Nationwide — Alisa Goods, a 63-year-old African American woman from Brooklyn, New York, disappeared in Las Vegas after leaving a friend’s apartment on August 8. Her family later received suspicious messages from her phone requesting money through Bitcoin.
She was visiting Las Vegas and staying with her friend Roger John. She reportedly left his apartment around 12:45 p.m. to catch a bus and pick up iron pills from a CVS near Paradise Road and Harmon Avenue.
According to 8 News Now, Roger said he watched Alisa walk down the stairs before leaving the apartment. He went out about 15 minutes later and returned several hours afterward, but she was gone.
At first, Roger thought she might still be out shopping because she sometimes stayed out for a while. But when she did not return, he began calling and texting her repeatedly. Her phone eventually appeared disconnected, and he could no longer reach her.
Roger then contacted her family, and a missing person report was filed with Metro Police on August 10. The family began searching for her and trying to figure out where she could have gone.
Their concerns grew on August 12 when messages suddenly came to her phone. The person texting claimed to have problems with a credit card and asked for money for gas. Her niece, Alana Calloway, immediately found the messages suspicious. She knew her aunt did not have a car in Las Vegas, so she began asking questions to determine whether Alisa was actually behind the messages.
Alana offered to send money for gas, but the person asked for Bitcoin instead. She then mentioned a person named Kelly, even though nobody in the family has that name. Alana said Alisa would have questioned who Kelly was if she had been the one texting.
The strange messages continued, and Alisa’s son, Keven Newton, also received texts asking for money. The family became increasingly concerned that someone else had access to Goods’ phone.
Alana said she contacted Metro Police but was frustrated by the response. She said an officer told her Alisa was not considered a priority because she did not have a disability.
The family has contacted hospitals, the coroner’s office and correctional facilities while continuing to look for Goods. John also put up missing-person flyers around the Maryland Parkway and Tropicana Avenue area.
Nearly a week after her disappearance, her relatives are preparing to travel to Las Vegas to join the search and bring her home. They describe her as warm and outgoing, saying she easily connected with people and made them feel welcome. The family is asking anyone who may have seen her or noticed anything unusual to report it to authorities.