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We were real close, growing up. We were very close.

Now the day goes by, that I don't think about it, just not fire. What's happening to her? That beach owes her more than what they've done.

It's so sad, because I know what happened to her and it's just so sad that there's no justice for her and she's just dumb-based.

There's nobody doing anything about it. Very hurtful.

It's never left my heart like what happened to her and she deserves to be found and I stayed in touch with them over the years.

So I would just like an update, just anything. You know, tell me to go fly a kite. Tell me it's an active case and then don't say anything else, but they would not respond at all. Nothing. No updates in five years.

Around April 19th of 2016, 44-year-old Kelly Allison Whitten disappeared from Panama City Beach, Florida. The circumstances were frightening enough.

She had been in the middle of breaking up with the man she lived with and had been dating, who had a history of violence and making threats he promised to make good on.

The two got into an altercation in a restaurant and her boyfriend claimed he never saw her again. Change his story later and subsequently refused to cooperate with the police after they started investigating her disappearance.

But no one had reported Allison missing until the end of May. Why did it take six weeks for anyone to realize that she was missing?

What has taken place since then is truly extraordinary, but Kelly Allison Whitten is still missing and the mystery surrounding her disappearance continues to deepen.

I'm Marissa and from Wondery, this is Episode 367 of The Vanished. Kelly Allison Whitten's story, part one. I'm not missing, am I?

If you're into true crime, the Generation Y Podcast is essential listening. We started this podcast over 10 years ago to dissect some of the craziest and most notable murders, crimes, and conspiracy theories together and we'd love for you to join us. Follow the Generation Y Podcast on Amazon Music or wherever you listen to podcasts.

In 2018, Allison Louise Whitten got a call from a woman asking if she was the woman's missing sister named Allison Whitten. The missing woman's name was legally Kelly Allison Whitten, though she always went by Allison. To avoid confusion throughout this story, we will refer to the witness who received the phone call as Allison L and the missing person simply as Allison.

The Allison L on the phone explained that no, she was not missing, but she was intrigued. Allison's family was from the same region of the country she held from, and she had always been interested in genealogy.

Was it possible that the two were related and she had a missing relative that she had never heard of?

Allison L was the first person to reach out to us about this story, having done her own research on Allison's life and disappearance, and asked for help giving her name and story a larger platform. So we asked Allison to tell us how this all started for her.

So I get the call from her sister actually, Rhonda was the first one to contact me on Facebook Messenger. This was two years after Allison went missing and Rhonda reached out and she's like, hi, you don't know me, my sister is missing. Her name is Allison Whitten.

There's a guy named John Brown who's going online and saying that you're her and you don't want to be found. I just almost bust into tears because I can't imagine number one having a sister missing.

I was just wondering if I was going to be able to talk about the fact that just the whole thing was crazy and having to reach out and do this, I just couldn't imagine it. And I was like, listen, I know who he is. He's an army bed. He's an older gentleman. I don't even know how he found Facebook. He has a flip phone.

He's causing any problems. But please, let me know that what happens with this. I'm just shocked that she has the same name for the most part that that's what she goes by and I said, I'll call whoever you want me to. I wound up calling back the Bay County Sheriff's Department.

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