Editor’s Note: This story is part of a series this month spotlighting missing Black women in America.
A childhood friend of a missing Louisiana ride-share driver is hoping for answers as the anniversary of her disappearance nears.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Ella Goodie, 32, told her teenage daughters on March 9 she was giving a man a ride to Houston from Scott, Louisiana, but she never returned. She was last seen driving a 2012 Audi Q5 with Lousiana license plate number, NRN6551.
Scott police said they tracked her vehicle on Interstate 10 heading toward Texas and again 12 hours later coming back to the Lafayette area. But the following day, the vehicle was north of Dallas.
Goodie’s family told police that she was giving Brandon Francisco, 36, a ride to Houston that day, and investigators named him a person of interest. Francisco had been scheduled to appear in court in Alexandria on March 9 for a 2018 shooting and carjacking.
Goodie’s best friend, Felicia Broussard, told NBC’s Dateline that Goodie started working as a Lyft driver in 2022, although she didn’t really want other people in her vehicle.
“She didn’t really want people in her vehicle,” Broussard said. “But I kind of talked her into it.”
Goodie ended up enjoying the job but decided to provide customers rides without using the Lyft app, in an attempt to make additional money.
“She started doing rideshare without the app,” Broussard explained. “I guess she thought without the app she could make more money.”
***MISSING*** The Scott Police Department is requesting the public’s assistance in locating a missing 33-year-old woman from Scott, LA. Ella Quiana Goodie last spoke with family members around noon on March 9, 2022. pic.twitter.com/n9opX6X4BF
— The AWARE Foundation (@aware_the) March 16, 2022
Then, on March 8, a day before she vanished, Goodie told Broussard that she met friends and had been taking them places and enjoying the rides.
In late March 2022, US Marshals found Francisco in St Joseph, Missouri. They arrested him on a warrant from Rapides Parish for an unrelated second-degree murder case, WBRZ reported.
So far, no one has been arrested in connection with Goodie’s disappearance.
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Goodie is described as a Black female who stands 5-feet-3-inches tall and weighs around 168 pounds. She was last seen wearing blue pants and a denim jacket and blue pants.
“I’ll still continue my journey of putting her picture up at every gas station,” Broussard told Dateline. “I believe in God, so I know we’re going to get justice for her.”
Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Goodie or Francisco should contact the Scott Police Department at 337-233-3715.
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[Feature Photo: Police Handout]
Additional reporting by KS Wildmoon
