Missing Buford Woman Last Seen in Lavonia

By MJ Kneiser, WLHR Radio, Lavonia

Local law enforcement agencies continue to coordinate efforts with authorities in Blue Ridge to find a Buford, Georgia woman missing since Friday.

Keith Reed said Tuesday his daughter has not been seen or heard from since Friday night when she tried to contact a friend from her cell phone.

At the time, 36-year old Tosha Herron was in the vicinity of Ross Place in Lavonia, according to pings on her cell phone.

Reed said his daughter was on her way to spend the weekend with a friend in Blue Ridge, Georgia but got her directions mixed up.

“She left her home about 6p and got on the wrong road and wound up on I-85 in the general area of Lavonia/Toccoa,” Reed said Tuesday morning. “She contacted her friend in Blue Ridge and told him that she was lost. He gave her his home address again and she put it in her GPS. At that time, she told him she was about two hours away.”

That was the last time anyone heard from Herron.

Lavonia Police Chief Bruce Carlisle said Tuesday morning his office is working with the Georgia State Patrol, as well as with the Franklin County and Stephens County Sheriff’s Offices and Blue Ridge authorities in a massive search for Herron. Carlisle said the Georgia State Patrol is using a helicopter to aid in the search for the missing mother of three.

He said authorities have a massive area to search.

“It is believed that she was not in Toccoa, but that she saw an exit sign indicating it was the exit to Toccoa,” Carlisle said. “We are leaning heavily on the Georgia State Patrol right now because of so much distance between here and Blue Ridge. I have been in contact with Hartwell Post Commander Al Whitworth who is in Savannah helping with hurricane relief efforts.”

Still, Carlisle said there are a lot of unanswered questions.

Herron told the man she was going to see Friday night that, according to her GPS, it was a two-hour drive from her location off Exit 173 to his home in Blue Ridge.

Reed said Herron’s 22-year old son had arrived Tuesday from active duty in Africa.

He went on to say it was also her son’s birthday and she would have never missed being home to celebrate his return.

“Our office has also been in constant contact with authorities in Blue Ridge who are working the case from their end. In addition to searching their area, they have been interviewing the man Herron was scheduled to visit,” Carlisle said.

Herron is described as a white female, approximately 5’2” tall, weighing about 140 pounds, with long brown hair and brown eyes.

She left her home in Buford driving a 2006 brown or grayish Nissan Altima with Barrow County tag number PWR2998. The Altima’s front grill has been replaced with a Mercedes grill.

Anyone with information on Tosha Herron’s whereabouts or her vehicle, is asked to contact 911. People do not have to give their name.