Bethany Lee Buckles, 47, was last heard from on the night of November 17, 2021, when she spoke with her mother while they were making Thanksgiving plans. Family reported her missing to the Asheville Police Department on November 20 after she failed to return to her Ravencroft Lane residence. A single charge on one of her accounts was made at a BP station in Asheville in the early hours of November 18, and her black Hyundai Elantra was later found abandoned in the Swannanoa area.

When her mother arrived at Bethany’s condo she found Bethany’s small dog locked inside for days without food or water, an outcome family said was very out of character. Bethany had known mental health issues and was sometimes seen panhandling downtown. She is described as 5 feet 6 inches, about 200 pounds, with blue eyes, long sandy blonde or dark-colored hair, a scar on her abdomen and a flower tattoo on her left ankle.

The circumstances of her sudden disappearance remain unexplained and investigators have asked the public for any information that could lead to a breakthrough. If anyone saw Bethany around November 17–18, 2021, or knows anything about her car being left in the Swannanoa area, please come forward.