Brooklyn Grandmother Missing in Las Vegas as Scammers Demand Bitcoin
The disappearance of Alisa Goods has taken a sinister turn as criminals use her phone to extort her relatives.
Alisa Goods, a 63-year-old grandmother from Brooklyn, New York, vanished in Las Vegas on August 8, 2026. Her disappearance has since evolved into a digital extortion attempt, with her family receiving suspicious messages sent from her own device.
Goods was last seen around 12:45 p.m. on the day she disappeared, leaving the apartment of her long-time friend, Roger John. The residence is located near the intersection of Maryland Parkway and Tropicana Avenue. Reports indicate Goods had left the apartment with the intention of visiting a nearby CVS pharmacy, but she never returned.
Four days after she went missing, on August 12, the family began receiving alarming text messages from Goods' phone. The messages requested money for gasoline and Bitcoin. The family quickly identified the communications as fraudulent based on two critical discrepancies: the sender claimed to be at a gas station despite the fact that Goods did not have a car, and the messages referenced a family member named "Kelly," a person who does not exist within the family.
Digital Extortion in Crisis
The case underscores a predatory trend where criminals compromise the devices of missing persons to target grieving relatives. By leveraging the emotional desperation of a family in crisis, scammers attempt to secure untraceable currency like Bitcoin. For the family of Alisa Goods, the psychological toll has been severe. Her niece, Alana Calloway, noted that every time the phone buzzed, it felt like her "heart was in [her] stomach" because she knew the sender was not her aunt.
Systemic Concerns
Beyond the digital scam, the case has raised questions regarding how law enforcement prioritizes missing adult cases. The Las Vegas Metro Police informed the family that Goods did not meet the qualifications for a "priority" case because she did not have a documented disability. This has led to increased frustration for her children, including her son, Keven Newton, who has publicly pleaded for the return of his mother.
The Search Continues
Alisa Goods, a grandmother of five, was visiting Las Vegas for the second time in 2026 to see Roger John, a friend of nine years. While the fraudulent texts provide a lead regarding the compromise of her phone, her physical location remains unknown. Investigators are continuing to look for clues as the family maintains a public appeal for information that could lead to her safe recovery.