The family of Shannon McKinney of Brookside reported her missing over the weekend. She has been found and is now back in treatment.
By Greg Garrison | [email protected]
The Brookside woman who went missing over the weekend after Brookside police said she was drugged and forced to perform sex acts in an abandoned house has been found, her family said.
Shannon McKinney, 25, has contacted her family and is now back in a treatment facility, her mother, Alice McKinney said in a statement released by their attorneys.
“The family of Shannon McKinney is pleased to report that Shannon, who has been missing for several days, contacted us yesterday and has since been admitted into a rehabilitation center where she will receive the necessary treatment and counseling she needs,” Alice McKinney said in a statement released late Thursday night.
“Our family is asking for privacy so we can focus on getting Shannon well and reunited with her three beautiful children,” she said. “Any inquiries or requests should be directed to our attorneys at this time. Due to the ongoing investigation, it is not appropriate to comment regarding that aspect of Shannon’s disappearance. We are communicating with the authorities through our attorneys.”
She also thanked those who helped spread the word about her daughter.
“We greatly appreciate the concern the public and media have shown in regard to this matter and pray Shannon receives the treatment she requires,” she said.
The statement was released by Ike Gulas, of the Morgan & Morgan Law Firm, and Rob Wolfe, of the Ike Gulas Law Firm.
“She left a women’s treatment center early Friday morning,” Brookside Police said in a post on Facebook on Sunday. “The family is deeply concerned for her safety and believe she may be with the suspect Steven Hollier.”
The investigation began Thursday afternoon when officers responded to the 100 block of Church Street after receiving a call for assistance from utility investigators in reference to utility theft. When officers got to the house, they spotted a white male flee the residence.
Inside, Chief Mike Jones said, they found a woman who said she had been drugged and forced against her will to have sex with numerous men in exchange for money, drugs, or stolen goods. The abuse, she said, had gone on for more than a year.
The house was in horrible condition with no running water or utilities, Jones said. The suspects found a way to illegally wire the house with power which is what led investigators to the house.
