A photo taken as a school fundraiser during the school year with Hunter Jones, Natasha Fugate Jones, and Conner Jones.
Ola Chaffins (Grigsby) and Ed Grigsby speak with the Times about the disappearance of their granddaughter. (Photo by Sharon K. Hall)
Reward for information increased to $2,000
By SHARON K. HALL
Police and volunteers continue to search for a Knott County woman who went missing May 7. Her family still hopes she will return. However, they fear for her safety.
Natasha Fugate Jones resides at 153 Singleton Branch with her grandmother Ola Chaffins, Ola’s husband Ed Grigsby, and Jones’ two sons, Conner, 8, and Hunter, 11. Chaffins said May 7 started out like any ordinary day. She had a doctor’s appointment that morning in Hazard and wasn’t there very long.
“When I returned home Natasha was gone,” recalled Chaffins. “That was nothing unusual for her to go with a friend to the doctor or hit the woods or go for a walk. It started getting dark. I told the boys to get ready for bed. When I went to check on them I saw Hunter reading a note that his mom wrote to the boys. She told them she would be gone for two to three days and to not be sad. She would be back. I didn’t want to show the boys I was worried. I asked Hunter if he had heard from her. He said no.”
Chaffins said her granddaughter’s note also said she was looking for a place where the three of them could be together.
The children had been staying with their grandmother.
The grandmother said that Jones was supposed to be in a rehab center in Harlan and she walked off. “Naturally she was not supposed to be here, but I was not going to put her out in the cold. She stayed in Lothair for two to three years but she stayed in contact with her boys. She loves her boys. Somebody always knew where she was. She has never been gone like this and no one knows where she is.”
Social media has not been good for the children, said Chaffins. “In a way Facebook is good, but not always. Poor Hunter read all the things on Facebook and he got fed up and responded, telling others, ‘Don’t say my mom is dead.’ ”
It has been six weeks since Jones has last been seen, but it wasn’t reported to police until June 7. Kentucky State Police Post 13 opened an investigation and missing person’s case.
Friends and neighbors have been great support for the family.
Chaffins stated, “Our neighbors have been looking up there when they heard about it. Rescue and police are searching every day. They had dogs on the Hall Hylton strip job Saturday.”
Ed Grigsby, Chaffins’ husband, said they keep looking on an old stripped out mine site above their house. Grigsby noted different roads lead to the large area. The area can be entered from where they live on Clear Creek and Lotts Creek, Lower Mill Creek, and even Irishman Creek. The couple believe that is the last place someone has said they had seen her.
Chaffins pleads to the public, “We want her brought home. We are looking for her any way in the world. We want to know where she is. Her boys love her and want her home. I want her home. Everybody wants her home.”
Chaffins said they have a $2,000 cash reward for information that leads to Natasha Louise Fugate Jones. If anyone has any information contact Chaffins at 251-2939 or 223-3881, or the Kentucky State Police in Hazard at 435-6069.
Jones is described as 5 feet nine inches, 130 lbs., green eyes and Caucasian. She has an outline of a butterfly on her back and a tattoo of flowers on a vine on her lower back.
Find the Troublesome Creek Times at local stores in Knott and surrounding counties or subscribe to the Times at (606)-785-5134