A woman who has helped to feed the hungry in Longview-Kelso for nearly a decade is now asking the community for assistance to find for her adult daughter, who has been missing for roughly three months.
The last sightings of Hailey E. Athay, 33, occurred around Thanksgiving, said her mother Nicole Brooks.
Brooks has been part of the Cowlitz County Belly Brigade — which offers food, holiday toys and more to locals in need — since its inception in 2016, and is using its online presence to draw attention to the case.
The brigade is a project of Cascadia Cares, a 501©(3) that provides food, clothing, furniture, and safe shelter for those in need.
“Hailey is personal for me and many of us,” said Belly Brigade founder Amie-Jo Brassfield. “I’ve known her since she was a teen, and her mom and I have been friends and have shared in the Belly Brigade for years.”
The Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office in January launched a missing person investigation regarding the whereabouts of Athay, a white woman, 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighing 135 pounds, with brown hair and green eyes.
Troy Brightbill, chief criminal deputy of the Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office, told The Daily News investigators have interviewed “all identified persons of interest” on this case. However, the office does not release the names of persons of interest unless those people are charged with a crime. He said no charges have been brought in this case.
Brooks suspects foul play.
She said people have told her that her daughter was going mushroom hunting with a friend in the Rose Valley area before she disappeared.
However Athay, who struggles with addiction and mental health issues, has fallen off her loved ones’ radars before, including a year ago, her mother added. Eventually Brooks was able to reach Athay on social media during that time.
But this disappearance is different, she added. Brooks said people have told her they saw Athay at a South Kelso store and the Lexington Chevron around Thanksgiving, but no one has been able to reach her since.
Brassfield said Athay’s “lack of contact with anyone is chilling.” She believes something bad has happened to her.
Shasta Ives, 30, from Longview, is a friend of Athay. Ives, who is not part of the Belly Brigade, told The Daily News she and others have searched for her missing friend in Rose Valley, Toutle and along Ocean Beach Highway.
Athay’s missing person’s poster says she could be in Castle Rock, Vancouver or as far as Olympia.
Brooks said, “even people in positions of authority recognized her value and kindness,” explaining that Athay’s former probation officers also joined the search.
Athay was born in Yakima, but went to school in Longview, including stints at Monticello Middle School and R.A. Long High School.
Her mother is asking people to speak up about her daughter’s whereabouts.
“People know what happened to her,” said Brooks, who added that her family “really needs people to come forward.”
How to help
The Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office is asking the public to contact Detective James Hanberry at 360-577-3092 regarding case A25-247 with any information about Hailey Athay’s whereabouts.
