SYKESVILLE, Pa. (EYT) – More than a decade has passed, but authorities are no closer to discovering what happened to Sykesville resident Joey Lynn Offett or how her infant son ended up dead prior to a blaze in her home.
According to WJAC’s coverage in 2016, Offett lived in Sykesville for six months before the fire department was called to her house. The morning of July 12, 2007, firefighters responded to the blaze, extinguishing the fire and finding the remains of Offett’s six-week-old son in the rubble. WJAC said that the child died before the blaze.
The mystery, however, deepened as no evidence of Offett was found in the home. Her car, a red Saturn with Virginia plates, was later found abandoned in State College. On a website created by Offett’s family, www.findjoey.org, family members presented a theory: “As her family, we know Joey would not willingly leave her children, and we fear someone killed her and then tried to destroy evidence by burning the house down.”
Offett had two older children, but of those children did not stay with her at the time of the disappearance or the death of the infant. They lived with family, and Offett was declared legally dead in June 2016, according to coverage in the Brookville Jeffersonian Democrat. Judge John Foradora declared her dead as of July 12, 2007, as that was the last time she was seen alive. The request was made by Offett’s mother, Sherry Hallett.
The website created by her family has not been updated since 2014. However, “The Trail Went Cold” podcast covered the disappearance in March of this year, establishing a timeline of events leading up to the disappearance. Prior to that podcast, Investigation Discovery’s “Disappeared” program covered Offett in 2012 and “America’s Most Wanted” covered her in 2008.
“The Trail Went Cold” provides information that is not in news coverage at the time or later. Robin Warder, the host of “The Trail Went Cold,” describes himself on his website as “an aspiring screenwriter who also loves to write about unsolved mysteries and true crime.” In his podcast and on a Reddit post, Warder claims that there is evidence of health issues for Offett. Warder said that Hallett, talked to a psychologist who said that Offett had the mind of a 14-year-old. Warder also claimed that Offett was meeting men online, some of whom wanted her to pose as a model or do pornography. In the timeline Warder posts in his podcast, Offett had an argument with her “on-again, off-again boyfriend” Alexis Brolin, Jr., the father of the six-week-old child. Warder said that, by the time of the “Disappeared” episode, police had interviewed Brolin and did not charge him as there was no evidence that he was involved.
The family established a phone number, 1-877-440-JOEY (1-877-440-5639), for anyone with tips. Information can also be submitted by calling the Pennsylvania State Police. A $25,000.00 reward is being offered.
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