“We pulled the home computer and found nothing on the computer as to where she would have contacted anyone to get her,” said Anderson Police Department Detective David Callahan, who has been working on the case. “We contacted the cab companies; they have no record of being out there. Same with the bus company, Greyhound.”

It wasn’t the first time Sabrena had left home on her own.

First flight

In January, Sabrena made her first escape attempt.

“She called a cab, went to the bus station and got on a bus to Nashville, Tenn.,” Callahan said. “She hooked up with a guy named William Baggett Jr., who she met on the Internet.”

Sabrena left a note on a dry-erase board, telling her parents she would use her cell phone to call the following day. In a panic, they called first. Sabrena admitted where she was and, when they came down to talk, she agreed to return home with her parents.

They later discovered that Sabrena gave Baggett, who Thomas said was married and unemployed, hundreds of dollars for an apartment and even bought him a computer. Baggett filed a complaint with the Nashville Police Department, claiming Thomas forcibly took Sabrena away, but no further action was taken.

It was clear to the Pattats that, although Sabrena was a grown woman, she could not care for herself properly. They sought legal intervention to give them control of her affairs.

Upon returning to Anderson, the Pattats took their daughter into Madison County Circuit Court. Judge Fredrick Spencer ordered Sabrena to spend four days at the Anderson Center for Mental Health, and the family doctor prescribed an antidepressant and an appetite enhancer.

The Pattats were granted temporary guardianship of Sabrena for 30 days and planned to apply for permanent guardianship. A physician entered testimony in the order, and Spencer wrote “... that the Appointment of Permanent Guardians for Sabrena R. Pattat is necessary and proper due to Sabrena R. Pattat’s incompetence regarding her physical, mental and financial affairs.”

It appears Sabrena shared the terms of the order with her chat group. At the conclusion of the 30 days, the Pattats say, a man named Charles Hager from Vermontville, Mich., appeared at their restaurant.

“He asked for Sabrena,” Thomas Pattat said. “Well, she was standing right there, and he didn’t recognize her. She didn’t recognize him, either, but when he said his name she knew who he was. He turned to her and said, ‘Would you like to leave?’ and she said ‘Yes.’”

Thomas threatened to call the police, and Hager left without Sabrena.

But the incident raised even more questions. Who was this man? What was his connection to Sabrena? And what had compelled him to travel all the way to Indiana?

Life of fantasy