In February 2021, Texas faced a great winter storm. Millions lost power and several people lost their lives.
“The whole state was covered with snow and there was no electricity for some people for upwards of a week,” Tiffany Alvoid told Dateline. “So who’s walking out to start a new life? It just doesn’t make any sense.”
Tiffany’s younger sister, Cynthia Bah-Traore, vanished on February 3, 2021. The 39-year-old was last seen in Grandview, Texas.
“You get up in the morning, you go back to sleep, you get up. And every time you think it’s a nightmare, you wake up and it’s like, ‘No, my sister’s still missing,’” Tiffany said.
Cynthia’s mother, Tambra Alvoid, told Dateline their family is from Omaha, Nebraska. Cynthia moved to Texas in the early 2000s. “She’s a -- really fun, loving, intelligent,” Tambra said of her daughter. “Very dedicated to family, and very dedicated to her two sons.”
Cynthia’s sons are now 16 and 21 years old. “She really liked being a mother. She loved her children,” Tiffany said. “That’s why this is pretty shocking, because we know she would never go off somewhere without her kids.”
In February 2021, Cynthia was living in Crowley, Texas, and working as a substitute teacher.
Tiffany says she last heard from her sister the week before she vanished. “She had messaged me the week before she disappeared and I just had not got around to, um, calling her back or even texting her back,” she said. “And then, you know, a week later she disappeared.”
Tambra says the family got a phone call on Friday, February 5 from Cynthia’s cousin, whose son is friends with Cynthia’s eldest son. Apparently, Cynthia’s son had mentioned that his mother hadn’t been home since Wednesday. “That’s when the family started getting activated that Cynthia was missing,” Tiffany remembered.
According to Tiffany, Cynthia and her husband were going through a divorce and she was living in her own home in Crowley. At the time of her disappearance, her youngest son had been staying with his father in Fort Worth, about 20 minutes away. Her eldest son had been staying with Cynthia in Crowley.
The family reached out to Cynthia’s estranged husband. “He told my father that Cynthia was in the hospital,” Tiffany told Dateline. “And so, at that point, we thought, ‘Oh, I guess she’s not missing.’” The family then tried getting in touch with Cynthia at the hospital. Tiffany says a nurse informed them that she wasn’t there.
“It was very upsetting because when someone goes missing, that’s when the case is super-hot,” Tiffany said. “I went back to my dad, and I was kind of like, ‘I don’t understand what happened.’ And he said, you know, ‘It was a mistake. That’s what her husband thought.’”
On February 6, 2021, Tambra Alvoid reported her daughter missing. Dateline spoke with Lieutenant Michael Tate of the Crowley Police Department. He says Cynthia was last seen on February 3 at the Shell gas station at 1000 East Criner Street in Grandview.
According to the lieutenant, Cynthia was captured on security footage at 10:30 p.m., leaving the station. Several witnesses saw Cynthia at the convenience store that night and reported “her behavior was a little odd,” he said.
Cynthia’s family told Dateline that Cynthia began suffering from mental health issues in 2016, stemming from trauma. They believe she may have been experiencing some symptoms on the day she disappeared. In the video, Cynthia is seen walking around the convenience store and then leaving. Her car is also seen pulling away.
That’s the last known sighting of Cynthia.
On February 11, that winter storm barreled into Texas and five days later, Cynthia’s dark blue Mazda was found. “It was found at about 2 a.m. by a state trooper,” Lt. Tate said. The car was located on Interstate 35 at mile marker 355 in Waco, Texas, about an hour from the Shell station.
According to her family, Cynthia doesn’t know anyone in Waco. The family feels an adequate search of the car — or for Cynthia herself — wasn’t done. “They’re avoiding obvious signs that something’s amiss and just keep relying on ‘Well there’s no evidence a crime is being committed so we’re not going to do anything,” Tiffany said. “You expect me to believe my daughter got out of her car in the middle of a blizzard and walked up in the interstate and locked her car?” Tambra said. “Nobody would do that.”
Lieutenant Tate told Dateline investigators have searched several places for Cynthia. “We searched [Cynthia’s] house, the car,” he said. “We used a drone in the area that the car was recovered. It’s a very rural area -- lot of crops, barns, those kinds of things. We also used canines and didn’t come up with anything.”
Tiffany Alvoid believes her sister’s mental health issues have colored the police department’s investigation. “When Black women, specifically in Cynthia’s case, demonstrate mental health issues, they’re seen like they’re the author of their own demise,” she said.
Lieutenant Tate says Cynthia’s mental health has nothing to do with their investigation process. “The problem is that we just — the leads have gone cold,” he said. “Any tip that we get is followed up on immediately.”
Cynthia’s family said they are hoping to get fresh eyes on her case and say they’ve reached out to the FBI, local legislators, and even the president — praying someone will help.
According to both the family and Lt. Tate, the FBI is now also investigating Cynthia’s disappearance.
“I know that God is going to bring my daughter home because she deserves a burial,” Tambra Alvoid told Dateline. “Everyone deserves to be found.”
The family has started the ‘Find Cynthia Coalition,’ consisting of attorneys and social justice advocates pushing to help find Cynthia. The coalition is offering a $50,000 reward for any information that anyone has that can lead to finding Cynthia.
Cynthia is 5'6" and at the time of her disappearance, weighed 160 lbs. She was last seen wearing a blue long sleeve shirt, black pants, and grey and white shoes.
Anyone with information about Cynthia’s disappearance is asked to call the Crowley Police Department at (817) 297-2276 or the FBI at 817-984-0320.