Missing mom feared dead after cops find her apartment cleaned with bleach

Briana Watson, inset, hasn’t been seen since March 17, 2024. On Friday, the Clayton County Police Department said detectives believe Watson is dead and identified Michale Edwards, left, and his wife, Brienna Phillips-Edwards, right, as persons of interest. (Clayton County Police Department,)

Police in Georgia on Friday said a mother reported missing weeks ago is believed to be dead, and they identified the father of the woman’s child and his wife as persons of interest.

Briana Winston’s family reported her missing on April 1, the Clayton County Police Department said. The family went to her apartment and found that Michale Edwards, her live-in boyfriend and father of her 4-year-old child, had completely cleaned out their apartment, according to police. One family member told Atlanta Fox affiliate WAGA that the apartment wreaked of bleach. Her family also learned that she never showed up to work on March 17.

Police believe she “vanished” in the early morning hours of March 17 and was the “victim of a crime that left her incapacitated in some way.” According to police, Winston’s last known location was in the area of Garden Wood Apartments in College Park, Georgia.

“To date, Briana Winston has not been located but all points of evidence indicate that she is deceased and detectives will proceed with the case as a homicide investigation,” Clayton police said.

Edwards and his wife, Brienna Phillips-Edwards, are considered persons of interest, cops say. Police stopped short of calling the couple suspects and have not arrested anyone in the case. Edwards is at the Clayton County Jail on an unrelated aggravated stalking charge, records show. Phillips-Edwards was arrested for making false statements to police but it’s unclear if it’s related to Winson’s disappearance. She has since posted bond.

Family told WAGA that Winston and Edwards had a “rocky” relationship. Her grandma said she just wants to know what happened to her. The family has spent weeks handing out flyers in hopes of a positive outcome.

“I just don’t see how it could happen to a beautiful young woman who is trying to do everything by herself,” Ann Thomas told the outlet. “She was real sweet, loving, adorable, really attentive, loved her baby to the death.”

Anyone with information regarding the disappearance of Winston is asked to contact the Clayton County Police Department at 770-477-3747.

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