Brianna Vibert has always had a big heart for family. She had a big heart for the many people in her life who raised her, as well as for her own children who were her whole world.
When Brianna was first adopted into a family in the Binghamton, New York area at the age of three, she had already been through what her family calls a traumatic childhood. After several years with one family, she was later placed with another family, and it was Bobbi Jo Stone who legally adopted her and they settled in Birch Run, Michigan.
By the time she was 24 years old, Brianna had been through a lot in life, but those who knew her best knew her as strong and she always had the love and support of family around her. Recently divorced from the father of her children, she stayed in the Michigan area and worked hard to get to provide a good life for her four children - three sons and one daughter.
So when the young mother vanished in the early morning hours of July 15, 2017, her family knew something was wrong.
“She would never just leave,” Bobbi Jo told Dateline. “I know for a fact if she was alive she would be in contact with someone.”
According to an investigation by the Flint Township Police Department, Brianna was spotted at two gas stations in Flint just hours before she disappeared.
On the night of July 14, Brianna left her house following an argument with her boyfriend. The boyfriend later told police that the argument had stemmed from Brianna being denied a visit from the children, who were with their father, because her home lacked water due to a broken well.
Lisa Morley Hulse, the woman Brianna lived with from the age of 3 to 16, remained in her life throughout the years. Still in the Binghamton area, she told Dateline that she had spoken to Brianna on the phone prior to the argument and said everything seemed normal at the time. They talked about Brianna’s upcoming trip to New York to surprise her sister at her baby’s gender reveal party.
“She was just really happy and excited to come visit us,” Lisa said. “And we couldn’t wait to see her. But we never did. And that’s the last time I talked to her.”
After Brianna left her house that evening, she went to the Marathon gas station on Miller Road in Flint, a place she often went to charge her phone or use the bathroom.
At 1 a.m., Brianna was spotted on the gas station’s security video getting into a red Pontiac Aztek driven by an unidentified man, Lieutenant Brad Wangler with the Flint Township Police Department told Dateline. He said that man has cooperated with the investigation, but has not been publicly named.
The investigation revealed that Brianna asked the man for a ride to a restaurant and that they also stopped by a local adult entertainment club where she had previously worked. Employees at the club told police she left with the same man who had given her a ride there in the red Aztek.
Nearly two hours later, Brianna is spotted one last time at another gas station in Flint. Lieutenant Wangler told Dateline that security video shows she was at the Mobil gas station on South Saginaw Street around 2:45 a.m. Brianna appears to be panicked as she stumbles, holding on to shelves to keep upright, her right arm bleeding. She was last seen in the parking lot of the gas station.
Days later, police found her bag in a ditch near her home and located her cell phone in the red Aztek once they determined its owner, according to Lt. Wangler.
Multiple searches were conducted in the area, but she hasn’t been seen or heard from since that night. In February of 2021, police were alerted by the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office of a possible sighting of Brianna in New York, but the tip was determined to not be credible.
Lieutenant Wangler told Dateline that neither the boyfriend nor the man in the red Aztec have been named suspects in Brianna’s case, but investigators aren’t ruling anyone out at this time. “This is still a missing persons case,” he said. “We need to find Brianna first.”
Lieutenant Wangler added that the lead detective on the case, Det. Lacey Lopez is doing everything she can to locate Brianna and find answers for the family. They are reinterviewing people and following every tip that comes their way.
“Leads have started to dwindle, but we haven’t given up,” he said. “You have to hope that time is on your side and soon enough someone will come forward with the missing piece that will lead to finding Brianna.”
Lisa told Dateline she can still hear her laugh and her voice when Brianna would call and ask for advice.
“She was so funny, just the way she’d tell a story about her day,” Lisa said. “And then she would ask for my advice, my opinion and we’d work through stuff.”
The two families who raised Brianna haven’t always seen eye to eye, but Lisa tells Dateline their goal is the same. To find Brianna.
“The greatest thing about Brianna was her love of family,” Lisa said. “And she has a lot of family to love. And who loves her back.”
Brianna’s four children are older now and still, from time to time, ask about their mother. The three boys live in Michigan with their father and the daughter lives in New York with her father. Brianna’s adoptive mother, Bobbi Jo, as their grandmother, has visitation rights with her granddaughter and said she sees her grandchildren as much as she can.
“I can’t find my daughter – so the best thing for me to do is try my best to fill her role for them, for her babies,” Bobbi Jo said. “They miss her so much. We all do.”
Bobbi Jo describes her daughter as someone who loves the outdoors and hunting and horsebackriding, but took every opportunity to dress up and get her nails done.
“She’s very girly – totally opposite of me,” she said with a laugh. “Always dressed to the nines.”
Brianna’s family members stay in touch with police as they continue to spread the word of her disappearance hoping someone who might have seen her will come forward.
“Some days, it’s really hard to hold on to hope,” Bobbi Jo said. “There are times I’ve lost hope completely, but I haven’t given up. I’ll never give up looking for my daughter.”
Brianna is 5’10” tall and at the time of her disappearance, weighed about 140 lbs. She has red hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a cream-colored top, black capri pants and flip flops. Brianna has a tattoo on her right shoulder that says “family”, as well as a tattoo on both wrists. She has a pierced nose and ears.
Anyone with information about Brianna's case is asked to call the Flint Township Police Department at (810) 600-3250. Her case number is 1739906458.