Mystery after woman, 26, vanishes from airport departure gate instead of boarding plane with family 24 days ago

PUBLISHED: 16:36 EST, 10 October 2012 | UPDATED: 17:57 EST, 10 October 2012

The family of a 26-year-old woman who has not been seen since failing to board a plane with them 24 days ago have launched a frantic search.

Jeanne Rysiewicz was supposed to catch a plane from Fort Worth, Dallas to her home in Crown Point, Indiana on September 16 but never boarded behind her parents and sister.

Surveillance footage in the airport later revealed she had left alone and her cell phone and one of her bags were found outside the terminal.

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Where is she? Jeanne Rysiewicz, left with friends, left a Texas airport alone instead of boarding a flight back to Indiana with her parents in September. She has not been seen since

Questions now remain over why the 'happy, bubbly' waitress, who was not on anti-depressants and has never run away, would vanish and fail to contact her friends or relatives in nearly a month.

Speaking to local news channels, her parents recounted their last moments together in a bid to understand her disappearance.

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'We were ready to board the plane and we looked around and Jeanne was still in line, she was like 2 or 3 people behind us,' her father Edward told CBS DFW.

Barbara Rysiewicz said she was helping another daughter, who needs a wheelchair, to board the plane and noticed Jeanne was trailing far behind.

Mystery: Surveillance footage showed she left the airport alone and her cell was found outside

Missed: Rysiewicz's best friend Karen Schiesser, right, described her friend as 'bubbly and funny'

TIMELINE: THE MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE OF JEANNE

September 13: Jeanne Rysiewicz arrives in Fort Worth, Dallas with her parents and sister for another sister's wedding reception

September 13 - 16: Her father notices she is a 'little quiet' but otherwise normal

September 16: Goes to Dallas Fort Worth Airport with parents and sister to fly back to their home in Crown Point, Indiana

6pm: Her mother, who had seen Jeanne boarding behind her, notes her daughter is not on the plane and leaves to search for her. Alerts authorities

6.01pm: Surveillance footage shows she left this airport alone at this time

6.24pm: Her cell phone is found by security outside the terminal

September 17: One of her bags is also recovered near the building

October 10: Her parents and friends have still not heard from Jeanne, 24 days later

'I looked back, and I’m like "Where is she?",' she told CBS Chicago. 'I saw her way back there, and I said, "Hey, come on, we gotta go" and then I boarded.'

But her daughter did not follow behind.

'We all were on, we're waiting, and they’re calling, and she’s not coming,' her mother said. She then got off the plane to search for her daughter.

'I looked in the bathrooms. I looked everywhere. I looked down the hallways,' she said.

After the realisation Jeanne could not be found, at about 6pm, her parents contacted authorities who found the video showing Jeanne leaving the airport alone at 6.01pm. Her cell phone was found at 6.24pm.

'It looked to our investigators as if Jeanne had taken the two bags that she had and combined some things into one bag and left the roller bag behind,' David Magaña from the Dallas airport said.

'There is no indication of foul play. There is no obvious signs of a crime being committed. It's very puzzling.'

Her father said that Jeanne, who is single, appeared 'a little quiet' during their trip to Dallas for another daughter's wedding, but did not act particularly out of the ordinary.

Fun-loving: The hard-working waitress was not on anti-depressants and had no mental illnesses

Scene: A bag was also found outside Dallas Fort Worth airport, but she is took another with her

Her mother said her daughter was not taking anti-depressants and had no known mental health issues. She described her daughter, who has two jobs, as hard-working and sociable.

Now her family and friends are left with unanswered questions - and a great deal of grief.

'[I miss] everything,' her best friend Karen Schiesser said, 'Probably just her bubbliness. She’s really funny. She’d have rubber chickens in her purse, or something crazy like that. She's just funny.'

Friend Maria Becerra added: 'We love her and we just want her to come home.'

Saturday, October 13, 2012