “Keep an eye out, keep your ear out. We’re taking any and all leads seriously, and we’re working at anything we possibly can to bring Starla home safely.”
Starla Goings is 65 years old, 5’4”, and 160 pounds. She has bright white hair and brown eyes. She’s carrying either a black Lululemon bag or a mini black backpack.
If you have information about Starla’s case, please contact the Alger County Sheriff’s Office at (906) 387-7030.
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