Money confirmed missing by investigators has caused a new turn in the search for a woman last seen in Copiah County, though friends and family protest the claims of law enforcement.

     Linda Reed, 66, reported missing since April, is now wanted on charges of embezzlement, announced Copiah County Sheriff Harold Jones at a press conference Tuesday morning.

     About $20,200 is confirmed missing from an account at Moore’s Fabrications and Machine Works in Gallman, where Reed worked as a bookkeeper, Jones said.

     Linda Reed’s husband, Lou Reed, remains steadfast that his wife is no thief.

     “She didn’t run off with anyone’s money,” said Lou Reed in response to the new allegations. “They’ll have to show it to me in black and white.”

     Jones said a CPA hired by Moore’s Fabrications and forensic accountants with the FBI have identified the unaccounted-for funds as 2010 money missing from a petty cash fund.

     “Reed had direct command and control over that money,” Jones said.

     Though not present at the press conference, Linda Reed’s supporters gathered at the Sheriff’s Office afterward to dispute the cogency of the charges.

     Lou Reed pointed to his wife’s elderly mother and highlighted that Linda Reed possessed credit cards with limits of $50,000 or more at the time of her disappearance. He compared that to money investigators say is missing.

     “She’s got an 87-year-old mother, and she ran off with $20,000?” Reed said. “That’s the best they can come up with? That’s pathetic.”

     Barbara Woods-King described herself as a friend of Reed’s for more than 43 years and said she spoke to Reed on the phone off and on the weekend she disappeared. Reed said nothing out of the ordinary during those conversations, said Woods-King.

     “You don’t change habits of nine years and disappear overnight,” Woods-King said.

     Jones discounted the possibility that someone else at Moore’s could be responsible for the alleged theft.

     “Nobody at Moore’s Fabrications had anything to do with that money except Ms. Reed,” Jones said.

     These findings are only preliminary, Jones cautioned. The investigation continues and the accountants remain at work.

     “They’re going back as far as they can,” Jones said.

     Shannon Moore of Moore’s Fabrication initially voiced concerns about financial records kept by Reed several weeks after her disappearance.

     Jones said he learned last week that accountants had confirmed these suspicions, prompting investigators to procure a warrant for Reed’s arrest.

     If she’s found and arrested, Jones said Reed could face charges of embezzlement and fraud. He also said the IRS may become involved to investigate tax-related aspects of the case.

     Reed and her husband were residents of Carrollton in Carroll County, though she reportedly lived at a trailer near Moore’s during the workweek.

     Lou Reed continues to believe his wife was abducted from the trailer she lived at in Copiah County. She had worked for Moore’s since 1999.

     She was last seen April 29 at the Hazlehurst Walmart.

     She was reported missing the next day and searchers soon discovered her vehicle on a back road near the Crystal Springs Interstate 55 exit. Some of Reed’s possessions, including her purse, cellphone and glasses were found in the vehicle

     Jones said he does believe Reed has left the country, but added that authorities have no evidence or leads indicating her whereabouts.

     “We have no idea where she is,” Jones said.

     Jones said he couldn’t address reports from earlier this year claiming Reed was in Mexico. He did offer that an ex-husband of Reed’s told investigators “she did like Mexican stuff.”

     Woods-King also disputed claims Reed could be in Mexico by offering that after a trip to Mexico several years ago, Reed described the country as “desolate.”

     Jones said he understands the frustrations of her family and described the case as tragic regardless of its conclusion.

     “I would much rather be able to tell Mr. Reed that his wife is wanted for embezzlement rather than that she is missing in my county and we’ve discovered her body,” Jones said. “Now either way it’s not a good ending to this.”