FBI joins search for Carmel woman; husband is person of interest
CARMEL, Ind. (WISH) — The search for a Carmel woman who has been missing for nearly a week has extended into Georgia.
Also, personnel from the FBI offices in Indianapolis and Atlanta are assisting in the case of Ciera Breland (Locklair), said an FBI spokesperson.
In a statement, the Johns Creek Police Department said Monday it is working in conjunction with the Carmel Police Department. Carmel police on Saturday night issued a missing person alert for Breland, 31.
The original alert said Breland was last seen sometime between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. Feb. 25 in the 14400 block of Baldwin Lane, near the intersection of Ditch Road and 146th Street. She was described as 5 feet and 120 pounds with blond hair. She was last seen wearing a black top and purple shorts.
“When you are looking at over a week now since she has been reported missing it is of grave concern,” said Lt. Debra Kalish of the Johns Creek Police Department.
A missing person poster from The Aware Foundation, which tracks cases of missing people, quoted family members who said Breland had been in Johns Creek the week before she was reported missing, and that they did not see her return to Indiana.
Johns Creek police say that Breland’s husband, Xavier Breland Jr., 37, has been identified as a person of interest in her disappearance.
Xavier has not been charged in relation to the case, but has been arrested in Hamilton County, Indiana, on an unrelated warrant out of Coweta County, Georgia. He is currently being held in the Hamilton County Jail in Noblesville, where he awaits extradition back to Georgia.
Kalsh from Johns Creek poilce was asked if Xavier’s violent past plays into the urgency of the case. “Well, sure, you know, we look at everything, so you are going to look at him. He was the last one to see her. We are going to look at any other lead that comes in.”
In 2004, Xavier was arrested in Fishers on seven counts. According to court documents, Xavier broke into a home near 96th Street and Allisonville Road. The Marion County Sheriff’s Office was alerted to a burglary in progress. When police showed up to the house, Xavier and another man were already running. That second man was caught by police.
Xavier was breaking into other homes in an attempt to hide from the police, court documents say. He was caught in the back yard of home in Fishers.
Xavier and his partner admitted to breaking into four homes that day. Xavier pleaded guilty to a felony and was given a suspended jail sentence, and ordered to pay $169 in restitution to one of his victims.
Carmel police has three cases with Xavier’s name attached: a warrant, a domestic battery, and a weapons violation. Police would not immediately provide the details of the cases.
In an interview with I-Team 8, Ciera Breland’s family said they had concerns about Ciera and Xavier’s relationship from the start.
“After she moved there (Indiana), it just all went downhill and stuff started happening and then she disappeared. She wasn’t communicating with everyone like she use to, and it was kind of like he was brainwashing her,” Ciera Breland’s cousin, Luke Locklair, said.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Carmel Police Department at 317-571-2580, or Corporal Rozier with the Johns Creek Police Department at 678-372-8046.