In 2004, This Recently Married Florida Teen Mysteriously Disappeared: Authorities Have Since Treated Her Case As A Homicide Investigation Due To The “Suspicious Circumstances”
In 2004, Elizabeth “Beth” Prescott of Callaway, Florida, was just 19 years old and starting out her adult life.
She was known by friends and family as an outgoing and happy woman who had no problem making friends.
In fact, Elizabeth was not afraid to even strike up conversations with strangers– something her father sometimes thought was naive.
Nonetheless, the teen had just passed two significant milestones in 2004. She graduated from Rutherford High School and had recently gotten married to her husband, Coy– living with him in Callaway.
By April of that year, though, Elizabeth’s young and blossoming life was seemingly put on hold after she mysteriously disappeared.
On the morning of April 30, 2004, Coy was the last person to see the 19-year-old before he headed out for work.
Prior to leaving, though, he and Elizabeth reportedly planned to chat on the phone at 2:30 p.m.
Well, 2:30 p.m. came, and Coy attempted to call his wife to let her know that he was done with work. Moreover, he would arrive back at their home approximately one hour later. But Elizabeth never answered the phone.
Then, by the time Coy got to their Callaway property, he found their home virtually untouched. However, Elizabeth was not in it.
Florida Department Of Law Enforcement – pictured above is Elizabeth
Coy did find a damp towel had been hung up inside their bathroom. But, the rest of Elizabeth’s belongings were in their usual spots. The only bizarre thing Coy did notice was how $50 had gone missing from their home. So, he waited for his wife to get back. But, after the evening passed by, the following morning dawned, and Elizabeth never returned home, Coy started to worry. And finally, he reached out to the police and filed a missing person report.
Right after Coy filed the report, authorities immediately began to search for information. And though Elizabeth was officially labeled as a missing person, investigators still treated her case as though it was a homicide investigation because of the “suspicious circumstances” around her disappearance.
It remains unclear exactly when the 19-year-old vanished. However, authorities believe Elizabeth went missing at some point between 6:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. As the investigation continued on, though, one thing did become very clear– the sheer lack of evidence in the teen’s case.
“Sadly, in this case, there was just no evidence or no clue of where she had gone or what happened,” explained Lieutenant Jeremy Mathis of the Bay County Sheriff’s Office.
By 2007, the investigators decided to conduct a widespread search of a large two-acre region– containing a wooded area and drainage pond– located near Elizabeth’s home. Unfortunately, though, the search came up dry, and no new evidence was uncovered.
So, to this day, what happened to Elizabeth remains a mystery. But that does not mean the Prescott family or authorities have given up hope of finding answers.
“We don’t forget about these cases. They don’t go away. This is still an open case, and we would love to provide some closure to the family,” Lt. Mathis said.
At the time of her disappearance, Elizabeth was five foot two, weighed 110 pounds, and had blonde hair and blue eyes. Her and Coy’s home, from which she went missing, was located at 522 North Tyndall Parkway. Elizabeth would be 38 years old today. If you have any information regarding Elizabeth’s disappearance or whereabouts, you are urged to contact the Bay County Sheriff’s Office at (850) 747-4700.
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