Manhunt underway for ‘person of interest’ in Indiana lawyer’s disappearance after cross-country trip

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The sole “person of interest” in a nearly two-year-old missing person case has vanished.

Xavier Breland, the estranged husband of Ciera Breland, who disappeared in February 2022, never showed up to court in Hamilton County, Indiana, on an unrelated gun charge at the end of December.

The presiding judge issued a re-arrest warrant and canceled the scheduled Jan. 8 jury trial, as law enforcement tracks down his whereabouts, according to the court docket.

Breland’s lawyer didn’t immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

MISSING LAWYER CIERA BRELAND’S MOM BELIEVES HER DAUGHTER WAS KILLED

Xavier Breland, 37, was being held in Coweta County Jail in Georgia on unrelated charges of aggravated stalking, violating an order of protection issued for domestic violence and making harassing phone calls, according to court records. (Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office)

Before Breland was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon stemming from an incident on Feb. 28, 2022. 

That was two days after he reported his wife, Ciera Breland, missing from their Carmel, Indiana, home. 

CIERA BRELAND DISAPPEARANCE: HUSBAND’S LAWYER SAYS CASE WILL STALL IF COPS FOCUS ON HIM

Ciera hasn’t been seen since 7:17 p.m. on Feb. 24, 2022, when a surveillance camera recorded her outside her mother-in-law’s home in Johns Creek, Georgia, for a delivery.

At that point, Ciera, her husband Xavier, their 5-month-old son and her dog had been in Georgia for more than a week after their mid-February 2022 trip to Ciera’s parents’ home in the Peach State. 

Ciera Breland smiling for a photo against another person’s shoulder. She was last seen leaving her mother-in-law’s house with her husband and son in February 2022 at Johns Creek, Georgia. She has since disappeared without any clues or evidence. (Courtesy: Ciera Breland’s Family)

Xavier returned to Indiana, but there’s no evidence Ciera ever came back with him, the FBI said, and he hasn’t been charged in connection with her disappearance, and her body still hasn’t been found.

Ciera’s mom, Kelly Locklair, told Fox News Digital during an interview in March that her daughter was “scared” of Xavier, who fended off stalking and weapons charges in separate criminal cases.

“Ciera had no intention of returning to Indiana,” Locklair said. “She told me, ‘However I have to leave, I’m leaving… My furniture can rot. I’m never going back.’ That’s how desperate she was to get out.”

Now the one person who the police named in the last two years is missing, and it appears law enforcement doesn’t know where he is.

Ciera Breland holding her dog while taking a selfie. (Courtesy: Ciera Breland’s Family)

Graphic of a timeline outlining Ciera Breland’s disappearance. (Courtesy: The Missing Alliance)

Xavier’s jury trial for the weapons charge has been rescheduled three times since June 12, 2023, according to the court docket. 

Calls for the warrant to the Hamitlon County Sheriff’s Office were referred to the Carmel Police Department, which took the original missing person report.

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Carmel police didn’t immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

Ciera’s mom said in the previous interview that she and her husband “know” their daughter is dead after police called to say Ciera was missing, but Ciera’s baby was safe.

“She’s definitely gone,” Locklair said. “That was the first thing my husband said when police called after (Xavier) reported her missing, and the officer said she had walked away without bringing the baby. She wouldn’t even take a shower and let anybody else watch the baby.”

A missing person flier for Ciera Breland. (Courtesy: The Missing Alliance)

Locklair believes her daughter’s body could be anywhere in Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky or Indiana. 

There’s a $10,000 reward for information about the case. 

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But potential criminal charges against Xavier in Ciera’s disappearance likely won’t move on without more substantial evidence or Ciera’s body. 

Xavier’s lawyer, Bryan Howard, denied his client did anything wrong in a March interview with Fox News Digital, and said the case will never make progress if “police continue to focus” on his client. 

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Anyone with details about the case is asked to call the Johns Creek Police Department at 678-372-8046, the Carmel Police Department at 317-571-2580, Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at 317-262-TIPS (8477), the Georgia Bureau of Investigation tip line at 1-800-597-TIPS (8477) or the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (225-5324).

Chris Eberhart is a crime and US news reporter for Fox News Digital. Email tips to chris.eberhart@fox.com or on Twitter @ChrisEberhart48.