Missing Virginia woman believe to be living in Michigan under different name
Search for missing Virginia woman turns to Metro Detroit
Kathryn Bene Griffin went missing on Jan. 7, 2012 in Portsmouth and was last seen by a family member at her place of employment when she departed the business riding a brown bicycle. At the time, she was wearing blue jeans, a plaid jacket, and a black smock. Where she went was unknown.
DETROIT (FOX 2) - A woman from Virginia who disappeared 13 years ago and was declared dead, may have been living in Metro Detroit since 2012, according to various police departments.
The backstory:
Kathryn Bene Griffin went missing on Jan. 7, 2012 in Portsmouth and was last seen by a family member at her place of employment when she departed her work riding a brown bicycle. At the time, she was wearing blue jeans, a plaid jacket, and a black smock.
Where she went was unknown.
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Virginia woman missing since 2012 believed to be living in Metro Detroit
A Virginia woman who has reportedly been missing for 13 years has possibly been living in Metro Detroit, according to officials.
Big picture view:
Detective R.M. Holley with Portsmouth Police is the fourth person to take on the case and, with some new tips, he thinks Griffin could be a woman going by the name China Black, a double amputee who lost her memory.
FOX 2 did a story on her in 2018 as the state's first living Jane Doe.
"One of the things that gives us hope that it’s her. We think it looks like an older picture of her because we all age," Holley said. "But we’re getting reports she may be talking about family that’s not necessarily in the right locations but that family she does have locally. That’s kind of exciting she’s talking about her kids."
Investigators at the time said she could have been from anywhere, lost her legs possibly to frost bite, and she was staying at Beyond Boundaries Foster Care in Romulus, but now she is long gone.
"State police went by there. They tried talking to the people, I tried talking to the people but were going to try again with them," Holley said.
Dig deeper:
The facility China Black was in is still there. But unfortunately, she’s not. They told FOX 2 she would transfer back in 2022, perhaps to a state facility. The people here told me she had a mysterious past. At first, she went by Maryann. She said she’d been to New York and other places like LA.
Could it be her? The police need your help.
They say their key indicator of her is a scar on her abdomen. They also want to compare China Black's DNA with Kathryn Griffin's family.
If it is a match, it would not only solve a more than a decade-old missing person case, but bring Kathryn Griffin back to life, as she has been legally declared dead.
What you can do:
If you recognize her or know where she is, call the Michigan State Police or the Portsmouth Virginia Police in Virginia.
