Ep. 103-Vanished without a Trace: Rebecca Reid

A mile-long shortcut at dusk. A familiar routine. And then silence. We unpack the disappearance of 32-year-old Rebecca Reid from Lumberton, Mississippi—a case that begins with a simple walk to meet her father and expands into a thousand-acre search with no trace. We walk through the timeline, the last confirmed sighting on Lee Town Road, and the reported stop of a white SUV that sparked early theories but never delivered proof.

We share what investigators and volunteers did next: horseback teams, ATVs, drones, and repeated sweeps through dense woods that turned up nothing—not even footprints in muddy ground where you’d expect them. That absence raises hard questions. If Rebecca feared the dark and left behind glasses, medication, ID, and keepsakes, why would she leave by choice? If the woods aren’t holding answers, where did the trail truly break? We examine the possibilities, from coercion to acquaintance involvement, and weigh the family’s belief that she would never approach a stranger against scenarios where a weapon or multiple people could force compliance.

There’s also a thread that raised concern but ultimately cooled: a report that a pastor’s wife had access to Rebecca’s bank account. We talk through why detectives pursued it, what the account records do and don’t show, and how financial motives intersect with vulnerability. Layer on the early COVID-19 disruptions—slower interviews, limited canvassing—and you get a case that fought uphill against timing and terrain. Still, these stories often turn on community memory. A detail about a vehicle, a routine that felt off, or a comment recalled years later can be the hinge that opens everything.

Listen for a clear timeline, grounded analysis, and practical ways to help. If you live near Lee Town Road or passed through around January 24, 2020, your recollection might matter more than you think. Share this episode, talk with someone who was there, and if anything clicks, call it in. If this story resonates, subscribe, leave a review, and tell a friend—your voice keeps unsolved cases in the light.

Transcript

Opening And Tribute To Catherine O’Hara

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Today we're heading over to Lumberton, Mississippi, where Rebecca Reed went missing without a trace six years ago. This is Hold My Sweet Teeth.

SPEAKER_00 0:53

I'm Pearl, and I'm Holly. And I am very, very upset because yesterday Catherine O'Hara passed away. Yes. And if you don't know who that is, I am very, very sorry for you. Right. But you better get with it. The mom on Home Alone. The stepmother on Beetlejuice. Schitz Creek. Moira. Love her. And so many other things. And then she was, was she shocked from Lock, Shock and Barrel on Nightmare Before Christmas? The little girl. Yes. Her voice. Like so many things. Such a talented person.

SPEAKER_02 1:38

Yeah, very sad. Yeah. At 71 years young. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:43

That's very sad. So RIP to her.

SPEAKER_02 1:48

And just a tiny reminder. It is really weird for me to be speaking on a Monday. Right? Welcome to Monday. But also this Thursday coming up, you get the companion podcast of Hold My Sweet Tea After Dark. Yes. The sweet teas after the darks. The darkness with sweet tea. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 2:18

I had some lovely tea this morning. I had some grey with some lavender cream. It was so good. But yes, we want to hear your stories. And I know you all are busy putting pen to paper, fingers to keyboard. You're out there going, I am writing this thing down that happened to me, and I am sending it in.

SPEAKER_02 2:43

Yep.

Listener Stories And After Dark Preview

SPEAKER_00 2:43

Two. Yes. Hold my sweet tea podcast at gmail.com. Mm-hmm. And again, like on last week's episode, we will link or we'll link the website, but we'll also put a little form on there so you know kind of what to put in there, giving us permission and all that.

SPEAKER_02 3:01

Top it at the end of some show notes.

SPEAKER_00 3:03

Absolutely. Make it a footnote. A footnote. Remember when you were in high school and you had to learn all the library stuff and you had to learn the card catalogs and all that stuff. And then you had to go through English class and you had to write all these index cards with like headers and footer footnotes and all that stuff, like when you were doing a research project. Does anybody actually do that in English class anymore? I don't think they do.

SPEAKER_02 3:31

I think everybody's chat GPT in English class.

SPEAKER_00 3:34

Right. But even before that, like you had Google and all that stuff, and you can just look it up. Like we had to keep physical copies in a little box with index cards when we were researching a paper with all of our source sources and footnotes and like everything. And you had to do an outline. And oh my God, kids today have it so much easier. I sound like such an old person back in my day. Right.

SPEAKER_02 4:04

We had hand cramps from writing.

SPEAKER_00 4:08

But it's just like paper cuts from actual books.

unknown 4:12

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 4:13

Just when you said footnotes, it just like triggered something. And I was like, ah, I remember having to do that stuff. It was such a process to write a paper. It took forever to write a research paper because of all of that stuff. And if you didn't have all of that, then you got points knocked off because you had to have that stuff to go along with it. Show your work. Yeah, to show your work.

SPEAKER_02 4:35

So all the read receipts. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 4:40

All of it. So funny. So we're we're going today to Mississippi? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:48

Why not? We're doing uh missing person in Mississippi. Missing and Missy. That's right. Missing Sippy. That's a Facebook page, actually. Really? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:00

Well, that's a good Facebook page. Yeah. There's a lot of people that are missing in Mississippi.

Setting The Scene In Rural Mississippi

SPEAKER_02 5:05

There are. There's a lot of people missing everywhere. Yeah. Yeah. It's just nuts. Especially when they go missing like this, and there's no trace of them anywhere.

SPEAKER_00 5:16

And Mississippi is a lot of just forest land.

SPEAKER_02 5:20

Yeah, there is a lot of woods. A lot. Very rural. My my not favorite word. Rural. Always feel like I'm messing all the way up. I'm like, I have to concentrate when I say that one.

SPEAKER_00 5:32

You have to like focus all of your like enunciation power. That's right. Rule. Rule. Like me last week with Dawn and Dawn. Yeah. Exactly. I swear I'm saying Dawn.

SPEAKER_02 5:50

So we're going to talk about Rebecca Reed. And she was 32 years old when she went missing around 4 p.m. on January 24th, 2020. So not that, you know, like it's like literally not the six-year anniversary, not that long ago. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 6:09

It was like right in days ago. The vid time, like when COVID was just ramping up.

SPEAKER_02 6:15

Yeah. And she was a special needs woman. And like she had left her ID, her glasses, medicine, like all that stuff was at home. So nobody believes that she left on her own. Like she didn't just decide she was leaving because she left things that she needed to stay alive there. And she had actually left her home on foot with the intention of walking through a little shortcut through the woods. It was about a mile, I guess, um, to go to a farm where her dad was working because he was getting starting to experience like some Alzheimer's issues.

SPEAKER_01 7:04

Oh, okay.

Rebecca’s Routine And Last Day Timeline

SPEAKER_02 7:04

And so she would go there. It was like their routine, and they would walk home together every night that he, you know, that he was over there. Yeah. Rebecca was also like really afraid of the dark. And so she timed this walk so that they would be back, you know, during dusk. Because you, you know, they don't want to be you're scared of the dark. You definitely don't want to be walking through the woods in the dark. And this little shortcut is not something she took very often. And so she wasn't super familiar with it. So she had actually had a neighbor help her navigate this shortcut earlier in the day.

SPEAKER_01 7:52

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 7:52

And she was supposed to actually get the neighbor to come with her again, but she never goes to get the neighbor. And she doesn't, it doesn't appear that she walked through the woods, but she's nowhere. Yeah, that's really odd. And her dad's like, it's almost dark. She's not here. And so he gets really concerned and he calls Rebecca's sister Veda. I think it's Veda. It's V A D A.

SPEAKER_00 8:24

Veda Saltonbus.

SPEAKER_02 8:25

Yeah. And she's, I mean, she's at work. She had left. She was literally the last person to see her sister because she left right around that time um to go to work. And so, you know, he's he's calling his other daughter, his Rebecca's sister, and he's like, Hey, your sister didn't come get me. She's not at home.

SPEAKER_00 8:49

Like, yeah, we're we're where's she?

SPEAKER_02 8:54

So she would post on Facebook, just you know, trying to see if anybody saw Rebecca walking on their street, which was Lee Town Road in Lumberton, Mississippi. And someone replies and says they did see her. But they say they also see a white SUV stopped near her while she was walking. I don't think they sat and watched what was going on. I think they just kind of went about their business, but it was just a happened to see it. Um so that of course becomes a focus in the beginning. They're like, what about this SUV? So people are thinking, oh, maybe she got into it. So they start doing a little investigation, and there was a white Chevy trailblazer seen in the area, but there was really no evidence that that vehicle had was the one that was on that street or had anything to do with it. So it kind of ends up being like a a dead end for them. And according to Chief Deputy Drennan, I can't speak today, sorry, Drennan of Pearl County, Pearl River County, Sheriff's Office, I'm gonna get it together.

SPEAKER_00 10:17

It's okay, it's a Monday.

White SUV Lead And Early Theories

SPEAKER_02 10:19

They would have hundreds of volunteers come out. Which, I mean, the family searches the area before, you know, while they're waiting for the police to come. Because I mean, obviously you're gonna immediately start looking everywhere you can see the let's see where she is. Oh my gosh. Right. So walking up and down the road, walking through the trees where she was supposed to be walking through, and you know, talking to neighbors, trying to see if they saw anything, you know, trying to figure it out. They would actually search on horseback, ATVs, and even use drones. They literally scoured more than 1,000 acres of this small farming community right there off that street. So that's a lot. They did a lot, yeah. That's a that's a big old spot to be searching. Rebecca's family is pretty adamant that she would never approach a stranger or take a ride from one. So they're like, Yeah, I know you said you saw this, but we just don't feel like she'd ever voluntarily get into a car like that. Right. Nor do we think she'd even conversate with someone she didn't know.

SPEAKER_00 11:39

Right. Which brings you to the was it somebody she knew or was she forced into the vehicle?

SPEAKER_02 11:46

Right. Right. And so when you come up with the maybe she was forced situation, her cousin, Rhonda, says she doesn't believe that anyone could have forced her into a vehicle. She states she had asthma, she had high blood pressure and diabetes, but not, you know, with all of those things, she was also obese.

SPEAKER_00 12:14

Ah, see, that's why I always said stay a little chunky because you can't get kidnapped.

SPEAKER_02 12:18

So that and that was their thought. Like a single person would struggle, like somebody would have had to see that. Yeah. Them struggling to get her into a car because she'd be able to use her weight to her advantage to stay out of it. Like she'd be able to fight back at that point.

SPEAKER_00 12:38

At that, yeah, at that point, you can like just, you know, make yourself go dead, like to the ground, and nobody's picking you up.

SPEAKER_02 12:45

Nobody's picking you up. Yeah. Like, especially if they're alone. That's me. Shooting. I'm like, let me fall on this ground right here. Y'all y'all keep trying. Good luck. You ain't getting me today. So Chief Deputy Drennan said that the area has been like searched several more times since her disappearance. And they have literally used everything that they could, like everything at their disposal, all the technological stuff, technological stuff, and even animals. Like, you know, they've they've brought out dogs to search. Um, you know, they've checked abandoned properties. It's not like they've been everywhere.

SPEAKER_00 13:39

And they went in on horseback where vehicles can't go and all that. Right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:44

So it was it was thorough and they've done it more than once because you know, how many times do you say, oh, we searched this area? Right. And then somebody suddenly finds something in that area.

SPEAKER_00 13:56

A lot.

SPEAKER_02 13:57

So they've been pretty adamant about the fact that they've gone back and done it several more times. And they say if there's any leads that come about that point to them needing to go back in there and search again, they'll search again. Right.

SPEAKER_00 14:12

They have no problem.

Massive Searches And What Wasn’t Found

SPEAKER_02 14:13

It's like as many times as we need to, we're in. They now say if she is not in those dense woods, then where could she be? Yeah. And that's the question that remains six years later. Is if she's not there, where did she go? Right. Did someone take her from her house? Because, like they were saying it was kind of muddy and wet where she was, and that there were zero footprints, you know, to indicate that she even went in the woods.

SPEAKER_00 14:50

So that's yeah, that's a little weird. And I'm thinking, you know, even if she was a bigger girl, if it was like a a gunpoint situation, then she would have cooperated, maybe, or a knife or something like that.

SPEAKER_02 15:06

Like she would have to be seriously threatened.

SPEAKER_00 15:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:09

To get in there. Yeah. I mean, I mean, she couldn't, I mean, with asthma and everything else, uh sh there's no way she was running away from somebody with something like that. No. So I mean, maybe that's one theory.

SPEAKER_00 15:21

And then somebody that she knows. That's the other thing you have to look at. But I'm sure they looked at everybody the family knew with the white SUV.

SPEAKER_02 15:32

I'm sure they looked at everybody in the family too, because like the sister being the last person to see her.

SPEAKER_00 15:39

Crazy when somebody goes missing like that, just poof, no, no trace, no, like literal thin air.

SPEAKER_02 15:46

Like, how do you how does that happen? Like, not a single thing to go on.

unknown 15:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:54

So, of course, they receive tips of supposed sightings years down the road. It one was even in like Mobile, Alabama, but every single one of those tips, every single one of those supposed sightings have been a dead end. Nothing has come from any of it. It's not her. It's they always find it's someone else who looks a lot like her, but isn't her. Yeah. And Rebecca's sister said she was quote unquote put through the ringer because she was one of the last people to see her sister before she disappeared. Yeah. But that same sister also expressed that she had been a little bit concerned and had feelings of unease about her sister's relationship with the wife of a pastor at the church her sister was attending. She actually told investigators that Rebecca had given this woman access to her bank account before. Oh. So that's weird. She was like, something's a little fishy with that.

SPEAKER_01 17:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:13

And I mean, this is like where you start doubting that your neighbors are even, you know, like you know any of them, and they're which, you know, the crime junkie people always be pointing out, you never know anyone. Exactly. So there you are. So it's like you start looking around, going, everybody sus, all these things that you've done before, and you're like, hmm. Yeah. Could you be the one who took my sister?

SPEAKER_00 17:38

And just because you are a wife of a pastor still doesn't automatically make you a good person.

SPEAKER_02 17:47

No, and it doesn't rule you out. Right. Now, investigators have followed up on this, and they say that they don't think anyone at the church, including the wife of the pastor, could be considered a current suspect. And mainly just because nothing in Rebecca's account has been touched since she disappeared.

SPEAKER_01 18:13

Right.

SPEAKER_02 18:13

So there's no evidence that the woman has been like stealing or anything from her. So they're kind of like, what other reason would she have to do it if it weren't monetary?

SPEAKER_01 18:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:23

So that also kind of leads nowhere. Hmm. We live in the land of nowhere. Right.

Could She Have Been Taken

SPEAKER_00 18:32

And so here we are. And then I would have to think that during that period, because everything went on lockdown, there wasn't a lot of like, I mean, there was investigations going on, but you know, people going having to go through. All the social distancing. Yeah, the social distancing. All the like people in that in that little time there, like if you had to show up for court, you couldn't show up for court. So then there was like all these Zoom courts and things like that. And people got off a lot easier, I think.

SPEAKER_02 19:06

I was gonna say, I feel like that that distance where you're not like in person gives you like some false comfort.

SPEAKER_00 19:14

So maybe there, you know, they were working on it, but it wasn't as many people that they could contact because of the social distancing, and everybody was on lockdown and things like that.

SPEAKER_02 19:26

Yeah. So it's like hundreds of interviews, repeat searches, tons of tips that have come in, and they still have nothing. Absolutely nothing. Six years later, no clue what happened. Yeah. Can't find her.

SPEAKER_00 19:56

That doesn't make a lot of sense. No. Like there was just all of her stuff at home. That's just weird. Yeah. Like, would she take that? I wonder when she went to go get her father every day, would she take some of her stuff with her? Like, it was it out of character. That's just yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:14

Well, I think they just were assuming that if she had left on on her own, like if she just decided, you know what, I don't want to live here anymore. I'm just gonna take off. That she would have taken those things.

SPEAKER_00 20:24

Oh, yeah. Her personal belongings, she would have taken them with her.

SPEAKER_02 20:27

They even said like her Bible was there and a necklace that her mom had given her was there. Like there was just like things you don't like stuff that she would not have left behind if she had left on her own. Yeah. So they don't they don't think that that's even an option. Crazy. Crazy stuff. Yeah. So of course, this is the part where I tell you if you have any information on the disappearance of Rebecca Reed, you can always reach out to the Mississippi Gulf Coast Crime Stoppers at 877-787-5898. You can also submit an anonymous tip to www.p3 tips with an s dot com. And if you don't care about being anonymous, I mean, which I guess you could still not tell the police your name.

SPEAKER_01 21:22

Right.

SPEAKER_02 21:23

You can also reach out to them directly at the Pearl River County Sheriff's Office, 601-798-5528.

SPEAKER_00 21:34

Yeah, and we have a lot of Mississippi listeners.

SPEAKER_02 21:37

Yes, we do. So Mississippi people like us. We like you too. We like you too. Absolutely. So, yeah, anybody out there listening who happens to know something or doesn't know they know something, we say that all the time. Sometimes you saw something and you don't even know you saw it. And then you start thinking about it and you go, holy crap, wait a minute.

SPEAKER_00 21:59

My uncle Charlie. Charlie was talking about this blah blah blah blah blah, and you know. Suddenly you know something. Right, you know something. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:06

But you didn't realize you knew. Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_00 22:09

Good old Uncle Charlie.

SPEAKER_02 22:11

Yeah. I don't think I have an Uncle Charlie.

SPEAKER_00 22:14

I have a brother, Charles.

SPEAKER_02 22:16

Charlie. Charlie Brown. But you know, you get the point.

Church Connection And Bank Account Concern

SPEAKER_00 22:22

Mm-hmm. Well, hopefully somebody can find something because missing persons' cases years later, all of a sudden, boom, a lead. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:35

Just out of the blue. Like I said, somebody will realize, oh my God. Yeah. And that's that's the one thing it took. And then somebody's found. Sometimes safe, sometimes not. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:50

Which is unfortunate. But at least you would have some kind of closure or some kind of answer or some information that makes you at least understand what happened.

SPEAKER_02 23:02

I feel like that's that's the goal is to understand.

SPEAKER_00 23:05

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 23:07

Let us know. That's today. And if you guys have someone in your life that's missing and you'd like us to do an episode, please reach out. We will happily put them out there.

SPEAKER_00 23:25

Yep. We can do that because there's a lot of missing people when you go on these databases and look, and they have very, very little information about them.

SPEAKER_02 23:37

Even some of them don't even have an identity.

SPEAKER_00 23:40

Yeah, either a name and this is where they're missing from, and this is the date, that's it. Yeah. I'm like, there needs to be more told about that person. There needs to be more information.

SPEAKER_02 23:51

So if if one of those people are your family. Yeah, let us know. We'll Yeah, we'll take everything you got. Yep. And you can send those to the same place you send your after dark stories to our email, hold my sweet tea podcast at gmail.com.

unknown 24:09

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 24:10

And as always, Hold My Sweet Tea is a drunken bee production. And you guys remember to stay safe out there. Deadweight yourself if somebody tries to kidnap you. That's right. And just because we're dipping doesn't mean you can't keep sipping.

SPEAKER_01 24:26

Bye.