Crime & Safety

Bethany Decker Still Missing After 2 Years

The Ashburn mother's case recently was featured on Investigation Discovery's 'Disappeared.'

It's been two years since Bethany Ann Decker disappeared, leaving a young child and a heartbroken mother desperate for her return.

"Our family has an empty place that was filled with Bethany's laughter," said Kim Nelson, Bethany's mother.

Decker was last seen at her Ashburn apartment on Orchard Grass Terrace Jan. 29, 2011. Her car was found in that apartment's parking lot.

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She was due to give birth to her second child in August 2011.

Nelson jumped into action after her daughter went missing, creating a Facebook fan page and group with the help of those searching for the man who killed Morgan Harrington and raped a Fairfax City woman. She worked with producers of Disappeared on the Investigation Discovery channel to get Decker's name in the forefront of viewers' minds. Click here to see a clip from the ID program.

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Now Nelson's working on a Hope Ribbon for Bethany project to keep the public's attention. 

"Her 3-year-old son will ask 'Where's Mommy' and all I can say is that I don't know but God is with her," Nelson said. "We are praying that someone has information on the details of her disappearance and will have the courage to come forward."

Details About the Case:

  • Decker has a 3-year-old son. She was expected to her deliver her second child in August 2011. 
  • She was last seen Jan. 29, 2011.
  • Decker’s family reported her missing on Feb. 19, 2011.
  • She worked at Carrabba’s Italian Grill in Centreville
  • She lived in an apartment on Orchard Grass Terrace, where her car was found.
  • It is known that Decker did not leave the country.
  • There has been no activity on her bank accounts, cell phones or e-mail.
  • She was registered as a student at George Mason University, but has not attended any classes since this incident was reported.
  • Decker had about three classes left after GMU's Spring 2011 semester to graduate. She graduated from Stafford High School with more than a 4.0 GPA. Nelson said her daughter was looking forward to completing her degree in Global and Environmental Change.

Investigators released a timeline that places Decker in Columbia, MD, on Jan. 29 with family members, including her grandmother and her husband, Emile Decker. Decker’s mother, Kimberly Nelson, said she communicated with the gathering by speakerphone.

“That was the last time I had spoken with her,” Nelson said during a press conference last year.

Later in the evening on Jan. 29, Decker returned to her apartment in Ashburn, where her boyfriend, Ronald Roldan, told investigators he saw her. Capt. Kenneth A. Pratt, an investigator with the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office, described the last time she was seen as “arriving home and going to her apartment.”

On Feb. 2, Emile Decker departed for a tour duty in Afghanistan. Bethany Decker did not see him off. According to the Disappeared show, the relationship was strained.

Over the course of the next three weeks, family members did not report Decker missing, in part, they said, because she is a 21-year-old adult leading her own life, as well as a college student in another town. However, Bethany's grandparents became concerned and traveled to her apartment Feb. 19, 2011, where they discovered her car, but Bethany was nowhere to be found.

Join the Bethany Decker Facebook page and group.

Anyone with information should call Loudoun County Crime Solvers at 703-777-1919.

Related Stories:

'Disappeared' to Air Show on Missing Mother Bethany Decker

Missing Ashburn Mother's Family Still Searching

Ashburn Woman Missing Since Jan. 29


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