Mother of missing Gaston County woman: 'My baby girl's never going to come back'

One recent night, Kelly Krueger reportedly left the Stanley home she shared with her father without her phone, keys or medication and walked into the darkness. Nobody has seen or heard from her since.

That's what Krueger's boyfriend told law enforcement and Krueger's family after Krueger disappeared, said Krueger's mother, Melanie Mathews. Krueger has been missing since at least July 12.

"I can't give you the exact timeline on when this happened because he waited several days before he supposedly got worried and made a phone call," Mathews said. "He actually stated during a verbal phone call that we had that he watched her walk off into the night."

The Gaston County Police Department is now looking for Krueger, who turned 38 on May 30, and Wednesday evening, police searched her father's property, Mathews said.

Mathews fears the worst.

"That's my baby girl … My baby girl's never going to come back," she said. "My mind is going places that I wish that it wasn't going. I wonder how much torture or whatever she would have gone through or did go through, because I know in my heart, she's deceased. There's no doubt in my mind she's deceased. She would have reached out. She had the clothes on her back, and that was it."

Mathews is convinced her daughter is dead in part because Krueger faithfully took medication for anxiety and ADHD.

"She didn't have her medication. That girl never went anywhere without her medication," Mathews said.

"I think she was murdered. I honestly think it was a cold, calculated murder."

Now, Mathews said, if her daughter is dead, she wants whoever is responsible to be held accountable.

"I want justice for my daughter and for her children, and our entire family," she said. "Justice would be to have the person or persons that are involved in any capacity, to have them brought to justice and to be held accountable for their actions to the fullest extent of the law."

The Gaston County Police Department did not return phone calls from The Gazette on Wednesday or Thursday.

In a press release emailed from the department Thursday, police said she was last seen July 13, and "She was last seen wearing a dark 'Simply Southern' tee shirt, black Nike gym shorts, pink Crocs, and a dark-colored baseball cap. If you have any information about the location of Kelly Krueger, please contact Detective J. Waldrop with the Gaston County Police Department at 704-866-3320."

This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Mother of missing Gaston County woman: 'My baby girl's never going to come back'