Missing Female Soldier: Sex Offender Questioned, Pond Being Searched
The case of missing Fort Bragg soldier Kelli Bordeaux has taken a new turn. While police are remaining tight-lipped about the case, others are coming forward to tell what they know.
Bordeaux was last seen leaving a North Carolina bar early Saturday morning, and bar worker Nicholas Holbert told ABC News that he was the mystery man who gave Bordeaux a ride home that morning but that she was alive when he dropped her off at her home.
Holbert, 25, is a registered sex offender has been questioned in relation with the case.
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"As soon as you drive into the entrance to Meadowbrook, she said 'stop right here,'" he told ABC News. "So I stopped and she said, 'I'll walk home.' I said, 'Are you sure?' She said, 'Yeah.' I said I figured she didn't want me to know where she lived, or somebody was there and she didn't want to be seen together."
Police are also searching a pond in the area, ABC News reported. An anonymous tip led them to the pond, which is several miles away from the bar where Bordeaux was last seen.
Police Chief Tom Bergamine has stated that the hotline has been buzzing with tips and possible leads, which police and military officials are working to follow up.
"The hotline that was established today has yielded numerous telephone calls with information being relayed to our detectives, who are actively working this case," he said yesterday. "I feel our people are absolutely working at 100 percent. We've had a lot of assistance from the military, Cumberland County Sheriff's Office, which is enhancing everyone's efforts."
Authorities have described Bordeaux as a hard-working soldier; she was reported missing after failing to show up for duty Monday morning.
"Being a soldier to Kelli isn't something she'd jeopardize for anything," Bordeaux's sister, Olivia Cox, told ABC News. "Missing work isn't something that's in character for Kelli. This is an out of character thing to happen to my sister."
"I just want my sister home" Cox said in an emotional plea. "Please give her back. Please just return my sister."
