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Stumbling along through the night, suffering a panic attack, the 21-year-old redhead couldn’t find a ride home. She eventually found one, but the driver had evil intentions. Christina Whitaker wouldn’t be seen by her family again.

November 13, 2009, Christina goes out to a local bar in Hannibal, Missouri, to celebrate with friends. It was the first time she’d been out since giving birth six months earlier. The night took a turn for the worse when Christina has one too many drinks and starts causing a ruckus at the bar.

Christina Whitaker suffered from bipolar disorder, anxiety attacks, and fibromyalgia for years. She had been on medication for three years, trying to get her life back together. Unfortunately, those medications didn’t mix well with alcohol. It is unclear what happened at the party, but Christina was asked to leave. Her friend refused to leave the party and give her a ride home. Now, this left her alone on the street just before midnight. The new mother was at the mercy of the night, and unfortunately, a predator lurked in the shadows.

Christina was very childlike and naive, making her the perfect target for someone to exploit her. Reports say she wandered about trying to find someone to give her a ride home. She asked all of her acquaintances and a few strangers. Everyone refused to provide the troubled woman a ride.

The next morning, Christina’s live-in boyfriend calls Christina’s mother, Cindy. Christina never returned home. Cindy filed a missing person report.

Timeline:

11:45 pm – Christina is asked to leave Rookie’s Bar

Shortly after – Christina enters the Sportsman’s Bar asking for help. She was seen running out of the back entrance in tears.

Her phone was found in the 200th block of 7th St. near 7th and Church St. This is a few yards away from the Sportsman’s bar where she was last seen.

Trafficked:

Within two weeks of her disappearance, an informant gave the Hannibal police a lead. Christina was taken by a group of guys who dealt in drugs and prostitution. The witness claims she was taken two hours away to Peoria, Illinois, and sold into the sex trade.

Several possible sightings have come out of Peoria, leading the authorities to step up their investigation. A waitress claimed to have seen Christina when she went into the Raedene’s Country Cafe, asking for help. The waitress tried to ask what was wrong, but Christina left quickly before the lady could get help.

Another sighting was by a local police officer. He claimed to have seen her and tried to approach her. He said she seemed terrified and fled before he could talk to her.

At one point, a witness comes forward with valuable information. This woman was a patient in the local mental hospital when a woman fitting Christina checked herself in for treatment. She told the witness that she had been kidnapped and was being forced to work as a prostitute. She had gotten pregnant and was beaten so severely that she miscarried. She also claimed they were forcing her to take drugs. The witness went straight to the police, but by the time they arrived, Christina had vanished once again.

What happened to this poor, mentally disabled woman? Who is taking advantage of her? What terror have they struck in her heart to where she’s afraid to run? If you have any information on the disappearance of Christina Whitaker disappearance, please contact the Hannibal Police Department 573-221-0987

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Further Reading:

Christina’s Facebook Pg

Lostandmissing.org

Recommended Reading:

Read more about Christina’s case in this book. Steffen Hou interviewed her mother for the chapter about Christina.

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Shattered: behind every story is a shattered life

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She was a disabled single mother snatched from her children and family, first by him, then by drugs, and finally physically. What happened to Dana Bruce from Sedalia, Missouri?

October 4, 2008, a single mother broke away from her typical pattern and decided to take a night off. She leaves her toddlers at a babysitter’s house and goes out for a much-needed break. Dana Bruce, 23, was a devoted mom. She had no hobbies and no significant social life. Her life quite literally revolved around her two children.

Dana was once a fun-loving, somewhat mischevious teenager, but once she was introduced to Nathan Dotson, her life changed. She became a mother, and she was introduced to a drug-filled world. While Dana was disabled with multiple learning disabilities and blind in one eye, she had two little people who loved her unconditionally. Those two babies meant the world to her, and they were always with her.

Her relationship with the babies’ father was abusive and complicated, so Dana eventually ended up getting herself an apartment. Alienated from her family and many of her friends, Dana, became a target. Who targeted her? Eleven years later, we aren’t sure. Someone took the 98-lb woman, and she was never seen again.

September 2008, Dana broke down and called her stepmom, Rebecca. Although they weren’t blood-related, no one called her a step-mother. Everyone knew Dana as Rebecca’s daughter. Dana and her mother had lost touch a bit after Dana met Nathan, but she knew she could call mom if she got into trouble. That is exactly where she found herself in September. Her disability check had been stolen. She was out of diapers, her ex had broken her apartment window, and now she was being evicted. The worried mother had no idea that ten days later, her sweet Dana would disappear forever.

Public Timeline: October 4, 2008

Dana leaves her children at a babysitter’s house and heads out for a few drinks
She is seen leaving Malone’s Night Club around 11:30 pm
She leaves with a man in a RED Ford F-150
Dana stops by the babysitter’s house and asks if the kids can stay the night. She pays the sitter the extra fees and leaves with the man in the red truck
She is never seen again

Dana was seen with a man named Joe Rich from Atlanta, Georgia, at one point during the evening. He would become a “person of interest” after her disappearance. Police would even travel to Atlanta to question him, but nothing ever came of it. It was later revealed that Rich drove a WHITE truck. He claims he parted ways with her BEFORE she returned to Malone’s.

The rumor mill claimed she was with two local boys, and one was driving a borrowed red truck. Although law enforcement has followed dozens of leads, it seems they are no closer to solving this case than they were back in 2008. The rumor mill in the rural town has produced a horrific tale surrounding this mother, however.

Theory:

Dana Bruce was supposedly at a woman’s house with several other individuals. She had a few drinks with people she thought were her friends. A group of guys came in and shot her up with drugs inadvertently overdosing her. In a panic, they rolled her up in a carpet and threw her out by the road to die.

Although this is a very plausible story, family and law enforcement officials haven’t been able to find this poor woman. Where is Dana? All she wanted was to fit in and to be loved. Was she taken by drugs and then disposed of by people she thought cared about her?

Missing In Missouri Podcast – Facebook Page

Missing in Missouri is a podcast produced by a husband and wife team. They are from St. Louis County, MO and they are doing a great job digging into this case. I highly recommend everyone to listen to this podcast series if you’re interested in the case of Dana Bruce’s disappearance. Keep up the good work Zack & Morgan!

Listen to the series of podcasts here:

Missing In Missouri Podcast on Podbean

Further Information:

Youtube

Cached Site

Charley Project

Missing In Missouri Podcast

Missing In Missouri Facebook Page

Recommended Reading: This Week’s Amazon Bestselling True Crime Books

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