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Writer's pictureGia Marie Wright

Katelin Akens, 19, December 5, 2019, Parlow, Spotsylvania County, Virginia

Missing Person: Katelin Akens

Age at the time of disappearance: age 19

Date Last Seen: December 5, 2015

Location Last Seen: Near Oak Crest Drive in Parlow, Virginia visiting family.

Date Located: STILL MISSING



Katelin had just completed high school at just sixteen years old. Her stepfather was in her life and it is reported that she did not trust him and felt nervous around him saying he was at some level of abusive. At age 18 she moved out to Arizona to be with her best friend that had developed in to a relationship. She was always in constant contact with her sister and her mother.


December 2015 Katelin’s sister had a baby which prompted her to go visit the family in Virginia and scheduled a 4 day trip from December 1st thru the 5th. She was scheduled to start her college in cosmetology on the 7th. While there, she spent most of her time with family and some of her friends.


Katelin was at her mother’s house on December 5th in Spotsylvania County, Virginia when she was scheduled to fly back home to Arizona and needed a ride to the airport. Her flight was scheduled to leave at 5:40 P.M and her mother had to work that day. He also had to work but not until 3:00 P.M. Her mom dropped her off at her ex-husband’s place in Partlow. He said he dropped her off early so he could get to work. She never boarded the flight and has not been seen since. Two days later the Virginia Department of Transportation recovered a piece of blue luggage from a roadside ditch, unzipped, empty, and was missing a wheel. A wallet was found inside the luggage with her Arizona identification.



Katelin’s ex-father in law said that Katelin asked him to drop her off at the Springfield Mall Metro Station just two stops from the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. He said she was going to walk to the Franconia-Springfield Metro Station and take a train to the airport. The family however believed right away that something was wrong. He then text her mom and said he dropped her off. Nothing about these details came out until later.


A few minutes after the stepfather text her mother, someone with Katelin’s phone wrote to her mother stating ‘I’m at the airport. Battery dying so won’t be able to text for a bit.’


Katelin’s girlfriend back in Arizona received a text from Katelin’s phone saying ‘Something came up. I’m not coming back today. I’ll let you know when I get a new flight. I won’t be able to text for a bit.’ They both began calling Katelin’s phone but there was no answer.



Hours later (and two hours after the missed flight) Katelin’s mom received another text saying ‘I’m staying with a friend’ and ‘I need some time alone’. She immediately dialed Katelin’s number which went straight to voicemail.


The texts didn’t sound like Katelin and Katelin wasn’t calling or answering calls.


Katelin’s girlfriend then got a Facebook message that said she couldn’t come back because she cheated on her. However, the night before Katelin’s disappearance when she was at her friends house, something did happen. Her female friend from school and her boyfriend were drinking and they did come on to her. They all regretted what happened in the morning. Could that have explained this message? Whoever sent that message knew something happened the night before.


The step-dad didn’t change his story. Moreover, the step-dad never tried calling Katelin. Even once.


December 7, 2015 Katelin’s mother filed an official missing persons report. During that process the police received a phone call. A road crew had located Katelin’s blue suitcase in a drainage ditch on the 6600 block of River Road outside of Fredericksburg, Virginia which was about fifty miles south of the airport closer to the step-dad’s house. The luggage had Katelin’s identification, wallet, glasses, cash phone charger, debit card and credit card. Everything that was important. Her phone, clothes and high school diploma were still missing.


On this same day, someone also sent a message from Katelin’s Facebook to another friend stating ‘I don’t want to be here and I don’t want to be there.’ Was that from Katelin or someone else?


While there is plenty of speculation, it is unlikely that Katelin ran away and left everything she had behind.



The police got the step-dad’s phone records and they told a much different story than he did. Before 2:00 P.M. the day she disappeared, Katelin’s mom got a text from Katelin’s phone saying she was at the airport and her phone was dying. That call from Katelin’s phone pinged more than thirty miles away from the Springfield Metro Stop where he said he dropped her off at.


When her mom’s ex-husband text the mom at 1:52PM saying he just dropped Katelin off at the airport, his phone pinged near his residence.


The last text about 7:15PM when Katelin’s phone text that she was staying with a friend, that phone tower pinged in Stafford county within fifteen miles from where her suitcase was found.


Katelyn may never have left her step-dad’s house. Moreover, Detectives confirmed that he never even showed up for work at all. He never even went back. He was unemployed for six months then started back to work for a different company. Additionally, there was no video of Katelin or her step dad at the mall where he said he dropped her off by. The last time anyone ever saw Katelin was inside his residence. No one knows what happened afterward, and whatever the step-dad knows, he sure didn’t tell law enforcement the truth. He refused to cooperate and he refused a polygraph test.


A warrant for his property and a DNA sample brought no results. There has been no arrests.

If you have any information on Katelin’s disappearance or whereabouts please, do the right thing. Contact the Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Office at (540) 582-7115

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