Carmichael Woman Seeks Answers in Daughter's Disappearance

Kristi Merrill left the Carmichael home of her mother Bryn Barton on March 23 and said she would be back by 11 p.m.

Barton, a legal assistant for the California Department of Justice, is still waiting for her return, even as the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office says the case is closed.

A was posted for Merrill, 25, on the DOJ website but the page no longer exists. Sheriff's deputies also consider the case closed as they say they made contact with Merrill over the phone.

But Barton said she's not comfortable with their identification over the phone and believes her daughter is not taking medication for depression and may be trafficked for sex.

"I don't understand why they would identify someone over the phone without visiting them in person; anybody could have been on the line," said Barton, who is exploring her options to file a complaint against law enforcement officials. "She may be an adult but she has been diagnosed as having mental health issues."

A spokesman for the Sheriff's Department said they have exhausted all resources.

"She is an adult and can leave home without telling anyone," Dep. Jason Ramos said. "I can't disclose the circumstances of why we're not pursuing case; she's entitled to privacy rights and there's no suspicion of foul play."

"We were able to definitively establish that it was, in fact, Kristy Merrill that we had phone contact with," Ramos wrote in an emailed statement.

Barton has been granted temporary guardianship of her grandaughter Adisyn, 18 months.

"I'm a mother with a year and a half-old granddaughter who is waiting to hear when her mother will be home," she said. "If I didn't have amazing people in Carmichael, I don't know what I'd do."

Ramos said he believes the Sheriff's Department has done its due diligence.

"If Kristy did have mental health issues, that could conceivably make her fit the 'at-risk' category of missing persons, in which case we would certainly take certain investigative steps that we don’t necessarily do in other cases," Ramos wrote via email.

"The protocol in our Operations Order for missing persons allows for someone to be categorized at-risk if they are mentally impaired or developmentally disabled," Ramos continued. "However, the mental capacity of the person must be considered when assessing the risk, so each instance is considered on a case-by-case basis."

Barton said her daughter had been depressed in recent years, having lost her high school boyfriend who was killed while serving in the military in Iraq and a friend to suicide.

"She gave no indication she wasn't coming back," Barton said. "She was to attend the Paul Mitchell School."

"My saving grace has been the people in Carmichael," she continued. "I'm blessed."