Fifth missing woman found safe; search continues for four others

UPDATE @9:25 a.m.:

Julie Kakaris, a Middletown woman who told a family member she was being held against her will, has been found safe, according to police.

“She was found in Kentucky, but she is back now,” said Maj. Scott Reeve this morning. Police are continuing to investigate the circumstances of the incident to determine if is was held against her will and how she got to Kentucky.

Detectives are also continuing to look for four other women missing from Middletown with similar backgrounds.

INITIAL REPORT

Middletown police are continuing to look for Julie Kakaris, who told her father via phone messages that she was being held against her will.

Officers were called to the residence of Kakaris’ father on Tuesday afternoon on a report that she was possibly being held against her will at an apartment complex.

Paul Bilunka said he received messages from his daughter last Monday that two to three men were holding her in an apartment and forcing her to do drugs, according to the police report. She asked him to pick her up because she was scared, but in a later conversation she asked him not to do so.

MORE: Middletown woman helping police in Lindsay Bogan case now missing

Officers checked possible locations for Kakaris on Tuesday and have been checkout leads ever since, according to Major Scott Reeve.

“We have knocked on doors and talked to people, but we haven’t found her,” Reeve said. “We are concerned.”

Four other women with similar backgrounds remain missing from Middletown. The police department has enlisted the help the the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation to locate the women or leads on their whereabouts.

MORE: Lindsay Bogan: Middletown police discuss theories in woman’s death

The four women missing from Middletown are:

• Brandy English, 41, missing May 11, 2016 from Middletown

• Amber Flack, 30, missing Sept. 1, 2016 from Middletown

• Melinda (Oney) Miller, 47, missing Feb. 19, 2017 from Middletown

• Michelle Burgan, 47, missing May 16, 2017 from Middletown

Additionally, two others missing along the I-75/71 corridor could be connected.

They are:

• Amber Whitmer, 30, missing June 6, 2016 from Springfield

• Chelsey Coe, 25, reported missing in August from Miamisburg

Reeve said in recent weeks Middletown detectives have traveled to Jacksonville, Fla. and and Louisville, Ky. following leads on English, but had not luck finder her.

“It is difficult and frustrating trying to find these ladies because the don’t have a permanent address and have a lifestyles that makes them vulnerable,” Reeve said.

Reeve said all the women are adults with a history of drug abuse, and some were homeless and had a history of prostitution.

Detectives said it is possible English’s disappearance could be related to Lindsay Bogan, who went missing from Middletown two years ago and whose skeletal remains were found more than a year ago in a field on a Madison Twp. farm. Her death remains unsolved.

English made it known to others she was helping police in their investigation of Bogan’s death, police told this news outlet in 2016. There have been no sightings of English since her disappearance.

Anyone with a tip about the whereabouts of this women are asked to call 513-425-7700.

FIRST REPORT: Police looking for woman reportedly held against her will

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