Grace McAlister
Reporter1@riverbendnews.org
On Wednesday, Feb. 15, 16-year-old O'Brien resident Julie “JuJu” Morgan Lovell was reported missing. JuJu was last seen on Tuesday, Feb. 14, at her uncle's home in O'Brien. Her mother, Samantha Lovell, believes her daughter may have run away, as she took clothes and various personal items with her.
Samantha reports that it was a normal day when her daughter went missing. JuJu's uncle took her to buy a laptop for school and then took her out to eat. He then brought her home and she did her homework as usual. Samantha adds the only thing that seemed off the night of JuJu’s disappearance was she had stated she and her boyfriend had broken up. However, Samantha notes JuJu did not seem upset about this, which was out of character. “My daughter is dramatic, but acted as if nothing was wrong,” Samantha said. “We believe she was lying about that.” JuJu was last seen at 11 p.m. that night. When her family woke up at 6 a.m. the next morning, she was nowhere to be found.
JuJu does not have a history of running away. Samantha adds that JuJu’s ex-boyfriend, who resides in Columbia County, was traveling out-of-state the night of her disappearance. On the night of her disappearance, JuJu posted a video on TikTok, in which she was seen wearing a black and red hoodie.
“My beautiful daughter is a loving young woman. She's smart and full of life. She isn't perfect by any means, but none of us are. Her family loves her and this is breaking our hearts. All we want is our Juju home,” Samantha said. “Our lives have been turned upside down, and someone knows something, yet they are not speaking up. My daughter can't vanish into thin air like this. I'm making a mother's plea: please have a heart and help me bring my baby home.”
JuJu is caucasian with brown hair and green eyes. She stands at 4'11” and weighs 105 pounds.
Anyone with information regarding JuJu’s whereabouts should contact the Suwannee County Sheriff’s Office at (386) 362-2222 or Suwannee County Crime Stoppers at (386) 208-8477.