32-year-old Robby Ann Hughes Floyd, her 17-year-old sister Jennifer Jane Hughes, and her children, Sarena Natoya Glenn, age 11, and 4-year-old twins Brent Nicholas Hughes and Brenttany Nicole Hughes, all dropped of sight in Fayetteville, North Carolina in December 1996 — almost twenty years ago. Both twins had a heart condition that needed treatment. Because Robby didn’t keep in regular touch with her family, they all weren’t reported missing until August 1998, almost two years later.
This is one of the casefiles on Charley that was researched and written by my predecessor, Jennifer Marra, of Doe Network and MPCCN fame; I haven’t contributed much to it.
There is some question as to whether they’re actually missing or not. They had been on the NCMEC but they’re not anymore; they’re not currently listed on NamUs and I don’t think they ever were. Furthermore, there’s a 2004 article about them headlined “Missing family is not missing”, which says Robby used several alias names and was wanted for writing bad checks. The article also says Sarena called her father in 1998 and contacted another relative in 1999. The police concluded the family was simply hiding out, perhaps in Alabama.
However… the WRAL television station ran a piece on the family in 2011, seven years after the previous article I mentioned, that said they ARE missing:
“We’ve checked activity on their social security numbers and there’s no activity,” said Lt. Jimmy Black of the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office. “No schools have called for their records. It’s as if they don’t exist anymore.”
That’s where the matter rests, as far as I can tell. I haven’t been able to find any more recent press coverage. But it boggles my mind how an entire family can disappear so completely, and how it wasn’t even noticed for quite some time.
So what happened? Let’s talk about it.
The Charley Project Blog 
I was wondering how Sarena’s dad was holding up? Having his daughter missing for almost 20 years. It’s got to be heartbreaking for him to not know where she and her half siblings are?
Her father is my uncle. He has two other kids. His youngest daughter looks JUST like her. The family still wonders, but there’s not many options due to the case being closed and us being so far away.
So many things about this story both me. I just cannot understand 5 people going missing and it not being reported for 2 years! In the story from 2004 (horrible written by the way) it says, “Shirley McSherdon, Jennifer Robbys mother, tried to call Floyd, but her phone at her Fayetteville home had been disconnected.”
Who is Jennifer Robbys?? I assume the meant Jennifer & Robby’s mother.
How could this SO CALLED mother have 2 daughters and 3 grandchildren go missing for 2 years and not wonder or look into it or report it???
Right before that line it says, “Hamilton said Floyd had planned to visit Alabama in March 1997, but was unable to make the trip for lack of money”
WHO THE HELL IS HAMILTON??? I read the article 3 times I got to this line and nowhere before this line is there anyone named Hamilton…..
So this article written in 2004 claims no one has actually heard from them since 1999. 5 years? Now it’s 2016, 17 years later and still nothing. Seems like that would indicate “missing” to me. Even if it is voluntary.
Her estranged husband didn’t get concerned or wonder why she never called him back…..ever again?
This one frustrates me!
There’s no indication that points to foul play… nothing except 20 years of complete radio silence. Which, in my mind, is a very good indication.
But begs the question: if they were killed, WHY were they killed, and how did the killer manage to cover up five murders?
Let’s say it was a random car accident (into a body of water) then who was that lady helping them move? Why was she there and why did Robby lie about who the woman was and where they all were going? She would have been in the vehicle too, didn’t she have someone that would have reported her missing? This case is bizarre. I don’t feel like we have the full story from family and LE here.
Maybe they all joined some cult or the husband lured them out with some false story and had them all killed. I hope not, but I dunno….
Good case choice Meaghan!
Oops I meant this as response to your other response below. Sorry!
I found two comments left at the site. Hamilton is Sue Hamilton, the aunt to the family. She says the article is wrong on several issues.
And you’re right, poorly written!
From that article we learn that the oldest daughter was receiving a disability check. So you’d think Robby, the mom, would definitely apply for that in Alabama, as well as WIC, AFDC, food stamps and the like. Except for pesky warrants…tons of aliases used. Probably searching for arrests/mug shots may turn up something.
Hm. Well, generally when there are people missing with their car, I go straight to my basic theory: the car ran off the road and it’s in the water, or hidden in the woods, or at the bottom of an embankment, etc.
But this case is really weird. I mean, the above definitely could have happened, but you’d think someone would report them missing before that. This is one of those cases that would scream “witness protection!” but they weren’t in a trial or anything.
Another theory: Jason made Robby fear for her safety, and she hooked up with a group that hides battered women, and poof: they’re out of sight. Forever. New names, new identities, no trace of who they once were.
Or they were abducted by aliens.
That’s all I’ve got.
Yeah, I tend to theorize “car accident” when people disappear with their cars and there’s no evidence of foul play but no evidence of voluntary disappearance either. If that’s what happened it’s weird the car hasn’t turned up after 20 years, but Dana Null and her boyfriend drove their car into a Florida canal in 1978 and didn’t get found until 2015, and Pamella Jackson and Cheryl Miller disappeared in 1971 and someone was actually charged with murder in their case, and in 2013 the car and their bodies were located in a river after 42 years.
Well, Robby Floyd’s van wasn’t registered, so–they wouldn’t be able to match it up with anything, right? Although I guess if there are four or five people in the car, they could run it in NAMUS, I guess.
If she was afraid of her husband, why did she leave one child behind?
I looked at the links and no age given for that child. If anyone has the time and a Facebook account they can try plugging in the various names and aliases to see if at least the children pop up somewhere in social media.
No description of the vehicle either. But that could’ve been traded or sold before they even crossed state lines.
Where is there a list of the aliases? I’ll do plug them in on FB.
This is the aunt Sue Hamilton, Robby would never leave any of her children. None of the missing have been heard from or seen since Dec 1996. Jason Floyd & his family were the last ones to have had any contact with them, yes the articles over the yrs were poorly written, & facts not straight, no they are not in Alabama. I hope for this mother & grandmother(Shirley McSherdon) this famil is found. it has been heartbreaking. but with no cooperation from Sheriffs office & company in NC we could get nothing done. we didnt have money for television awareness on this case. if anyone has info about our family, my email is suehami@live.com
Correction- the 2004 article says “blue van”.
Wait, you had a predecessor? Someone who ran Charley before you? Huh.
No, she founded the Doe Network and then founded a similar site called the Missing Persons Cold Case Network (MPCCN) and then decided to get out of the missing persons business altogether and gave the MPCCN to me. I ran it for about a year until it was trashed by hackers and then I spent the next several months rebuilding it and turned it into the Charley Project.
Oh, I see. Sorry for the misunderstanding.
Yes! Thank you! This case was one of the first ones I remember from when I started looking into missing persons cases 10 years ago. The whole situation seems either staged or completely fishy. Here’s some questions I have about it:
1. Why did she bring her younger sister along? With that being said, how did they go missing so long if her sister came along? Where did the sister reside, with parents, her sister, or was she on her own? It was Dec, wouldn’t she still be in High School as she was only 17?
2. Why was the estranged husband unconcerned when he hadn’t heard from his wife in a while, or when she hadn’t tried to see their child? And why was that child left? Does the husband have more knowledge that he’s not letting on?
3. If the twins needed meds, why would she risk their life’s by going under the radar?
4. Did she pack up ALL of her belongings in the van? Was anything of theirs left at the house? Why did the husband move away months later?
5. How was Robby making a living? I read that she never worked,and didn’t finish high school. How was she providing for 3 kids? Was sister coming along to help?
6. If the rest of her family is actually hiding out in Alabama, why are there confirmed sightings of Jennifer in NC in 1999?
7. Why is there so much contradicting information about this case? Were their SS#’s actually used or not? Why do some sources use different ages for their time of disappearance?
That 2004 article was really weird, and I agree that it was poorly written. Sarena’s name is even spelled wrong. As for Sue Hamilton, the aunt mentioned in the article, “Hamilton said it was her mother and stepfather who were helping her move. She filed missing persons report in 1998.”, she wrote in the comment section saying she had never told that to anyone!
Read comment here-> http://www.fayobserver.com/news/local/missing-family-is-not-missing/article_d117fd46-80db-58a7-bbfa-04f600540951.html#comments
I wonder if the person that wrote the article was someone that was trying to protect the family.
My theories:
1. They got in a car accident was their vehicle has yet to resurface yet. Maybe that’s why they never made it to visit their father.
2. She actually did leave and is living under an alias, and the sister came along to help raise her children.
3. The husband killed the whole family, except his own child. (Kind of hard to kill 5 people and dispose of the remains alone though.)
4. Since she had never worked, I’m assuming she relied on the men in her life/family to live off of, I’ve seen this before and it’s kind of sad. People that jump from relationship to relationship to survive, I’m not saying Robby was like that, but she had been married a few times, 3 times I believe and never finished high school or had any work experience. My thought is that with her marriage being estranged and possibly ending she had moved to be with a boyfriend that was helping her hide out. Maybe the unknown “mom” was actually the new boyfriend’s mother?
i did not ever make a report on them leaving in a blue van or who they left with, that was a neighbor who was close friends with Robbys husband. yes Robby worked to provide for her children, no her husband was not living with her when she disappeared, i think he stayed at her house a few months to make sure he had covered his tracks. there were a picture or the house in an article, with 3 crosses in flowerbed in front of house, that was odd to me, these crosses were large, i guess noone dug it up to see if there were any remains. from what i understood, the landlord had stated that the house was tore up, big holes in the wall. if yall can find any thing to help locate this family, we would appreciate it.
Hey Sue!
I’ve been perplexed by your family’s disappearance for over 10 years now. I am confused by how much inconsistencies there are on the news coverage of the case. Why did authorities close the case if they are still listed as missing?
A while back someone named Donna commented on this blog and said that you were contacted by Alabama police that Robby has been located safe and her and her children received SS# benefits. If they received benefits wouldn’t their whereabouts be known then and they would no longer be missing?
I think you should contact your local paper and get a new article written with what you know and what you know to be incorrect information on your family. The “Family not Missing” article was strange to me. How they had info that contradicted known facts on the case, misspelled the children’s names, and claimed you said something that you never said. Maybe you could help clear up some of the inconsistencies in a new news article. “Aunt of Robby Floyd falsely quoted in Article on Family” for example.
So Robby did work to provide for her family. Why are the news articles saying, “According to relatives, Robby did not graduate from high school and does not have any job training”? There is something strange with how authorities are handling the case. Also were the families SS# ever used? I’m reading that they have, but at the same time that they haven’t.
our comment on the husband “covering his tracks”, do you think he’s involved? I’ve wondered that too myself. 5 people just don’t poof into thin air! If he wasn’t involved wouldn’t Robby not contacting him to see her son alarm him to wonder if something is wrong? The crosses are super creepy! Maybe if you tell that to authorities they can find enough evidence to be able to dig up the area? The holes in the wall would be a red flag for me.
I’ve also wondered why her sister went missing with them then was sighted still in Fayetteville. Were any of the children in school/preschool? Wouldn’t the school be alarmed by their disappearance after Christmas break ended? So many things just don’t add up.
You should contact Meaghan, if you know some information that isn’t listed on their Charley case file.
Hope you can get some answers to their disappearances soon!
Also did they check phone records from when her husband claimed Robby called to tell him she got there safe?
I was friends with Jennifer. She did homeschooling through American homeschool. The husband Jason of Robby was a guy that would go do repos. He was a weirdo. If anything bad happened to them it was him that I would believe done it. I was only 14 years old when I met them all. I ran away one time from my home and went to their trailer. Jason has me ride with him while he did his repos just in case cops showed up looking for me at their place. He would rub on my head and make some sexual passes at me. There is more to this story. Hell I didn’t know they were even missing til a little girl my mom babysat was found dead and it was all over the news then this came up also.
Jennifer is now on namus: https://namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/6200
Maybe the unidentified person at the scene who she introduced as “mother” was in fact her stepmother or the mom of her boyfriend/significant other. Perhaps identifying her could be the key to her disappearance..
I must say this is the weirdest case I have ever tried to make sense out of. I live just a few towns away from where they say she was headed to pick her father up from and supposedly the last place she spoke with her estranged husband at and today is the very first time I have ever even heard of this case. I would like to know who filed the missing persons report and from where it was filed. I can see how a couple who may have only been together for a few years may not have met each others family or had contact with them especially in different states but I do not understand how the father of one of her children could wait for 2 years to file something and who knows maybe he did try to file something and was told since they were in the process of divorce that she likely ran off or something and it was nothing to be concerned about so maybe the LEA dismissed his concerns. I do know if she was headed from her home in NC where the articles stated she lived and she took the most logical route on today’s maps she would have been in close enough proximity to over 100 areas of water that her van could possibly be sitting at the bottom of so it is of the upmost importance to establish where her last known sighting was before anyone could possibly begin knowing where to look. Because with that many possibilities of standing water a vehicle could possibly ly be in it eould take a miracl3 to be able to check all of them. This family mattered these children mattered so why isn’t LEA or others trying to figure this out. Fayetteville NC LEA ypu guys need to do better. This could be your family someday so why are you all bot trying to locate this family these children and their mom was members of your community and even if the mom may have been difficult the children deserve the efforts of being located and laid to rest in peace. There has to be people out there that went to school with some of the children teachers who taught some of them someone somewhere to want closure for them. This is so heartbreaking to me.