Katelin Michelle Akens was 19 when she was last seen on December 5, 2015, in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. She had been visiting family from her home in Arizona, where she lived with her fiancée, and her former stepfather, James Branton, was to drive her to Reagan National Airport for a 5:00 p.m. flight. Branton says he dropped her at Springfield Town Center to take the metro, but there is no evidence Katelin reached the mall or the airport and she never boarded her flight.

Texts sent from Katelin’s phone that evening claimed she was at the airport and later that she was staying with a friend; cell data placed those later messages near Interstate 95 in Stafford County. Two days after she vanished, her suitcase was found in a ditch along River Road in Spotsylvania County, containing her wallet, identification, and plane ticket, while some clothing was missing. Investigators focused on Branton as the last known person to see her; his timeline did not align with cell tower data and he refused searches of his phone and a polygraph.

In April 2026 Branton was arrested on multiple sex offense charges unrelated to the disappearance but investigators said they believed Katelin may have been among his victims. The investigation into what happened to Katelin Akens is ongoing. Does anyone who knew Katelin or was in the Spotsylvania–Stafford area in early December 2015 have information to share?