AUSTIN (KXAN) — A woman who had been reported missing last week was found safe and the man she was last seen with is in custody after search efforts spanned across multiple states over several days, according to authorities.
Brenna Swindell, 29, was previously reported missing after last being seen on Aug. 22 at a bar with her ex-boyfriend, Morgan Guidry.
Guidry was arrested on a Travis County Sheriff’s Office warrant in Klamath Falls, Oregon, according to Klamath County jail records. That area is nearly 2,000 miles from where the two were last seen in Spicewood at Poodies Hilltop Roadhouse, a bar located in the 22300 block of State Highway 71, according to the Austin Police Department.
The Travis County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday morning Swindell had been found safe overnight.
“This is the news we were desperately hoping and praying for,” Travis County Sheriff Sally Hernandez said. “I’m relieved that Brenna has been found and is safe. I’m so grateful to everyone who contributed their efforts to finding her, across the Travis County area and outside the state of Texas.”
TCSO said in a press release Tuesday that officers with the Klamath Falls, Oregon Police Department encountered Swindell’s vehicle and stopped it around 1 a.m. Pacific Time.
Swindell and Guidry were both in the vehicle at the time, and Guidry was arrested on the TCSO warrant. He is currently in custody, according to the sheriff’s office.
Neither Swindell nor Guidry were seen for several days, and both of their phones had been turned off since Aug. 23. Police said Swindell wasn’t in contact with any of her family or friends, which added concern about her safety, police said.
Police said she could’ve been traveling in a white 2022 Kia Carnival with the Texas license plate VFS 7528. That vehicle was reported on Monday to have last been seen in Colorado Springs, Colorado, or Denver.
Travis County court documents obtained by KXAN Monday revealed Guidry has been charged with Assault with Injury Family Violence Strangulation, a third-degree felony.
The arrest warrant — signed on Friday and filed Monday — details an alleged incident that happened on July 7.
The victim told the Travis County Sheriff’s Office she’d been choked by her boyfriend, identified in documents as Guidry. The victim claimed her boyfriend had choked her multiple times in addition to other bodily injuries she allegedly sustained from him, per the affidavit.
According to TCSO, deputies responded to the July 7 incident, which the sheriff’s office said was a “family disturbance call involving Brenna Swindell and Morgan Guidry.”
The sheriff’s office said Swindell on Aug. 20 told the detective working the case that she was ready to press charges against Guidry, then the detective filed the warrant.
TCSO on Aug. 24 conducted a welfare check at Swindell’s apartment at her parents’ request and did not locate her or her vehicle. The next day, Greg Swindell, Brenna’s father, went to APD and reported Brenna missing, according to TCSO.
Brenna was entered into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons (NamUs) database, and APD’s Missing Persons and Tactical Intelligence Units began investigating until the case was handed over to TCSO because of the location of the apartment and charges TCSO had already filed, according to the sheriff’s office.
“Anytime a loved one goes missing, family members may reach out to law enforcement agencies for help. I am grateful that APD had involvement investigating this case and that Ms. Brenna Swindell was found safe,” Interim Police Chief Robin Henderson said.
