By Joe Johnson
Thursday marked three months since 17-year-old Julia Mann went missing from her home in Watkinsville.
Oconee County Sheriff Scott Berry said that during an exhaustive effort to find the teen, investigators have not learned anything to make them think that Mann was the victim of foul play.
He previously said he believed that Mann left home on her own accord.
“It’s been three months today and we definitely wish for Julia’s safety,” Berry said. “If Julia would like to contact me, I wish she would. I would love to talk to Julia.”
While Berry said he did not wish to discuss details of the investigation, last month he posted on his agency’s Facebook page that “there has been no trace of her either physically or digitally since the night of 2/20 when she left her home seemingly alone and of her own free will. This case has been worked by the OCSO, the FBI, the GBI, and many other agencies, and we are continuing to work the case.”
Authorities have conducted ground, air, and K-9 searches, spoken with neighbors and reviewed video from numerous sources.
The only physical evidence reportedly found was a single footprint, believed to be Mann’s, outside the back door of the family’s home in the Rowan Oak subdivision.
She had moved to the home a few weeks earlier from Dunwoody.
Mann was last seen by her grandfather at around 10 p.m. Feb. 20 but by the next morning she was gone and a missing person report was filed with the sheriff’s office.
Also missing from Mann’s home were the teen’s cellphone and laptop computer, neither of which has been used since she disappeared, authorities said.
There is a $20,000 reward for information on Mann’s whereabouts or that leads to her safe return.
Mann has brownish, blonde hair, and is five feet, three inches tall and weighs about 100 pounds.
The sheriff’s office requests that anyone with information about this case to call them at (706) 769-3945 or contact Investigator Sanders at gsanders@oconeesheriff.org.