Where is Ivy Dawn Merck?

NOTE: Ivy Dawn Merck  has been found safe.  Her parents, who were handing out missing person fliers, saw her sitting on the steps of the Miami Police Department.  In a joyful reunuion, her family learned that Ivy had gone missing of her own volition.  She'd driven to south Florida, and lived out of her car for nearly two weeks.  She is home now, and here's wishing my fellow-University of Georgia alum well.


Here’s another poster of another missing girl, this one from Athens, Georgia. Ivy Dawn Merck, 24, caught my attention because I got my master’s degree from the University of Georgia. She also graduated from the university.

Merck left Athens on August 21. She informed her employer at Good Hands Vet Clinic that she planned to go home to Camden, Georgia, and would return on August 30. Merck boarded her dog at the clinic.

She never made it home, and her father called authorities.

On August 23, the clinic received a text from Merck’s phone requesting copies of her dog’s medical records.

Her car, a 2008 dark green Honda CRV, was found hundreds of miles away in front of Marshalls store at 3850 W. Hillsboro Boulevard in Deerfield Beach, Florida. Police say her cell phone pinged off a tower in nearby Boca Raton before it was turned off.

Police are baffled. Did she run away? Did she meet foul play?

Camden County Sheriff’s Deputy William Terrell told reporters that “it's really [hard] trying to understand, trying to get at where she was in that time of her life. This is a very conscientious young lady, a very bright, beautiful person and to disappear like this is very atypical for her as far as we can tell -- this is not her typical behavior to just disappear. That's one of the things that is very worrisome; she's just gone. Since the 23rd nobody we know of has had any contact with her. It's very strange.”

Merck is 5-foot-1 and weighs 115 pounds. She has brown eyes and light brown hair.

Anyone with information about this case is asked call Broward County Sheriff's Detective Chris Blankenship at (954) 321-4268, or you can anonymously report information to Crime Stoppers of Broward County at (954) 493-9477.

Ivy Dawn Merck