Kaila Aileen Morris was 21 and a Mississippi State University student when she disappeared from her family’s home in the New Hope area of Columbus, Mississippi on September 17, 2009. Her mother was out of town and her stepfather, Robert Butch Triplett, reported seeing Kaila get into a dark-colored van or SUV from the residence at about 8:00 PM. She was said to be headed to visit a friend, Labriska Walker, and a godson in Carrollton, Alabama, but never arrived.

Kaila left behind her purse, car, bulldog, and daily medication, as well as distinctive tattoos: a red rose with a green leaf on the second toe of her left foot and a star and moon with KAILA on the inside of her right ankle. Triplett became a focus of suspicion after giving investigators unusual accounts and, in October 2009, was arrested on unrelated child pornography charges found on home computers; he was later convicted and sentenced on those charges but has not been charged in Kaila’s disappearance and denies involvement.

Searches and leads have been pursued by the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office but no trace of Kaila has been found. Does anyone have information about Kaila’s movements on the evening of September 17, 2009, or recall seeing a dark-colored van or SUV near the New Hope home that night?