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6:08 a.m. • 5-21-13

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Published: 2012-04-26 11:29:00
Updated: 2012-04-26 17:39:39

Police release new photo of missing Fort Bragg soldier


Kelli Bordeaux
Kelli Bordeaux
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Fayetteville police on Thursday released a photo of a missing Fort Bragg soldier taken the night she was last seen nearly two weeks ago.

Slideshow     Kelli Bordeaux Images: Kelli Bordeaux

Jeff Locklear, a police detective heading the search for Pfc. Kelli Bordeaux, said at a news conference Thursday that Bordeaux took the photo of herself with her iPhone 4S before going out the night of April 13.

The 23-year-old from St. Cloud, Fla., was last seen as she left a Ramsey Street bar called Froggy Bottoms around 1:20 a.m. April 14. Fort Bragg officials reported her missing when she didn't show up for work on April 16.

In the photo, she is wearing a pink tube top and black shorts. Unseen is a pair of flip-flops that Locklear described as being "bedazzled."

"This photo is a true and accurate depiction of how she was dressed and what she was wearing," Locklear said.

He would not say where he got the photo but urged anyone living in the area to report to police immediately if they come across any of the clothing or the iPhone.

Locklear also said investigators want to speak to anyone who was in the Ramsey Street area before midnight on April 13 – even if they think they don't have any information that could help.

"People have information, sometimes, that they don't even know they have that's valuable," he said. "It could be pretty insignificant to them, but it could mean the world to me."

Police have set up a special hotline, 910-433-1114, for tips in the case.

"The motto we're going by is 'Everybody deserves to come home.' We want to bring Kelli home, and anybody that has information that they think is pertinent should give us a call," Locklear said. "It's all about the information at this point."

Investigators aren't speculating about what might have happened to Bordeaux, but since her disappearance, they have arrested Nicholas Holbert, a registered sex offender who said he gave Bordeaux a ride home from the bar, and Steven Cantrell, the bar's owner, on charges unrelated to her case.

Police, however, haven't said whether either man is a suspect or person of interest in the case.

Searches for Bordeaux around Froggy Bottoms, her home – about a half-mile away – as well as a pond in rural Cumberland County have turned up nothing, investigators have said.

But Locklear said that they continue to concentrate their search efforts around the bar, because that's where the information they have so far is telling them to be.

Nearly 600 volunteers of all ages and from as far away as Georgia on Thursday scoured the area around the bar and the apartment where Bordeaux lives with her husband. They used all-terrain vehicles, horses and boats in the search.

Among those searching were Ruthi Behagg and Hilda Ramsey.

"I would want somebody – all these people – I would want to come out and look for my baby if he was gone, and I can only imagine how that momma feels," Behagg said.

"I hope she'll be found, but mostly I pray to the Lord that she'll be found alive," Ramsey said.

Also searching were Bordeaux's family and husband, Michael Bordeaux, who told investigators that he was in Florida when his wife went missing.

"She's very responsible. She would not have missed work. She was a dedicated soldier, a dedicated wife. (We) loved each other very much, and I just appreciate everyone out here helping look for her," he told reporters Thursday morning. "Just please let her come home to her family, me, friends."

Other family members also said they are staying optimistic and believe that Bordeaux will be found.

"With the amount of people and the amount of resources they're using, we have the utmost confidence that we're going to get her back. We have no doubt. Kelli's coming home," her sister, Olivia Cox, said. "I just want my sister back. I just want to talk to her."

"We expect to find her, and God willing, it will be today," Bordeaux's brother, Matt Henson, added.


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Latest Comments
this is were you lose me "This bar is the closest bar to Kelli's apt, you can see the entrance to her apt from the bar."

Kelli's husband left for FL on April 3rd and did not return home until Kelli was reported missing. Cops have said this. The week prior to him leaving for FL he and Kelli were at the beach and there are pictures on their facebooks from the 24the of Feb with them looking very happy and playful. RING~ Neither of them wore a ring all the time. There are tons of photos that show this BUT police have not said that they found her wedding band at home so the other place would be ON HER hand. BAR~ This bar is the closest bar to Kelli's apt, you can see the entrance to her apt from the bar. So maybe she felt safe because it was a busy road and a very very short distance.This is NOT a popular bar of 20somethings here in Fay.The army is very strict about DUI, DWI, anything alcohol related. So to avoid any of that she went to the place near home and got a ride.She also wears a ACU uniform 5 days a week and probably wanted to look cute. A tank top,shorts & flip flops are not scandalous clothing.

Time will tell what really happened to her until then we are all concerned and wish we could resolve this horrible situation. I am so sorry for her family to have to endure such pain. Myself nor anyone who has commented on this site can not imagine what you are all going through. On that note I am not going to post here anymore but will say a prayer for her and all of her family and friends in hopes that she will be returned home safely and soon.

" if you were capable to really reading and thinking you would have seen that my comment was meant to show that ANY relationship could be suggested to be at risk... it all depends on your perspective"

Actually, no...your comment was pretty specific...I've copied it below as a reminder of exactly what you said...I don't see any reference in your comments to indicate that you were referring to ANY relationship...you are pretty adamant on which relationships you are referring to.

" You folks who need this constant contact with one another are the ones with the suspect relationships. What are you worried about?"

snowpenguin4eva - "he high and mighty need to take another look at themselves, and stop pretending they have never judged something based on what they've read/heard."

The "high and mighty", really? That is the best that you can do? And no, I DON'T judge people based on what I have read/heard because I am intelligent enough to know that if I am ONLY reading or hearing it then I REALLY know NOTHING about it.

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