Account
Apr 15, 2010
May 27, 2023
Brittney
Beers
33
6
48 inches
45 lbs
White / Caucasian
Female
On the evening of September 16, 1997, a six-year-old girl named Brittney Ann Beers was enjoying the last moments of daylight, playing outside the Village Manor Apartment complex in Sturgis, Michigan. At approximately 7:30 p.m., she was seen riding her bicycle. Brittney was described as a sweet, loving child with blonde hair and blue eyes, and at the time of her disappearance, she was notably missing her four front teeth. She was last seen wearing a white tank top, possibly with a floral design, bright pink shorts, and white tennis shoes that had a pink design on the side. A witness later reported seeing Brittney speaking with an unidentified man in a red or brown mid-sized car, telling the witness she had made a new friend. Her brother was the last family member to see her, sitting on a bench within the apartment complex. When her mother sent her brother to bring her inside for the night, Brittney was gone, though her bicycle was left behind. An immediate and extensive search was launched by law enforcement and community volunteers. Bloodhounds were brought in to trace Brittney's scent, and they followed a trail from the apartment complex to the parking lot of a nearby convenience store, a location known to be frequented by truckers as it was situated along a main route out of Sturgis. The scent stopped there, leading investigators to believe she was likely taken in a vehicle. A composite sketch of the man seen speaking with Brittney was created and circulated. The man was described as being in his late twenties or early thirties, with short, dark hair and a thick mustache. Despite these efforts, the man was never identified. The initial days of the investigation were frantic, with search parties working around the clock, but no sign of the little girl was found. As the investigation deepened, a more troubling picture of Brittney's life began to emerge. Authorities uncovered that she had been a victim of abuse prior to her disappearance. This led investigators to look at individuals within her own family circle. Her uncle was arrested on unrelated domestic violence charges just two days after she vanished. Years later, investigators also considered a possible link between Brittney's case and that of another young girl, Jodi Parrack, who was abducted and murdered in a nearby town in 2007. The man convicted in Jodi's death, Daniel Furlong, was questioned about Brittney's disappearance as he was in the area at the time, but no conclusive evidence ever tied him to her case. The case grew cold over the years, with tips eventually ceasing altogether. Despite the passage of time, the disappearance of Brittney Beers remains an open investigation, a painful and unresolved mystery for her family and the community of Sturgis.
Sep 16, 1997
Sturgis
Michigan
St. Joseph County
30397
Federal Bureau of Investigation - Kalamazoo RA
Portage
Michigan
Kalamazoo County
49002
Kurt Schichtel
Agent
950 Trade Centre Way #215, Michigan
2693499607
Federal
Law Enforcement
Sturgis Police Department
Blond/Strawberry
Blue
Blue
06/16/2026
