Ciera Breland, a 31-year-old attorney and mother from Carmel, Indiana, was last seen on February 24, 2022, at her mother-in-law’s home in Johns Creek, Georgia. More than three years later, the Breland disappearance remains unsolved, no one has been charged, and Ciera’s husband, Xavier Breland Jr., is still the only person of interest. Johns Creek police say the case is open but has no active leads.1FOX 59. No Active Leads 3 Years After Carmel Mom Vanished
Who Ciera Breland Was
Ciera grew up in Georgia, went to the University of Tennessee, and earned her law degree from the Florida State University College of Law. She practiced insurance defense in Georgia, where she met Xavier as a client on legal matters.2NBC News. 31-Year-Old Ciera Breland Vanished in Johns Creek, Georgia They married in 2020 and moved to Carmel, Indiana, to be near his father, and Ciera joined the Indianapolis office of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani.3ABA Journal. After BigLaw Associate Goes Missing, Her Husband Is Named a Person of Interest Their son Jackson was born in late 2021.
The Last Confirmed Sighting and a Contradicted Timeline
On February 19, 2022, Ciera arrived at her father’s home in Cleveland, Georgia for a family visit. The next day, she and Xavier left for his family’s home in Johns Creek with their five-month-old son and the family dog.4FOX 5 Atlanta. Ciera Breland’s Disappearance Timeline That Sunday was the last time her family saw her.
Surveillance video puts Ciera at her mother-in-law’s home on Highgate Manor Court in Johns Creek at about 7:17 p.m. on February 24, 2022. That is her last verified sighting.5WRTV Indianapolis. Georgia Police Say Video Confirms Missing Carmel Woman’s Last Location
Two days later, on February 26, Xavier reported Ciera missing to Carmel police. He told them she had left their Indiana home shortly after 10 p.m. the previous night to walk to a nearby store in roughly 20-degree weather, wearing a black top and purple shorts. She never showed up at the store, and no area surveillance captured her.6FOX 5 Atlanta. Ciera Breland’s Husband Found Guilty of Firearms Charge She had left behind her personal phone, work phone, a burner phone, her ID, her credit cards, Jackson, and the dog.4FOX 5 Atlanta. Ciera Breland’s Disappearance Timeline
The FBI later said there was no evidence Ciera ever returned to Indiana after traveling to Georgia that week, which directly contradicts Xavier’s account.5WRTV Indianapolis. Georgia Police Say Video Confirms Missing Carmel Woman’s Last Location
What She Told Family Before She Vanished
Text messages obtained by investigators and reported by FOX 59 show Ciera was afraid. In the summer of 2021 she texted her cousin Shelby Campbell: “I’m seeing things that scare me a lot for a future with him and they aren’t the kinds of things that you can accept and live with.” By August she wrote, “I’m really scared and idk what to do.” Campbell said Ciera also told her, “Oh I think he’s really going to hurt me” and “I genuinely think he is capable of doing something very bad to me.”7FOX 59. Texts Reveal Missing Indiana Woman Lived in Fear of Her Husband
By late February 2022 she was preparing to leave. Her cousin Luke Locklair told reporters Ciera had “her stuff packed” and planned to return to her parents in Georgia without her husband.8WSB-TV. Family Says Missing Indiana Mother Was Ready to Move Back to Georgia She had also been quietly saving money toward the move.9Hindustan Times. Justice Unresolved: Ciera Breland Vanished in Johns Creek, Georgia In messages around the time she disappeared, she wrote that she was at Xavier’s mother’s house and that “he won’t give me Jaxson so I’m waiting to get him so I can leave.”7FOX 59. Texts Reveal Missing Indiana Woman Lived in Fear of Her Husband
Why Xavier Breland Jr. Is the Person of Interest
Xavier was named a person of interest soon after the missing person report was filed, largely because he was the last person known to have been with Ciera.10IndyStar. Ciera Breland Disappearance: Questions Continue He stopped cooperating with investigators shortly after making the report.1FOX 59. No Active Leads 3 Years After Carmel Mom Vanished
His accounts have shifted. He told Carmel police Ciera walked to a store that night. In jailhouse video from March 2022, he told his children Ciera had been kidnapped and would not be coming home. His own father told reporters, “He just creates a different story for everybody he’s talking to.”6FOX 5 Atlanta. Ciera Breland’s Husband Found Guilty of Firearms Charge
He has not been charged in connection with Ciera’s disappearance. His 2022 attorney, Bryan Howard, said publicly that Xavier “had nothing to do with Ciera’s disappearance” and had cooperated with police.7FOX 59. Texts Reveal Missing Indiana Woman Lived in Fear of Her Husband
The Other Cases Against Xavier Breland Jr.
Xavier is currently in prison, but not for anything tied to Ciera’s disappearance.
Coweta County Stalking Acquittal
When Ciera vanished, Xavier had an outstanding aggravated stalking warrant in Coweta County, Georgia. His ex-partner Brittany Lusk, the mother of his two older children, accused him of hiding a GPS tracker in a stuffed animal belonging to one of their children to monitor her; she held a permanent protective order against him from a Fulton County judge.11WSB-TV. Husband of Woman Missing for Months Found Not Guilty in Separate Stalking Case He was arrested on that warrant at his Carmel home on March 1, 2022 and later extradited to Georgia. In August 2022, a Coweta County jury acquitted him after about 14 minutes of deliberation.12Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Husband of Missing Indiana Woman Found Not Guilty in Separate Coweta Stalking Case
Indiana Firearms Conviction
On February 27, 2022, police seized two handguns from the Breland home in Carmel during the disappearance investigation. The next day, Xavier called police claiming a handgun in his garage had discharged accidentally while he was moving a Christmas tree. Officers found a SIG Sauer P365 and a second firearm at the scene.13FOX 59. Man Known as Person of Interest in Wife’s Disappearance Extradited Back in Indiana A 2005 felony burglary conviction made him a serious violent felon under Indiana law, and prosecutors charged him in November 2022 with unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon.
An Indiana court found him guilty on June 11, 2024 and sentenced him to 12 years in the Indiana Department of Correction.10IndyStar. Ciera Breland Disappearance: Questions Continue He is incarcerated at a facility in Pendleton, is appealing the sentence, and has a projected release date of May 2033.1FOX 59. No Active Leads 3 Years After Carmel Mom Vanished
Where Ciera’s Son Is Now
After Xavier’s arrest on March 1, 2022, the couple’s infant son Jackson was placed into state care. Ciera’s parents, Nick and Kelly Locklair, have since had custody and worked to bring him home to Georgia.14FOX 5 Atlanta. Ciera Breland Disappearance Frequently Asked Questions
Case Status and How to Report Information
As of 2025, Johns Creek police say there are no active leads, though the case remains open. Xavier Breland Jr. is still the sole person of interest, and investigators have not ruled out foul play.10IndyStar. Ciera Breland Disappearance: Questions Continue Capt. Deb Coble of the Johns Creek Police Department has said even a small detail could be the piece that “ties it all together.”1FOX 59. No Active Leads 3 Years After Carmel Mom Vanished
The FBI’s $10,000 reward for information leading to Ciera’s whereabouts is still in place.15FBI. FBI Announces Reward for Information Leading to Ciera Breland Anyone with information can call the Johns Creek Police Department at (678) 474-1610 or the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI.