Ciera Breland, 31, has always been a fighter. Her mother, Kelly Locklair, told Dateline that Ciera struggled with some health issues when she was younger. “She overcame and prevailed,” Kelly said. “She was happy. She was energetic. She was loving. She was extremely motivated in her career.”
Ciera knew she was going to be a lawyer. “She just decided she was going to be a lawyer and there was just — that was the end,” Kelly told Dateline. “She worked really hard.”
Ciera grew up in Georgia and dreamed of one day living in Atlanta. “She was a Georgia girl,” Kelly said. “Atlanta was her plan all along.” To get there, however, Ciera had to leave The Peach State. She attended college at the University of Tennessee and then attended law school at Florida State University. As she predicted, Ciera became an attorney, specializing in insurance defense.
Ciera BrelandNick Locklair
Throughout all of this, Ciera was still very focused on her family. “I mean, her dad would talk to her 5-6 hours a day sometimes,” Kelly said, adding that they mostly talked about her days and what was going on in her life.
“Very outgoing. Likes sports, likes movies,” Ciera’s father, Nick Locklair, told Dateline. “And she was really fun until about a year ago.”
Ciera met Xavier Breland Jr. while still in Georgia. She represented him on some issues he was facing. The two married in 2020.
About a year ago, the couple moved to Carmel, Indiana, where Xavier’s father lives. Ciera got a new job and gave birth to the couple’s son, who is now 5 months old, late last year.
Ciera’s parents, Nick and Kelly, told Dateline their daughter wasn’t happy in Indiana and wanted to move back to Georgia. Kelly told Dateline that Ciera planned to move back in with them and find a new job. “She said, ‘Mom, I’m coming,'” Kelly said. “‘You know, we’re going to say we’re going to visit you and his mother. But I’ll never go back to Indiana.’”
Ciera, Xavier, the baby, and their tall white Goldendoodle, Baker, all packed into a 2017 white Volkswagen Tiguan with Georgia plates and set off on the long drive from Indiana to Georgia, first to visit Ciera’s parents and then Xavier’s mother.
They made it to Nick and Kelly’s home in Cleveland, Georgia on February 19. “She came Saturday night and stayed until Sunday,” Nick Dateline said. The next stop would be about an hour away at Xavier’s mother’s home in Johns Creek, Georgia. Nick said Ciera texted him on Monday, February 21. “She texted me at 11:17 p.m. that night saying, ‘I’ll be back in the morning if that’s okay,'” Nick said. “And I said, ‘Of course it’s fine, you don’t have to ask.'”
Ciera Breland with her aunt JeannieNick Locklair
The next day, when he hadn’t heard from Ciera, Nick said he got back to her and she said everything was fine, but she felt a little ill.
Nick said he got back in touch Wednesday and asked Ciera how she was feeling. He got no answer.
He said he texted again on Thursday, February 24. Again no answer.
On Friday, the Locklairs were concerned as they said it was unusual that Ciera didn’t answer them like that.
Then, on Saturday night, February 26th, Nick received a call from an unknown number in Indiana. “I didn’t automatically panic because I thought they were still in Georgia,” Nick told Dateline. “So I picked up and they said it was the police. And that’s when they told me she was missing.”
The Locklairs said they were confused by this as they assumed their daughter was still in Georgia. Nick told Dateline that when he learned his daughter was reported missing, he called Xavier for answers and got nowhere. He said he then called Xavier’s father, who lives right next door to Ciera and Xavier in Carmel. “He said no. I never saw her,'” Nick said, was the father’s reply.
Dateline spoke to Communications Lieutenant Deb Kalish of the Johns Creek City Police Department about Ciera’s last known movements in Georgia. “As far as we were here in Georgia, we saw them on February 24 at 7:17 p.m.,” said Lt. Kalish. “And that was at the mother-in-law’s house.” Lieutenant Kalish told Dateline authorities that Ciera was seen on video at the time, although the video was not released to the public. She added that nothing unusual seemed to be going on in the video.
According to a March 2 press release from the Carmel Police Department in Indiana, Ciera Breland was reported missing from her office on Saturday, February 26, 2022, and that “Carmel Police Detectives are immediately investigating the whereabouts of Mrs. Breland.”
Authorities in both states have cause for concern. “The biggest thing is she’s a 31-year-old woman with a 5-month-old baby. According to her family, this is not normal for her.” Lt. Kalish told Dateline. “They have spoken to her at all times and/or daily and are very concerned as are we. We take it very seriously.”
Kelly told Dateline that Ciera never left her son. “There’s no one since the baby was born — no one ever kept that baby for her, not even for an hour,” Kelly said. “She was the single mother, caregiver, everything for this child.” The family finds it unbelievable that Ciera just walked away. “For them to say, she just said, ‘Hey, the hell with that — walking out the door without my kid, my car, my phone, my money, nothing, and I’m just going to be on my way,’ is absurd. ”
Lieutenant Kalish told Dateline The Johns Creek City Police Department was “following every single lead that comes in — and interviewing everyone they can — on both sides, from us to Carmel.”
In the March 2 news release, the Carmel Police Department said it had begun working with the City of Johns Creek Police Department and “through the combined efforts of both agencies, the missing person’s husband, 37-year-old Xavier Breland Jr. was identified as a person of interest in this case.” It noted that Xavier Breland “was not criminally charged in connection with this case but was arrested on an unrelated warrant” outside of Georgia.
Xavier Breland is being held at the Hamilton County Jail in Indiana pending extradition to Georgia. Dateline contacted the local public information officer and was told that Xavier does not currently have a criminal attorney. Carmel Police Department Lt. Tim Byrne said Ciera’s case was an active investigation, referring Dateline to their press release, which said more information would be released as it became available.
On March 4, the Carmel Police Department issued an update noting that both the FBI and Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) now support Ciera’s case.
Back in Georgia, Kelly and Nick told Dateline that they were overwhelmed by everything, but that getting their daughter’s story out there was important to them. “After a while I was just like, ‘Kelly, we need to go ahead and talk to people,'” Nick said. “‘We’ve got to get that, you know, nationally.'”
Nick Locklair
The Locklairs told Dateline that last Friday, March 11, some of their family and friends went searching in Johns Creek. “They went out and gave out flyers and looked around,” Nick said. “I think there were seven or eight officers with – went with them,” Kelly added. “And I mean, there was a lot of turnout and people were really receptive to them.” Nick also told Dateline that he believes authorities got several new leads through this search.
The family informed Dateline that both Ciera’s son and dog are safe, healthy and cared for. Now Ciera’s family just wants their home. Her cousin Amber emailed Dateline and said, “We all love Ciera and we want to find her … She means the world to her family and her precious newborn.”
Ciera is 5 feet tall, weighs 120 pounds, and has blonde hair. She has three small trees tattooed on her ring finger, a Florida State arrow tattooed on her left wrist, and a sunbeam tattooed on her back left rib cage.
If you have any information regarding Ciera’s whereabouts, please contact the Carmel Police Department at 317-571-2500 or Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at 317-262-8477 (TIPS). You may also contact the Johns Creek City Police Department Hotline at 678-474-1610.
