North Dakota mom who went missing after party may be involved in love triangle, took drugs, claims brother
NELSON COUNTY, NORTH DAKOTA: A 48-year-old mother who disappeared after leaving from a party at a friend's house in rural Petersburg on October 4, is said to have been involved in a love triangle and may have been involved with drugs, according to authorities.
Anne Fitzsimonds was last seen around 1.30 am on the day she disappeared and authorities say there are conflicting reports about why she left. The missing woman's brother said she had been having an affair with a man identified only as 'Brad' who was the one who drove her truck home on the night of the party. Family members of Fitzsimonds have also shared pictures of the vehicle which was being used by Brad, with the hope that the public will be able to provide some information about the boyfriend's whereabouts.
Since the truck was registered in a friend's name, the police had initially been unable to track it down. Fitzsimonds' truck was impounded after the owner of the farmstead, where the party was held, handed it over. "Yesterday the pickup that Anne bought from Connie that was titled as an 'OR' with both their names was impounded by the police," Fitzsimonds' brother George Niece, wrote on Facebook on October 16. "That's more than a week after she disappeared and both Brad, her fling, and Connie have been using it over the last week. This truck was back at the house Anne was last seen at, although apparently in Edinburg the night she disappeared."
According to the sheriff's office, although the missing mother had a habit of sometimes leaving for a few weeks, she always contacted somebody to say where she is. Niece also admitted that his sister has struggled with drugs in the past. It was possible she was using drugs and drinking when she left the party on the day of her disappearance. She was also apparently not appropriately dressed for the 29-degrees temperature, as she was wearing a leather jacket, jeans and cowboy boots. The police believe she may have tried to walk the 26 miles home in Inkster. The sheriff's department carried out a search on the farmstead using cadaver dogs but they were not able to pick up a scent. The dogs were also unsuccessful in trying to pick up the scent of the direction she may have walked that night.
However, her brother was not convinced that his sister was trying to get back home. "There was no reason for her to leave. Why she left nobody seems to be able to tell us," said Niece. "Scary, so scary. On one hand you want to find her, but on the other hand you don't want to find her; you just want her home." Niece has left his job to search for his sister and is offering a $5,000 reward for any tip that helps find her.
The thought of a possible love triangle emerged from the fact that investigators discovered that the missing woman had several cellphones, including a burner phone, as well as her recent affair on her husband. "In this case there was a love triangle, I think, and I think there is drugs; that's going to be money. It doesn't look good," added Niece. But he is convinced that he will be able to locate her soon. "I'm going to find her — that I know. I am going to find her, whether it's one day, or 100 days or a thousand days, or the last day I breathe, I just don't know. It's super scary. Anne, where are you?" Niece said. He has also set up a GoFundMe for her son and daughter, 14-year-old Valerie and 8-year-old John.
According to the sheriff's department, there have been two potential sightings of Fitzsimonds since her disappearance. One witness spotted her at a gas station in the town of Michigan on Highway 2 on the afternoon she disappeared and another was two days later south of Cando.
She is described as 5'2' and 155 pounds with red hair and brown eyes. Anyone with information is asked to contact Nelson County Sheriff's Department at 701-247-2474.