Authorities have named a person of interest in the case of 53-year-old Talina Galloway, a woman who has been missing from Wagoner, Oklahoma for more than two months.
In a press conference held Wednesday, Wagoner County Sheriff Chris Elliott said the case is being called a “missing person with special circumstance.”
Sheriff Elliott said that Talina’s roommate, Kore Bommeli, who reported her missing on April 17, is a person of interest in the case and has been taken into custody. She is facing charges of possession of a firearm after a felony conviction, destruction of evidence, obstruction, fraud, and larceny.
An April 7 post on Talina’s Facebook page stated that she believed she had COVID-19, but that she would not go to the hospital. Instead, the post continued, she would take some time away to deal with it. Talina was featured in Dateline’s “Missing in America” on May 25, 2020, and friends and family said that the post was out of character and that they do not believe Talina would just walk away without contacting anyone. The last contact anyone actually had with Talina was on March 27, investigators confirmed.
Sheriff Elliott said Wednesday that Bommeli was deceptive to investigators about the circumstances of Talina leaving home. Bommeli filed a missing persons report on April 17, stating Talina left home without her purse or wallet. Her car was still in the driveway.
“We believe that she has intentionally destroyed and attempted to hide potential evidence associated with the disappearance of Talina,” Sheriff Elliott said.
One of the key pieces of evidence is a white cargo trailer belonging to Talina that was located Tuesday. Sheriff Elliott said Bommeli lied about the whereabouts of the trailer, which was sold after Talina vanished. Investigators believe the trailer played a part in Talina’s disappearance.
A probable cause affidavit said investigators found what is believed to be blood in the garage and a bedroom of the home Bommeli shared with Talina, according to KJRH.
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) is processing the trailer for evidence, investigators said.
Sheriff Elliott stressed that this is a “missing person with special circumstance.”
“What makes it suspicious is rarely do people just drop off the face of the earth and disappear,” Sheriff Elliott said. “There’s always a plausible explanation to why they disappeared. We are still involved in this investigation. We really want to find Ms. Galloway safe and sound.”
Talina is described as 5’7” tall and about 200 pounds. She has a distinct tattoo of a sun symbol on her right wrist.
If you have any information about Talina’s whereabouts, call the Wagoner County Sheriff’s Office at 918-485-3124.
