Middle Georgia Cold Cases: The Search for Sanders

LIZELLA, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – A Crawford County man went missing in June 2014 and his older sisters want to know what happened.

If trees could talk, maybe they’d have the answer. 

What happened to the man nicknamed “Mikey” and where could he be?

33-year-old Michael Sanders was fun. His sisters, Gina and Sabrina, say their little brother was the life of the party. 

“You never knew what was going to happen. He would do anything to make you laugh,” Gina said. 

“He didn’t like to be sad. If you came around him and you were feeling down, he would have you laughing in just a matter of minutes,” said Sabrina. 

The Crawford County clan says although there may have been an age difference, they were close to their brother — a father to three little girls. 

“He would not go over a week without at least giving me a call. If he had to walk a mile to get wi-fi so that I wouldn’t worry about him. That was his biggest concern,” Gina said. 

So when Gina, who routinely spoke to her brother, didn’t get a call one day in June 2014, she began to worry. 

She called deputies at the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office. 

“The investigation division went out to the last area he was scene in. They searched the wooded area. They went out on foot and searched other locations besides that area. So there have been some areas the investigations unit has looked into but did not find anything that was helpful to us at the time,” Sheriff Lewis Walker said .

Mikey was last seen on Old Knoxville Road, not too far from where he lived. 

What happened? Was he alright?

“Somebody knows something. I just wish people would come out and talk. Tell us what they know,” Sabrina said. 

Investigators spend days searching for clues, but they didn’t find anything — no clothes, no footprints, no body. 

“If it ends up being something bad, then we need some type of closure,” Gina said. 

Now the sisters can only look at pictures, mementos reminding them of the brother they haven’t seen. 

“One of his favorite ball caps. So that hat sits right beside my computer and I smell it. I keep it near me. That’s the only thing I have of him,” Gina said. 

They’re asking for help. 

“He’s my brother. I mean What if it was your brother,” Sabrina said. “…your father, your nephew, a relative? You would want answers,” Gina followed. 

Answers into what happened to Michael Sanders. 

“We want people to know that he is a human being and he has a lot of family and friends that love him dearly,” Sabrina said. 

If you know what happened to Michael Sanders call the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office at 478-836-3116.