FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — Robby Ann Floyd, 32, resided on Winter Park Drive. She had been married three times and had four children – Sarena Glenn, 12, four-year-old twins Brent and Brenttany Hughes, and a son, Brandon Floyd, who she shared with her third husband, Jason Allen Floyd.
Floyd was last seen sometime in December 1996 by her neighbor. The woman said that Floyd was loading boxes into her blue van and seemed in a hurry. Floyd’s younger sister, Jennifer Jane Hughes, 17, Serena, and the twins were also present.
Floyd said she was headed to Alabama to care for her sick father. Along with Floyd, Hughes, and the kids was another woman who Floyd claimed was her mother. However, Floyd’s mother later said she had not seen her daughter for several years.
The woman with Floyd has never been identified.
Jason Floyd, who went by the nickname, Shane, claimed that Floyd went to Sylacauga, Alabama, to visit her father. She called him from a motel near her father’s residence and said she would call back in a few days. He never heard from her again.
Shane Floyd and Brandon remained at the Winter Park Drive home until February 1997. He is not considered a suspect in the disappearances.
WRAL.com reported there were confirmed sightings of Hughes, including one at Walmart on Ramsey Street in Fayetteville. It is unclear when this sighting took place.
Authorities said Floyd could use different aliases, such as Pressley or Glenn’s last name. She has a tattoo on one of her ankles.
Investigators said the family of five might be in hiding but acknowledged that might not be the case.
“We’ve checked activity on their social security numbers and there’s no activity,” said Lt. Jimmy Black of the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office. “No schools have called for their records. It’s as if they don’t exist anymore.”
According to Fayetteville authorities, the case is closed.
Sarena Glenn’s father, Jerry Glenn, told WRAL.com that he still hoped to see his daughter again but acknowledged it was not likely.
“My gut feeling tells me something’s not right,” said Glenn. “Just for five people coming up missing doesn’t sound good from the start.”
True Crime Diva’s Thoughts
As I was writing on this, a thought popped into my head. What if the unidentified woman was part of the underground network that helps abused women escape their violent spouses?
The fact that there was this third adult with the family that nobody knows, coupled with Robby appearing to hurry to leave, makes me think that is a possibility.
So, was Shane Floyd abusive to Robby? Why do investigators no longer consider him a suspect?
That theory doesn’t explain why Jennifer went with her unless he had threatened to harm her. Or why Robby didn’t take Brandon. And it doesn’t explain the sighting of Jennifer at Walmart. If you were on the run, why would you risk being seen? Why would you be in Fayetteville?
I don’t think they are hiding because I can’t imagine Robby would have left her 4th child behind, but take the other three. I think it’s possible that Jason was involved, or the family met with foul play on their way to Alabama.
Sources: The Charley Project, WRAL.com
2 comments
Okay, I know I will probably state some controversial things but here goes:
1. Robby Ann claimed that the unidentified woman was her mother, but as it turns out this was false. Okay, did she say it in front of her younger sister Jennifer? The fact that her actual mother eventually stated that she had not seen her daughter for several years tells me that she must’ve been estranged from her mother, but was Jennifer estranged as well? It seemed like her mother would have noticed that the 17-year-old was missing—what happened? Was the dad in Alabama really sick and in need of care? Was he ever interviewed?
2. At age 32 she has been married and divorced three times. Yes I know people get married and divorced and remarried, often multiple times to multiple people, but that’s my point. Someone that age who has already been through three marriages and divorces tells me that this person can often be impulsive, and not think things through. SO…could she have been making another “impulsive” decision here to leave and start a new life without her youngest son? Was there a history of abuse? Maybe, but the authorities cleared Shane for some reason, so I’m assuming that there is no evidence to keep him as a person of interest. I do have to wonder if it was ever confirmed that Shane received that phone call from his ex-wife in Alabama. If so, did she talk to her son during the same phone call and can he verify that, although I know he was very young at the time.
3. She was not in touch with her mother; was she actually in touch with her father? I would assume that the police would have interviewed him, considering the fact that she claimed that she was leaving to supposedly go and take care of him during an illness. What did he have to say about the situation? Is he the one that reported the family missing? Or was it Jerry Glenn or Shane or somebody else? Somebody obviously filed a missing persons report.
4. There is supposedly a “confirmed sighting” of Jennifer Hughes at a Fayetteville Wal-Mart. WHO confirmed this? One would assume that if a sighting has been confirmed that investigators actually spoke with someone who knew Jennifer and could back up the story. Who is this person? As for why someone in hiding would risk being seen, well, she’s a young person===young people oftentimes don’t think about things like that, so I could see that happening.
5. Finally, I have to wonder if Robby (or Jennifer) had been involved with other shady and unsavory characters. Just because the ex-husbands may have been decent enough guys doesn’t mean that she was not involving herself with other people who could have been drug dealers and hooligans
3. Has the
You make some good points!
1. I have no idea what Jennifer’s relationship was like with her mother. I did not find any info on this.
2. I believe something was going on with Shane. No mother would leave a child behind unless something or someone prevented her from taking him. I would think investigators could have confirmed the call by looking at the motel’s telephone records. It was a long-distance call, so Robby Ann would have had to pay for the call through the motel.
3. No idea about Robby Ann’s father.
4. I could not find any more info on the confirmed sighting, so I don’t know when Jennifer was seen at Walmart or by who.
5. I also wondered about Robby Ann’s involvement with drugs and/or a dangerous crowd. Maybe she owed someone money.
I really wish there was more info on this case. There are so many questions!