Family of Whitney Keira Rivers have been begging for help in her disappearance and got a break Thursday afternoon with the official release of a RCSO missing persons flyer.
Still, her sister Markita Jones says she has been seeking help from the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office after persistent rumors that Whitney was murdered.
“We just really want to find her,” she said. “I feel like the sheriff’s office is not making this a big issue. I just really need more help than they are giving.”
Rivers, 34, is described as 5’3” tall and 130 pounds. She was last seen on April 5 on Gordon Highway in the Southgate parking lot, and she is listed as homeless.
Whitney’s other sister, Venicia Jones, reported her missing last Wednesday. She told authorities that Rivers normally comes to her job for breakfast at the Burger King on Gordon Highway but has failed to show up.
Markita Jones said they have video of witnesses saying that their sister was murdered, struck in the head with a steel bar. Since then, Markita has desperately put up her own missing persons flyers in gas stations and bus stops and passed them throughout town. She has also searched for her sister in several locations, expecting that she may find a body. A reward was even offered in Facebook posts.
Markita said she wishes sheriff’s investigators would bring out cadaver dogs or organize a a search party. She said her sister is the mother of six children, but the kids are all staying with their fathers since Whitney has been struggling ever since their mother died two years ago.
Markita wants the sheriff’s office to step it up and give Whitney the type of publicity that Jamilla Smith of Jackson got when she went missing.
“They need to act like this is a priority,” she said. “It’s definitely like we’re investigating this case ourselves.”
