In 2007, a tragic and puzzling discovery was made by firefighters in Sykesville, Pennsylvania. After putting out a housefire, they found the deceased body of a baby boy, but there was no sign of his mother, and she hasn’t been seen since.
Joey Lynn Offutt was a 33-year-old mother of three in 2007, living in Sykesville, Pennsylvania. Years prior, Joey briefly studied journalism at Shepherd University in West Virginia but dropped out after getting poor grades. She eventually started taking on several jobs before becoming a mother.
At the time of her disappearance, she had a two-year-old, nine-year-old, and a six-week-old baby boy, Alexis Alfred Brolin, III, named after her on-and-off-again boyfriend, Alexis Brolin. Although Joey was fairly shy and soft-spoken, she had allegedly wanted to become a mother for years and lived happily with her children.
However, everything came crashing down in the early hours of the morning on July 12th, 2007.
Firefighters responded to reports of a burning building and eventually realized it was the home Joey was renting. Joey’s two older children were staying with relatives on the night of the fire, but after it was extinguished, firefighters tragically discovered baby Alexis deceased in a bathtub.
After the fire, Joey was nowhere to be found, and her car wasn’t parked at her house.
After further investigating the fire, it was discovered that it had been caused on purpose using an accelerant. Although baby Alexis’ cause of death was unknown, it was determined that he had died before the fire began.
Authorities immediately warned the public to keep an eye out for Joey, as the circumstances of the fire and her disappearance were a big mystery. People were unsure if she had started the fire or if she was abducted or killed by someone who later set her house on fire.
On July 16th, police discovered Joey’s car, a red 1994 Saturn coupe, parked outside an apartment she used to live in with baby Alexis’ father for a few years before she moved. There was no sign of Joey anywhere near the car.
Interestingly, the car was parked quite pristinely, making Joey’s family believe she didn’t drive it there, as they claimed she wasn’t a great driver and hardly parked properly. Alexis Brolin told police he had no idea how the car ended up outside their old apartment, and he’s been cooperating with them since Joey’s disappearance.
Joey was officially last seen on July 5th, 2007, and after further investigation, police began to theorize that Joey had gone missing a day before the house fire. After Christmas that year, skeletal remains were found in Somerset, Pennsylvania, and their physical description matched that of Joey’s. However, they turned out not to be hers.
As time passed, police opened up a phone line for people to call in with tips on Joey’s disappearance, but they hardly received anything that actually led to solid evidence in her case. Her family began to acknowledge that she had most likely died but have still pleaded with the public to step forward with any bit of information they may have.
It’s been almost 20 years since baby Alexis tragically passed and Joey vanished, and there are still no answers about what happened to her. Investigators are still working on her case, and no suspects have been ruled out.
At the time of Joey’s disappearance, she was five foot three, weighed 110 pounds, and had reddish-brown hair and brown eyes. She also sometimes wore eyeglasses and would have been 49-years-old today.
If you have any information regarding her case, you are urged to contact the Pennsylvania State Police at (814) 371-4652.
