u/AlfredTheJones

Hello everyone! As always, thank you for your votes and comments under my last post about Sheena Gibbs- I hope that she will be found soon.

Today I'd like to highlight another disappearance.

BACKGROUND

Starla Goings was 65 when she went missing from Munising, Michigan, USA.

She worked as a bank teller in a few different local banks over the years.

She had filed for divorce from her husband shortly before her disappearance, and a pre-trial conference was scheduled for September. Starla was allegedly "doing good" and "handling her affairs and going about life in the best way she knew how” during that period.

Starla had an adult daughter, Steffanie Goings. Steffanie lives in Orlando, Florida, with her husband, Anthony, and they also did when Starla went missing. The couple stayed in regular contact with Starla, and talked with her every two or three days. Starla also had an adult son named Nick Livermore, who lived in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Starla was a diabetic and she used a glucose monitoring device that connected to her phone via bluetooth.

Steffanie Goings, Starla's daughter, said that her mother was "(...)very bubbly. She was very positive. She was always smiling”.

Christi Marsch, Starla's friend, said that she was "this shining person everyone wanted to be around".

Senior Pastor Jason LaFlamme, who is the pastor of the Munising Baptist Church that Starla seemingly attended, said that she was "well-known in the community; she (was) a lot of fun"; "She (enjoyed) giving people a hard time, and I (enjoyed) giving it right back".

DISAPPEARANCE

On the 11th of August, Starla filed a stipulated order to release real estate sale proceeds.

On the 14th, Starla picked up a check from her lawyer's office in Marquette from the sale of a rental property that she and her husband owned.

Starla was last seen on the 15th of August at her home. Steffanie and Anthony called Starla on that day and reportedly had a "regular" conversation with her; Starla told them she was at the State Fair in Escanaba, Michigan, at the time of the call. When Steffanie asked her why she came to the fair with her husband, Starla wrote a text that said "I am not reconciling with (husband). I wanted cotton candy. I rode in a car to Escanaba and ate fair food. Nothing more. The nicer I am, the easier my life goes". The text was sent at about 10 PM. Several witnesses have confirmed that Starla was present at the fair. The readings from Starla's glucose monitor are tied to her location; They have placed her at her home untill midnight of the 15th, meaning that she came back home after the fair- after midnight, no new readings were logged.

On the 16th, Steffanie texted Starla asking if the two of them could talk her trip to the fair with her husband the day before, but Steffanie recieved no reply.

On the 17th, Steffanie, Anthony, and Nick were unable to reach Starla- they called Starla's friends, but nobody had seen her or heard from her since Friday. Anthony called the landline phone in Starla's and her husband's house, which was picked up by Starla's husband. Anthony asked if he could talk to Starla, but her husband said that she's not home and that he haven't seen her.

Police was notified about Starla's disappearance on the 17th, around 6:30 PM. They were first asked to do a welfare check on her- when they arrived at the house, they met Starla's husband, but no Starla. He was the last person who saw her; According to him, Starla left the house around midnight of the 15th and hasn't been home since. He let the police inside willingly.

The sheriff's office have asked anyone who saw Starla's car (an orange, 2019 Volkswagen Tiguan SUV) between late hours of 15th and early hours of 17th.

The vehicle was located on the 17th at dusk at a roadside lot on Peninsula Point Road in Munising Township, a short distance (about 3.5 mil / 5.6 km) from Starla's home at Sixteen Mile Lake Road "shortly after her disappearance". A resident reported that it's been parked there since the 15th. It's speculated that Starla left her car there to carpool to the fair with her husband- according to Steffanie, members of the family did it somewhat frequently if they "didn’t want to drive the 3 miles (4.9 km) back into 16-mile (25,7 km) lake just to turn around and leave again.

Investigators have confirmed that forensic evidence related to Starla's disappearance has been collected and is being tested, but they haven't specified what kind of evidence they have.

On the 28th of October, police brought a tractor to a residence at the Peninsula Point Road, where Starla's husband lived, in order to look for evidence at the property. They also confirmed for the first time that foul play might've been involved in Starla's disappearance. It hasn't been reported to the public if any evidence was found.

Starla's phone and apple watch haven't been located to this day.

CONCLUSION

Steffanie wrote a couple posts on websleuths where she gave out more details about Starla's disappearance. She said that she and her brother Nick have been estranged from their biological father/Starla's husband since 2023. Starla filed for divorce in late May of 2025 and served her husband papers in early June. They continued to share a house. Starla had the property appraised, but none of the belongings inside could be removed by either of them due to the divorce proceedings. Steffanie and Nick tried to convince their mother to move out, but she was too afraid of what might happen to her belongings that she'd be forced to leave behind. On the 13th and 14th of August, Starla's husband made some strange/disturbing posts about her on his social media profile (screenshots of said posts are available in the websleuths thread).

Starla Goings was 65 when she went missing. She is a white woman, 5’4” (163 cm), and 160 pounds (73 kg). She has bright white hair and brown eyes. She’s carrying either a black Lululemon bag or a mini black backpack.

If you have any info on Starla's whereabouts, contact the Alger County Sheriff’s Office at (906) 387-7030.

SOURCES:

Starla's websleuths.com thread

Hello everyone! As always, I'd like to thank you for all your comments and votes under my last post about the San Juan Capistrano Jane Doe- I hope that she will get her name soon.

Today I'd like to bring up a disappearance case.

BACKGROUND

Sheena Gibbs was 40 when she went missing from Chicago, Illinois, USA.

She grew up in rural Iowa and moved to Chicago when she was 20. She lived in the Rogers Park neighbourhood at the time of her disappearance.

Sheena graduated from the Graduate School at Northwestern University in Evanston in Chicago, and then from Spoon River College. During her time in Spoon River College, Sheena was the vice president of the student senate and she graduated with honors.

Sheena used to work as a home health aide and valued helping others; Her most recent job involved performing Covid test scheduling at the University of Illinois Chicago. She dedicated her spare time do various social justice causes as an activist.

According to her friends, Sheena was in a string of abusive relationships- she allegedly went from being a "life of the party" to being distant, and they could go months without any contact from her. Sheena started dating a man in early 2021, and the couple lived together in Rogers Park. In June of 2021, Sheena told her friend that her boyfriend threw a coffee mug at her during an argument; The friend told her to be wary of him, but Sheena returned to living with the man in their shared appartment.

Sheena was a cancer survivor- at 25, she went through "an excessively lengthy and challenging battle" with cervical cancer. Sheena went through chemotherapy and radiation while living in Chicago, where she was "pretty much alone", with no friends or family who supported her close by. She went through a hysterectomy and her cancer was in remission after a few years of therapy, but the process left its mark on Sheena, who "changed forever"- according to her friend, Sheena possibly thought that "a part of her was damaged and beyond repair". Her illness was also what seemingly pushed her into dating "troubled" men that she wanted to "save", according to her friends.

In September of 2021, Sheena's mother started having serious health problems, and Sheena decided to come back to Iowa to look after her, as she knew that her mother didn't want to move to a nursing home. At the time of her disappearance, Sheena would travel between Iowa and Chicago, as she had Power of Attorney over her hospitalized mother's healthcare. Sheena allegedly wasn't thrilled about moving back to Iowa, but she wanted to support her mother as best as she could.

Lela Tarver, Sheena's aunt, said that her niece was a "Go-getter(...). She (was) very strong-willed and positive”.

Sheena's family said that she was "Bubbly, upbeat and outgoing".

DISAPPEARANCE

Lela last heard from Sheena on the 3rd of November. Sheena was supposed to drive to Davenport that day and arrive on the next day, on the 4th, to see her mother at the hospital she was staying. Sheena usually got to Davenport by bus, but no ticket has been bought under Sheena's name, nor has there been any proof of her boarding a bus at all.

Sheena was last seen on the 5th of November in Rogers Park, near the Greenleaf & Sheridan intersection. At the time, Sheena was staying at a hotel called the Greenleaf Hotel in Rogers Park since the 1st of November, allegedly with "a guest"; On the 5th, she checked out of the hotel using her credit card. That was the last time she was seen.

On the 8th, Sheena's friend recieved a text message from her, where she said that she was planning to move back home to Iowa.

Her family tried to call Sheena many times, but she didn't pick up. Sheena usually stayed in regular contact with her family, so her not picking up their calls was very unusual. They reported her missing after she failed to show up at the hospital.

When police was informed by Sheena's family that they recieved a tip about Sheena being seen in the Greenleaf Hotel, they didn't go there to collect the ring camera footage- instead, the footage was overwritten with time, and it's now impossible to see if the "guest" Sheena was allegedly staying with was recorded at any point so that they could be identified.

Police have attempted to locate Sheena's phone, but it couldn't be done as the phone has been turned off. Her phone last pinged in a village called Winthrop Harbor, Illinois near the Wisconsin border, on the 10th of November. Sheena's loved ones didn't believe she had any ties to the village. Police and volunteers searched Winthrop Harbor months later, but they didn't find any clues.

In April of 2022, it was determined that Sheena's disappearance was a result of a crime.

CONCLUSION

Sheena was described as "habitually missing" by police, by which they mean that she "goes missing often"; They haven't said anything else regarding the circumstances of Sheena's previous disappearences. They said that "traditional methods" have failed in tracking down Sheena, and they claimed to take an unconventional approach to finding her.

Sheena's friend, who wanted to remain annonymous, said that she might've fallen victim to human trafficking. Sheena's friends did some digging on her boyfriend, and he allegedly has ties to a group who's known to traffic young girls, with some of the members convicted for it. The boyfriend's name is known to Sheena's friends and loved ones, but it was never publicized by police.

Sheena Louise Gibbs was 39 when she went missing, and would be about 44 now. She is a Black woman, 5'9 (69 inch / 175 cm) and 180 pounds (82 kg). She has black hair and brown eyes. Her ears are pierced.

If you have any info on Sheena's whereabouts, contact the Chicago Police Department - Area North at (312) 744-8266 (case number JE460184)

SOURCES:

Sheena's websleuths.com thread

Woman goes to a local fair with husband she's divorcing; After they leave, she is never seen again- Where is Starla Goings? (2025)