Search for missing Pennsylvania woman intensifies two weeks after she disappeared after leaving friend's house in Philadelphia

Family and friends of missing Bucks County, Pennsylvania woman Cassandra “Casey” Johnston have spent every day of the past two weeks scouring the streets of Philadelphia and the surrounding suburbs for the 26-year-old, telling Dateline “this is not like Casey.”

“We’ve crisscrossed the city, we’ve crisscrossed the county and still nothing,” her mother, Carolann Johnston told Dateline. “We just want our girl back.”

Casey, who lives in Bucks County with her boyfriend, hasn’t been seen or heard from since the early morning hours of July 10, 2021.

Her parents, Carolann and Joseph Johsnton, told Dateline that Casey had gone out for the night in the Chinatown section of Philadelphia with one of her good friends. While they were walking back to the friend’s apartment from the bar in the area of Vine and Franklin streets, Casey dropped her phone.

After a frantic, unsuccessful search for the phone, Casey left in her silver 2016 Ford Focus at 5:51 a.m. The car was seen on security video on Franklin Street heading toward I-95 at 5:52 a.m.

She never made it home to Bucks County and no one has seen or heard from her since.

Family and friends began to search for Casey right away. Her mother drove to the Jersey Shore, where they have a condo, to see if maybe Casey decided to get away for a few days. Other loved ones walked the route Casey walked the night she went missing.

The family made contact with a city sanitation worker who found the phone the day after Casey disappeared and picked up when they called. Her parents said they were able to get into the phone and also have access to their daughter’s bank account, but found no clues to lead them to Casey.

Her parents told Dateline Casey’s empty purse, the sandals she was wearing that night and one sneaker were all found at her friend’s apartment, but they believe the contents of her purse are mostly in the backpack she kept in her car, which they said was was typical of Casey.

Lower Southampton Township Chief of Police Ted Krimmel told Dateline there have been numerous searches for Casey, including scanning I-95 by helicopter for her vehicle, and driving the streets of Philadelphia and surrounding counties.

Knowing Casey is an avid drinker of WAWA coffee, they stopped at every WAWA on I-95 hoping to find someone who had seen her or security footage that could place her at a specific location.

Chief Krimmel added that Casey’s Pennsylvania license plate KSA8807 hasn’t come up in any databases and her E-ZPass hasn’t been used since June.

“We can’t find any trace of her or her vehicle,” Chief Krimmel said. “We fear she was in some sort of accident and the car is hidden to where we can’t see it. But we don’t know what happened - we’re open to anything and everything at this point.”

He said Casey’s family members, her boyfriend, and her friends have all been cooperating and searching for their loved one.

“A lot of people are looking for her,” Chief Krimmel said. “We just want to get this resolved, and bring her home to her family.”

Casey’s family continues to spread the word on social media with a Facebook page “Bring Casey Home” and a GoFundMe page was launched in an effort to put up a billboard in the Philadelphia area. More than $10,000 had been raised by the campaign as of July 26. They have also hired a private investigator to aid in the search.

Casey’s parents told Dateline that her disappearance is not like her at all and she would not just leave her family or her job.

Casey, who is a student at Temple University, also works as a counselor at Neshaminy Kids Club afterschool/summer program in Bucks County. Her parents said she hopes to open her own daycare or school program one day.

“She has a lot of responsibilities that she wouldn’t step away from,” Carolann said. “She loves, loves her job and the children she works with. Those kids love her and miss her. Now they’re asking about her and no one knows what to tell them.”

When loved ones were out searching for Casey near the school, some of her former students showed up on their bikes to join the search, saying they wanted to “help find Miss Casey.”

Casey’s father describes his daughter as his sweet, fun-loving, intelligent, girl, who loves country music and all the Philadelphia sports teams.

Casey has tickets to a Luke Bryan concert and is supposed to take her younger sister for her birthday next week.

“She’s my girl. She’s my prize,” he said. “We’re just so worried about her and want to know that she’s OK.”

Casey is described as being 5’3” tall, weighs about 180 lbs. and has brown hair and green eyes. She was last seen wearing a white top and a leopard printed skirt. Her 2016 Ford Focus has Temple University stickers on each side of the license plate and white paw print stickers on the left rear window.

Anyone with information on Casey’s whereabouts is asked to call the Lower Southampton Township Police Department at 215-357-1234 or Detective Stephen Brookes by calling 215-357-1235 ext 339 or email sbrookes@lstwp.org.