44-year-old Cherice Novo met a friend to have some drinks in Ukiah’s Low Gap Park parking lot on the evening of Thursday, November 5, 2020. According to her oldest daughter Nesha Beaty, her mother and the friend fell asleep in the car, and when Novo’s friend awoke the following morning, Novo was gone. Novo’s friend told Beaty all that remained was her lighter and cell phone. Beaty said her mother has not been seen or heard from since.
According to Beaty’s conversations with the friend Novo shared drinks with that Thursday night, Novo acted normal and did not demonstrate any signs of paranoia. Beaty did note her mother has a history of mental illness but said Novo had been regularly taking her medication.
Beaty said the last time she heard from her mother was Thursday night between 9:00-10:00 p.m., saying she was getting a ride home from the friend she had been hanging out with but never arrived.
Beaty characterized her mother as “super friendly and trusting” and is concerned that when she left her friend’s vehicle early Friday morning, Novo could have been in a compromised state and been taken advantage of.
In efforts to track down Novo, Beaty used her mother’s tablet to ping her cellphone’s location. Beaty described her and her partner going to the cellphone’s pinged location and finding it in possession of the individual Novo drank with that Thursday night.
Beaty said a review of the phone indicated that Novo had texted someone else at approximately 4:30 a.m. Friday morning.
According to Beaty, Novo has lived in Ukiah for approximately six months; therefore she does not know the area well and is “desperate for friends.” Beaty fears this leaves her vulnerable to people with bad intentions.
Beaty told us her mother, Cherice Novo, is 44 years old, 5’3’’, and 150 lbs. She has brown hair/eyes and has a short “tom-boy” hair cut. Novo was last seen wearing a pull-over sweater, orange-reddish yoga pants with black cheetah prints, black flip flops, and characterized her as very talkative with a loud, distinctive laugh.
If you have any information about the whereabouts of Cherice Novo, please contact the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office at (707)463-4086.
UPDATE 11/9/2020 7:26 a.m.
The following statement was provided by Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office’s Public Information Officer Captain Greg Van Patten:
Her whereabouts was determined on 11-09-20 around 1AM and she requested that her family not be notified of her whereabouts.
Since she is an adult we have to comply with her request.
So in essence she is not a missing person.
