Woman is reported missing after friends received cryptic Facebook messages

Mary Cathleen Haley, 32, was reported missing Monday after friends received a string of eerie messages from her Facebook

A woman has been reported missing after friends received rambling messages from her Facebook account saying she ‘fell in the lake’ and ‘tried to kill herself.’ 

Mary Cathleen Haley, 32, was reported missing by family in West Virginia on Monday, almost a week after friends say she drove down to Florida to look for work.

Sheila Vaught, a friend of Haley’s, said she last spoke with her on Friday morning when she ‘sounded fine’ before the strange messages began appearing the next day.

Police have questioned husband William Scott, who is said to have separated from Haley around August this year, but have not arrested him in this case.

Sheriff Scott Van Meter said Scott – a 25-year veteran of the police force – has been fully cooperating and claimed not to have seen his wife in months.

However, police did confirm that Scott was arrested on December 11 after turning himself over to officers following a claim of assault by Haley.  

Krissy Musallam, another friend of Haley who is leading search efforts, said she became concerned for her safety on Friday when she received a message saying she had been ‘beaten pretty bad’ by Scott a week earlier.

Haley with what appears to be black eyes

Haley before she went missing

Krissy Musallam, a friend of Haley who is leading search efforts, said she also received a picture in which she appears to have black eyes (left) on Friday along with a message claiming she had been beaten by her estranged husband

Musallam also received a photo appearing to show Haley with two black eyes, published by Fox News.

She said she encouraged Haley to go to a women’s refuge before receiving another message complaining that officials were refusing to take her complaints seriously.

Her account then went silent until the following day, when someone claiming to be Steven Vaught – Sheila’s husband – suddenly began sending messages to Musallam.

According to Musallam, the messages said that Haley ‘is fine’ and ‘is unstable’ and that she is ‘in bed asleep’.

The person claiming to be Vaught also talked about Haley going swimming, and said she got her black eyes after she ‘fell down the stairs acting crazy’.

Sheila confirmed that Haley had been staying with her and Steven for around a month before she left for Florida, while trying to divorce Scott.

She said that Scott had refused to sign the papers, and Haley feared for her life.

However, she said that Haley had left their house Tuesday – a full three days before messages purporting to be from her husband were sent – and the pair had not seen her since.

Police say they have questioned husband William Scott, a 25-year veteran of the force, saying he is cooperating and they have not arrested him in this case

Police say they have questioned husband William Scott, a 25-year veteran of the force, saying he is cooperating and they have not arrested him in this case

Sheila confirmed that Haley had made several meetings scheduled in Florida on Friday, but missed one in the Pensacola area that evening. 

A barrage of messages were then sent to several of Haley’s friends on Saturday, claiming that she had died.

The posts included ‘she’s at peace bro,’ ‘she is where she needs to be,’ and ‘she fell I didn’t kill her.’

Several male friends also told how they had received messages over the weekend asking to meet up.

On Monday, Haley’s account sent out a final message reading ‘washing hair and will call back later’ before going offline. No messages have been sent or received since.

Police said they began investigating Monday after Haley was reported missing, before discovering that she was also wanted on a warrant for grand larceny, dated December 10.

Investigators say there have been several reported sightings of Haley, but nothing of hers has yet been found. 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk