Pregnant 49-Year-Old Vanishes on Delivery Date

A pregnant 49-year-old North Carolina woman was so excited about her upcoming birth by cesarean section that she reportedly sang around the house—and then vanished shortly before her scheduled procedure. Carrie Bradshaw-Crowther had spent the weekend at her Salisbury home with her daughter, Lauren Lusk, preparing for the birth, reports NBC News. Lusk says she left the house Tuesday morning to gas up before the two departed for the hospital in Charlotte, some 40 miles away. Lusk returned "about 7 or 8 minutes" later to find her pregnant mom was gone, as was Lusk's 2001 Mazda MPV van and Bradshaw-Crowther's wallet and phone. "The lights in the house were off, the door was unlocked," says 26-year-old Lusk, who describes her mom as nervous but happy.

Now six days have passed, and the Salisbury Post confirms by way of police she's still missing. Police say Bradshaw-Crowther was spotted Wednesday at a gas station in Statesville, roughly 25 miles away, CBS News reports; the surveillance footage showed her in a blue raincoat, and police say she was also seen at a nearby hotel. Meanwhile, Bradshaw-Crowther's health may be at stake: "She cannot give natural birth, and that's why our family is so worried," Lusk says. "If she does go into labor, she won't make it." The Post reports police have identified two possible destinations: They suspect Bradshaw-Crowther could have set off for Kansas, where Lusk lives, or toward Linville Gorge, a wilderness area in the western portion of her own state. WRAL notes the baby's father hasn't had contact with Bradshaw-Crowther since she went missing. (More pregnancy stories.)