Her family hasn't seen her since Nov. 28
By TIM GULLA Ledger Staff Writer tim@gaffneyledger.com

Missing person posters for Verlisha Littlejohn, 25, of Gaffney, featuring this photograph of the missing woman, have been placed all around town by her worried family. They haven't heard from her since Nov. 28. They say her disappearance is completely out of character.

To Verlisha Littlejohn's family, uncertainty is worse than knowing the truth.

They haven't seen Littlejohn since Nov. 28 and the last spoken words anyone heard from her were cause for concern. There was distress in her voice during a cell phone conversation with her mother that abruptly ended.

A tight-knit family that spends holidays and other festive occasions together, Littlejohn's family saw her 25th birthday on Dec. 4 pass without any word. Extremely close to her little nephew, not a day went by that she didn't call to speak with him until recently.

Those facts alone, said Fairline Fair, Littlejohn's aunt, are reason enough for worry.

Investigators from the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office reportedly searched Littlejohn's home on Wednesday. Her family was told nothing seemed out of place.

Littlejohn's family has been hitting the streets and knocking on doors for the past few weeks, trying to come up with answers on their own. They've placed missing person posters all around Gaffney, hoping someone with information will come forward.

Littlejohn has never disappeared before like this, her aunt said.

"Usually, if Verlisha was going to go somewhere and stay out all night, she'd call her mom, her Aunt Pearl or me," Fairline said.

While they've been unable to learn anything concrete, Fairline said the family learned from Sprint the last cell phone conversation Littlejohn had with her mother was transmitted from a cell phone tower in Greenville.

The family also has received several calls that Littlejohn's vehicle, a dark green 1985 Ford Taurus, has been seen on area roadways. But Littlejohn was not the one behind the wheel of the car, Fairline relayed.

Described as hard worker by her family, Littlejohn was employed as a care worker at Charles Lea Center in Spartanburg, working with mentally or physically handicapped people.

"Many of our staff are very concerned for her," said David Ray Kiely, executive director of the Charles Lea Center.

Fairline said Littlejohn's mother is coping the best she can. "It's very rough on her at night because Verlisha would always call."

But the hardest part for all the family remains the uncertainty, she said, "not being able to sleep, worrying about where she is, or if she's laying out there somewhere, cold or hurt or in a hospital not knowing who she is."

The Cherokee County Sheriff's Office is asking anyone with information to call 864-489-4722.