In the winter of 2020, a 59-year-old woman named Lisa Michelle Boyle disappeared from her life in Goldsboro, North Carolina. Her last contact with family occurred sometime in January of that year, though the exact date remains uncertain. The period leading up to her disappearance was marked by profound personal tragedy. Less than a year earlier, in March 2019, Lisa’s daughter, Natasha South-Boyle, was discovered deceased inside their home.
Following an investigation and autopsy which determined that no foul play was involved in Natasha's death, authorities charged Lisa with felony concealment and failure to report a death. She was arrested and subsequently released on bond. It was in the days around her scheduled court appearance in January 2020 that Lisa Boyle was last seen by her relatives, after which she seemingly vanished without a word.
For the next several years, Lisa's location remained a mystery to her family. Concern for her well-being mounted, but an official missing person report was not filed until December 5, 2022. The event that prompted her uncle to contact the authorities was her absence from her own mother's funeral. This lack of contact during such a significant family event solidified his fear that something was wrong, leading him to report her missing to the Goldsboro Police Department. An investigation was launched, nearly three years after she had last been seen, to piece together the circumstances of her departure and find out what had happened to her.
The case remained open until the spring of 2026, when the Goldsboro Police Department's Cold Case Unit uncovered new information regarding Lisa's possible whereabouts. Working together with law enforcement in Raleigh and Thomasville, investigators successfully located Lisa in Thomasville, North Carolina. The search for the missing woman came to a close, as she was found alive, ending years of uncertainty for her family. Upon being located, she was taken into custody in connection with the outstanding warrants from 2020 for failing to appear in court, as well as a separate warrant from 2019. The overview of this case is a complex narrative of family tragedy and legal troubles that preceded a prolonged disappearance, which was ultimately resolved when law enforcement located her after she had been missing for more than six years.Last Seen: Jan 1, 2020
