PORTERDALE, Ga. — The Federal Bureau of Investigation and several other agencies are currently searching a Newton County property relating to the disappearance of a 19-year-old woman.

In February 2016, Morgan Bauer vanished two weeks after she moved to Atlanta from South Dakota. Before she vanished, Bauer was last seen near a park in Porterdale.

Police said Thursday afternoon that they have uncovered “items of evidentiary value” at a property on South Broad Street.

Our partners at Channel 2 were at the scene Thursday where there were several tents set up in a wooded area near a large home.

Police said a new search warrant was issued based on new details that recently came to light.

Police released video of FBI agents slowly combing the property in grid formation.

Investigators said the last contact friends and family had with Bauer was on Feb. 25, 2016.

In an exclusive interview with our partners at Channel 2 Action News in 2017, Bauer’s mother, Sherri Sichmeller, said her daughter left their small town in search of a new, independent life. She had $20 to her name and was expecting a tax refund when she flew to Atlanta. Her plans didn’t work out.

“She was planning on staying with somebody that she had talked to on Craigslist,” said Sichmeller, who added the agreement included cleaning house for her roommates until Bauer got a job.

The arrangement lasted all of one night, Sichmeller said. Text message conversations between Bauer and her best friend indicated a falling out of sorts between the roommates.

“From what I understand she’d left her clothes there because she didn’t know what to do,” said Sichmeller. “And then she went to go try to find a place to stay, a hotel, and that’s what brought her to dancing.”

While Atlanta police would not describe the workplace, they confirmed Bauer worked briefly in Hall County in mid-February. A Waffle House employee off Cheshire Bridge Road in Atlanta said she spoke with Morgan, who was a regular customer. The girl, she said, claimed to be a dancer at the Teaser’s Gentleman’s Club across the street.

“You know, like I said, we don’t (often) see Caucasian women over there at that club, and I asked her if she was dancing or bar tending and she said that she was dancing over there,” said Kandice Avery.

The Porterdale Police Department, Atlanta Police Department, Peoria, Illinois Police Department, Newton County Sheriff’s Office and Newton County District Attorney’s Office are all assisting the FBI in the investigation.

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