The whereabouts of Patience Sharrer-Durant of Zanesville remain largely unknown, but the way she disappeared — dropping out of school, closing social media accounts, turning off her cell phone — makes law enforcement believe there was no foul play involved in her sudden disappearance.
In fact, despite a missing persons report filed in January, authorities have said they believe the former Ohio University student is on the run following her apparent involvement with a double homicide in 2012.
“Our thought is she’s not missing, she just doesn’t want to be found,” Zanesville Police Capt. Douglas Merry said. “I have a feeling that her parents know where she is because they didn’t seem too concerned.”
OU officials confirmed that Sharrer-Durant withdrew from the university and were aware of the ongoing investigation.
“The last time Sharrer-Durant was enrolled was in Spring 2013,” said Katie Quaranta, an OU spokeswoman.
There was no campus alert sent out regarding Sharrer-Durant because her disappearance was not threatening to OU or the local Athens area, OU Police Chief Andrew Powers said.
Merry added there have not been any leads in finding Sharrer-Durant, 21, who is believed by the police department to have deleted her social media accounts and disabled or discarded her cell phone before she went missing.
“There’s a reason people don’t want people to contact them,” he said. “She doesn’t want her friends talking to her and calling us saying where she is.”
Sharrer-Durant has reportedly been missing since May 2013, but her parents did not wish to file a missing person’s report, according to police records. Instead, a friend of Sherrer-Durant’s filed the missing persons report Jan. 5.
"This whole case is “pretty unusual,” Merry said, because when someone is missing, “parents get upset. They want to report it. It’s not several months later that a friend comes by.”
Court and police documents obtained by The Post revealed Sharrer-Durant has a warrant out for her arrest for “failure to appear as a material witness” in Guernsey County Court of Common Pleas for the criminal trial of James Whatley Jr., 32, who was convicted for the deaths of Justain Nelson and Christopher Morrison.
According to court records, Sharrer-Durant drove Whatley Jr., of Columbus, and Deondre Crosby, 23, formerly of Zanesville, to the Coventry Estates apartmentcomplex in Cambridge.
The two men collaborated with several people in robbing drugs and money from Nelson and Morrison.
The two broke into Morrison’s Cambridge apartment, where they were accused of searching for drugs and money, according to case testimonies. Nelson was 25 and Morrison was 31 when both died from multiple gunshot wounds.
Whatley was sentenced to life in prison without chance for parole. Sharrer-Durant had no criminal charges against her, according to documents. But Crosby, who has not been convicted, is due back in court May 5 for a five-day jury trial, according to public records.
Records did not indicate if Sharrer-Durant knew about Crosby’s and Whatley’s intent to rob the two men or why she drove away from the scene. It is also unknown if Sharrer-Durant had any involvement in the planning of the robbery.
Police records reported the friend who filed the January report, Kaylee Joseph, told Zanesville Police that Sharrer-Durant “was involved” in the double-homicide and was summoned as a witness to potentially lessen any charges against her.
Joseph told The Post she attended high school with Sharrer-Durant. Joseph also said she used to attend OU’s Zanesville branch campus.
Johnson, 21, declined to comment on Sharrer-Durant’s disappearance.
Guernsey County Prosecutor Daniel Padden said he could not comment on specifics regarding the pending case or Sharrer-Durant’s involvement.
Law enforcement provided assistance to the Zanesville police in the investigation when asked to find witnesses or friends of Sharrer-Durant who might have possible information in locating her.
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