FBI, police searching Newton County home for new clues 7 years after 19-year-old woman vanished

PORTERDALE, Ga. — The Federal Bureau of Investigation and several other agencies are currently searching a Newton County property relating to the disappearance of a 19-year-old woman seven years ago.

Morgan Bauer vanished two weeks after she moved to Atlanta from South Dakota in February 2016. She was last seen near a park in Porterdale before she vanished two weeks later.

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Police said Thursday afternoon that they have uncovered “items of evidentiary value” on the grounds of a historic mansion known locally as the Porter House on South Broad Street.

NewsChopper 2 was over the scene, where there were several tents set up in a wooded area near a large home. Police released video of FBI agents slowly combing the property in grid formation.

Police said a new search warrant was issued based on new details that recently came to light.

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Investigators said Morgan Bauer was reported missing by her mother on Feb. 12, 2017 after she flew into Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.

The last contact friends and family had with Bauer was on Feb. 25.

“She had left work in Gainesville and was not heard from again,” Sgt. Michael Anthony Walden with the Porterdale Police said. “Over time information becomes clearer and locations become clearer.”

In an exclusive interview with Channel 2 Action News in 2017, Bauer’s mother, Sherri Sichmeller, said her daughter left their small town in search of a new, independent life. She had $20 to her name and was expecting a tax refund when she flew to Atlanta. Her plans didn’t work out.

“She was planning on staying with somebody that she had talked to on Craigslist,” said Sichmeller, who added the agreement included cleaning house for the roommates until Bauer got a job.

The arrangement lasted all of one night, Sichmeller said. Text message conversations between Bauer and her best friend indicated a falling out of sorts between the roommates.

“From what I understand she’d left her clothes there because she didn’t know what to do,” said Sichmeller. “And then she went to go try to find a place to stay, a hotel, and that’s what brought her to dancing.”

While Atlanta police would not describe the workplace, they confirmed Bauer worked briefly in Hall County in mid-February. A Waffle House employee off Cheshire Bridge Road in Atlanta said she spoke with Morgan, who was a regular customer. The girl, she said, claimed to be a dancer at the Teaser’s Gentleman’s Club across the street.

“You know, like I said, we don’t (often) see Caucasian women over there at that club, and I asked her if she was dancing or bartending and she said that she was dancing over there,” said Kandice Avery.

On Thursday, Channel 2′s Audrey Washington was able to confirm that some people reported seeing Bauer in the Porterdale area before she vanished.

The Porterdale Police Department, Atlanta Police Department, Peoria, Illinois Police Department, Newton County Sheriff’s Office and Newton County District Attorney’s Office are all assisting the FBI in the investigation.

Washington asked why police from Illinois were involved in the investigation.

“I don’t have the specifics, nor can I mention it at this time because it’s an ongoing development at this time,” Walden said.

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