'Incredibly broken': Missing Carmel woman's family waits for answers 2 years later
Since her niece disappeared more than 700 days ago, Jeannie Locklair Bush and her family have held each other tight.
“We’ve always been close but have learned that moments are not promised in life,” Locklair Bush said. “My family is still incredibly broken, trying to push through this ongoing nightmare that just won’t end.”
Ciera Breland, a mother who lived in Carmel, has been missing since Feb. 24, 2022. Her last known location was in Johns Creek, Georgia.
She was visiting family with her husband, Xavier Breland Jr., their infant son and her white labradoodle during the week of Feb. 20, 2022, before she went missing, according to the FBI.
Ciera Breland’s husband reported her missing on Feb. 26 to the Carmel Police Department, but investigators haven’t found any evidence that she returned home to Indiana after the trip to Georgia, according to the FBI.
Law enforcement has not ruled out foul play in Ciera Breland's disappearance and her family believes she is dead because she would have never left behind her young son.
While Xavier Breland Jr. has been named a person of interest in the case by law enforcement, he has not been charged in connection with the disappearance more than two years later.
What do we know about Ciera Breland’s disappearance?
Ciera Breland was 31 years old, 5 feet tall and 120 pounds with blonde hair when she went missing.
The Carmel Police Department initially released information on Feb. 26, 2022, asking the public for help locating her. At the time, investigators stated she was last seen in Carmel. About a month later, investigators said there was no evidence Ciera Breland ever returned to Indiana from her trip to Georgia.
Her last known location in Johns Creek, Georgia, was in the 10500 block of Highgate Manor Court on Feb. 24, 2022, at 7:17 p.m. She was driving a white 2017 Volkswagen Tiguan, according to the FBI.
Was Xavier Breland Jr. arrested?
Xavier Breland Jr., 39, was arrested in 2022 on a warrant unrelated to his wife's disappearance out of Coweta County, Georgia, according to Carmel police. He was detained in Hamilton County before being extradited to Georgia.
Xavier Breland Jr. was charged with aggravated stalking in connection to a woman in Georgia who had a temporary protective order against him in 2021, according to police. It was alleged he placed a tracker inside a stuffed animal owned by his daughter to monitor the child’s mother, who was his ex-wife.
Previous coverage: Here are the latest updates on the case of missing Carmel woman Ciera Breland
In August 2022, a Georgia jury returned a not guilty verdict and Xavier Breland Jr. was cleared of the aggravated stalking charge, according to WSB-TV in Atlanta.
He has one pending criminal charge in Indiana of unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon in connection with a shot being fired at his Carmel home, according to court records.
Just four days after Ciera Breland was last seen in Georgia, police were called to her and Xavier Breland Jr.’s home in the 14000 block of Baldwin Lane in Carmel on a report of an accidental discharge of a firearm.
The probable cause affidavit for Xavier Breland Jr.'s arrest in this case does not include details on who alerted police to the gunfire.
Xavier Breland Jr. told police he was moving a Christmas tree in the garage when he heard a gunshot and ran. He returned to the garage and unloaded the firearm. He also offered the responding officer a missing person flier for Ciera Brieland, court records read.
Police found a semi-automatic handgun in the garage near the Christmas tree.
The day before, police served a search warrant at the home in connection with Ciera Breland’s disappearance and found two other handguns in the house, detectives said.
Investigators noted that while searching the home on the warrant, the tree was moved and a gun was not located nearby at the time.
The probable cause affidavit for Xavier Breland Jr.’s arrest states he was convicted of burglary in Marion County in 2005, prohibiting him from possessing a firearm.
A jury trial in the unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon case is set for April 15 in Hamilton County. Xavier Breland Jr. is out on bond.
He could not be reached for comment before publication of this article. Attorneys representing him in the Hamilton County case did not return requests for comment.
Bryan Howard, a Georgia defense attorney who represented Xavier Breland Jr. in the Coweta County case, also did not respond to a request for comment before publication of this article.
In 2022, Howard told WSB-TV that he believed Xavier Breland Jr. was innocent in his wife’s disappearance.
“He’s cooperated with police,” Howard told the TV news station. “He’s made statements to the police and tried to help them in any way possible.”
Xavier Breland Jr. reported to police he last saw his wife around 10 p.m. on Feb. 25, 2022, when she left their home and walked to a store in Carmel, but family members have said police told them she never arrived at the store and there was no surveillance video of her there, according to Fox 5 in Atlanta.
Where does the case of Ciera Breland’s disappearance stand?
Sgt. Eric Rozier, of the Johns Creek Police Department in Georgia, is the lead detective on the case.
Xavier Breland Jr. remains a person of interest in Ciera Breland’s disappearance as he was the last verified person with her before she went missing, Rozier said.
“We do not have a significant investigative break in the case,” Rozier said via email.
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Investigators are looking for any information from tipsters, especially as it relates to around the time Ciera Breland was last seen in 2022, the detective said.
“I certainly hope that Ciera is found, and we can bring peace to her family,” Rozier said via email.
Ciera Breland was loving mother, attorney before disappearance
Ciera Breland is the mother to a young son named Jaxson and worked as an attorney for the law firm Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani.
“When Ciera found out she was pregnant that was the greatest dream come true for her,” said Jeannie Locklair Bush, Ciera Breland's aunt.
Ciera Breland practiced commercial litigation as well as employment law and had an office in Indianapolis. She was an aunt and loved to take her niece and nephew Christmas and back-to-school shopping.
"Even after she grew up and moved away, she would come at least once a month and spend time with me and the rest of the family,” Locklair Bush said.
Before she went missing, Ciera Breland road-tripped with her husband, son and dog from Carmel to Cleveland, Georgia. Then they drove to Johns Creek to stay with Ciera Breland’s mother-in-law before they were supposed to drive back home to Indiana, Locklair Bush said.
“Losing someone, not knowing how or why it is the absolute worst feeling,” Locklair Bush said. “I can’t describe it, none of us can move forward (and) there’s just this constant pain and heaviness of not knowing.”
Ciera Breland’s mother, Kelly Locklair, died in September still heartbroken from the loss of her daughter.
Is there a reward in the case?
The FBI is supporting the Johns Creek Police Department and the Carmel Police Department with the investigation and is offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to the whereabouts of Ciera Breland.
Anyone with information related to the disappearance of Ciera Breland can contact Sgt. Eric Rozier at eric.rozier@johnscreekga.gov or 678-372-8046. They can also call the Carmel Police Department at 317-571-2500 or Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at 317-262-8477 to remain anonymous.
Those with info can also call the FBI at 1-800-CALLFBI or visit tips.fbi.gov.
Contact Jake Allen at jake.allen@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jake_Allen19.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Ciera Breland's 2022 disappearance still under investigation
