Kaysey Yoder disappeared after a mental health emergency

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( NewsNation ) — The Colorado family of a missing mother of four was taken advantage of by scammers even as they still seek answers about what happened.

Kaysey Yoder’s circle of friends is wide, but one of her closest and most loyal friends is Anna Green, who described Yoder as an enthusiastic person with infectious energy.

“(She’s) really friendly and really extroverted and loves to talk and loves to socialize,” Green said. “Just a social butterfly.”

A devoted mother

The two women grew up together, texting and taking on the challenges that life and motherhood can bring.

Yoder is a devoted mother of four boys who always worked hard to give them the care they need, including her oldest son who was born with a severe birth defect.

“(He is) in a wheelchair, he was also on a feeding tube. He was not able to speak,” Green said. “She would do different therapies with him. She was in teh process of getting her CNA license so that she could be his formal caregiver and actually get paid for it. She had one more test to take.”

That devotion is part of why Green found the events of this past January so confusing. On Jan. 13, 2024, Yoder had a mental health emergency.

“(She) told me a story about how (she) was just gonna go lay down in the snow and let (herself) freeze to death,” Green said.

The next day, Yoder seemed better. But in the afternoon, she left her home on Appy Road near Eaton, Colorado.

Her husband Evan said she took keys for both vehicles but set out on foot, announcing she’d be spending the night with Green.

Kaysey Yoder disappears

The next morning, Green got a call from Yoder’s mother.

“She’s like, so did Kaysey come over there last night? And I was like, no I haven’t seen Kaysey,” Green said. “I called Evan right away and I was like Kaysey’s not here. Why didn’t you go looking for her? I was pretty mad at him. I was like, why didn’t you go looking for her after what happened the other day, when she did that and walked off and went and hid.”

Private investigator Eryn Martinez is working on the case. She said they have checked hospitals, psychiatric facilities and jails for any sign of Yoder. She also confirmed Yoder’s husband took a polygraph.

“He was the one that originally told me that he passed it,” Martinez said. “But I’ve been able to have that confirmed by the investigative agency who did the polygraph.”

The search for Yoder covered a significant amount of rural Colorado land, with investigators from Weld County using drones and conducting K9 and foot searches.

But she’s concerned about reports that Yoder was feeling so well she had stopped taking her medication for bipolar disorder.

“What we try to do as investigators is put ourselves in somebody else’s shoes and say, what owuld I have done? Or what could I have done?” Martinez said. “But when you’re dealing with mental illness, when you’re dealing with coming off prescribed medications, you do have to factor in that maybe she wasn’t thinking in the most logical way.”

When Yoder left, she took a change of clothes in a small backpack. That bag, a pair of pants and her son’s cell phone were found at an intersection near her home.

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Yoder’s bank account has been untouched and her cell phone has never been found.

“After she went missing, no calls, no texts, just a little tiny amount of mobile data. It almost makes me think that the phone was maybe just turned on and then turned off again, really quickly,” Martinez said. “It could have been something as simple as her weather app trying to connect and register the weather. I’m not 100% sure.”

Yoder’s family is still searching

What NewsNation has confirmed is that Yoder’s mother and her son were hit by scammers pretending to be her and asking for money.

“It’s just really disappointing that people would do something like that,” Green said.

Green is also heartbroken by the fact that Yoder’s oldest son, who she lovingly cared for at home, is now on his own in a long-term care facility.

“Somebody knows something, I believe that with all my heart. Somebody out there knows something,” Green said. “I just really hope that they will find it in their heart to come forward, for not only Kaysey’s family but especially her kids.”

Weld County Sheriff’s Deputies issued a release in response to NewsNation’s questions. It said they believe no criminal act played a role in Yoder leaving her home. The department said it’s consulted with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and the FBI on the case.

Martinez said deputies are working to get access to Yoder’s phone records.

Kaysey Yoder is 34 years old, 5’9″ and weighs around 110 pounds. She has platinum blond hair and hazel eyes. She was last seen wearing jeans, a brown jacket and knee-high combat-style boots, carrying a gray, green and blue athletic backpack.

Anyone with information on Yoder should call Detective Stupka at 970-400-2832 or the tip line at 970-304-6464 or email crimetips@weld.gov.

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