Renewed push to find missing Elkhart woman, Brandy Martinez, after four months of silence

ELKHART, Ind. -- There's a renewed push to find a missing Elkhart woman who vanished four months ago.

Her name is Brandy Martinez, she's 33-years-old, and her family is worried sick about what may have happened to her.

"She had talked to her best friend that day, September 25th, and that was it. The phone hung up and no one's ever heard from her again," says Brandy's younger sister, Miranda Gayheart.

More than four months of silence would follow the abrupt end to that phone call.

Brandy's younger sister, Miranda Gayheart, says in the following weeks she started searching for clues on her own.

That led her to the now-abandoned Frank's Wallpaper off Harrison Street, reportedly Brandy's last known location.

"I went there and I was yelling out her name to see if she would say anything, like maybe if she was inside there and she couldn't get out, I just started yelling for her and yelling my name, yelling her name, so maybe if she had heard, I could just heat maybe a sound of her voice," Gayheart recalls.

However, it turned into a dead-end.

Since then, after hoping Brandy might reach out during the holidays, there's only been one close call.

"There was someone that said that they saw her at one of the warming centers, but then when I talked to the people there, I think it was somebody that looked alike," Gayheart explains. "Because there was someone that looked very similar to her that I came across."

Her fear is that it wasn't Brandy's choice to go off the grid.

She's pleading for any person or people responsible to give it up.

"You could call the police, and you could just say 'Hey, Brandy's right at this location,' and just hang up. You don't have to say your name, you don't have to say where you're at, or who you're associated with, or what you've been doing," Gayheart pleads. "I don't care what anyone's been doing, I don't want anyone to get in trouble. And that's your choice if you want to do that but just call and say where she's at and hang up and they won't bother you. And I don't know how anybody could do this. If somebody's doing this to her, how could you live with yourself?"

For now, Gayheart will continue to pass out flyers and learn anything she can about her sister's last known movements.

"It just doesn't add up, you know," Gayheart says.

The Elkhart Police Department gave an update on the case, saying in part:

"On Nov. 11, 2025, the Elkhart Police Department originally asked for the public’s and the media’s help in locating missing person Brandy Martinez

Though we received some tips at that time, the detective handling this investigation believes there are more people in the community that might have information about Brandy’s case that haven’t yet come forward."

They encourage anyone that might have any information that can help locate Brandy to either call the detective directly at 574-327-4480, e-mail the Elkhart Police, or send an anonymous tip through the Police Department's website. Police Department | City of Elkhart.