A missing mother of six was found dead and wrapped in a carpet days after she allegedly vanished on a date with a mystery man in Oklahoma.
Makayla Fay Meave-Byers, 30, was last seen on 15 September getting into a white Chevrolet pick-up truck with tinted windows, driven by a man who she was possibly going on a date with, the Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Office said.
Five days later, police confirmed that Meave-Byers had been found dead a few miles from her home in Macomb. The circumstances of her death are still coming to light.
Meave-Byers was determined to have left her home with the man at around 5.30pm on a Friday on her own accord, Pottawatomie County Undersheriff Travis Dinwiddie told People.
He said the man was white and had a bald head with a dark beard, but had not yet been identified.
She was not seen after that, so investigators with drones and search dogs scoured the area. It was her cousin who discovered her body on 20 September wrapped in waterlogged “old pieces of carpet” in an almost four-foot drainage culvert in a creek running under a road, according to Mr Dinwiddie.
Mr Dinwiddie said Ms Meave-Byers’ family was at the scene where they discovered her body.
"I spoke with them several times last night, and a couple of my investigators spoke with them, because there was a lot of her family that was on the scene last night," he said.
There were no suspected injuries to her body that authorities could determine without an autopsy.
The body was confirmed to be Meave-Byers by medical examiners on Friday.
Amber Davis (right), with her cousin Makalya Meave-Byers (left) who was found dead after she went missing— (GoFundMe)
Meave-Byers was a kindergarten teacher’s aide at a local school, Macomb Public School, and was a mother to six children, which includes four step-daughters and two adopted children, KFOR reported.
“She’s a great mother,” Andria Meave, Meave-Byers’ older sister, told the news outlet. “It’s all she cares about.”
A GoFundMe page has been set up by Meave-Byers’ cousin, Amber Davis, to raise funds for her memorial service.
“We are saddened to say that Makayla has passed from this earthly world and is now in her heavenly home,” she said on the fundraiser. “She leaves behind lots of family who love and miss her very much.”
Macomb Public Schools, where Meave-Byers worked, said in a statement, "Our hearts are heavy as we grieve this tragic loss of a beloved Macomb Public Schools educator and parent. Makayla cared deeply for our students and families and she will be greatly missed."
Mr Dwinddie said that the investigation is still ongoing. They are waiting for the medical examiner’s office to certify her cause of death.
The office also has people they are interviewing, but have no confirmed suspects yet.
