When a young mother disappears in the middle of the night, the investigation uncovers a sad reality. Where is Ebony Giddens?
Episode Media
Episode Sources
- Ebony Monique Giddens – The Charley Project
- Columbus police searching for missing woman
- Family in desperate search of finding missing Columbus mother Ebony Giddens
- CPD urges public to provide information on missing woman
- Young mother Ebony Giddens still missing after vanishing from her home
- $10,000 reward offered for information leading to missing Columbus mother of three
- Family hires Columbus attorney to help investigation of missing mother of 3
- Family continues to search for missing Columbus mother
- Family of Ebony Giddens spends first Christmas without missing mother
- ONE YEAR LATER: Columbus mother remains missing after disappearing under mysterious circumstances
- Missing Columbus woman’s former boyfriend on trial for charges prior to her disappearance
- Deliberations underway in assault trial of missing Columbus woman’s ex-boyfriend
- Malcolm Jackson found guilty of assault, stalking charges
- Columbus man found guilty in Ebony Giddens’ assault case
- Columbus judge hands down sentence in Malcolm Jackson case
- Ebony Giddens’ ex-boyfriend sentenced in aggravated assault before her disappearance
- Columbus mother told cousin she was pregnant before going missing, family says at sentencing
- Ebony Giddens’ family asks for closure in her disappearance two years later
- Ebony Giddens still missing more than two years later
- Where is Ebony Giddens? Columbus Police seeking information about woman missing since 2018
- Four years after Ebony Giddens’ disappearance, her family still searching for answers
- Columbus Police Department continue search for Ebony Giddens, last seen in 2018
- STILL MISSING: Families from across Georgia gather to remember their missing loved ones
- Family prays for closure in case of missing mother
- Family releases balloons for the birthday of Columbus woman missing since 2018
- Missing: Ebony Giddens
Episode Transcript
Welcome back to Bite-Sized Crime. This week I’m bringing you a missing persons case out of Georgia, a story of a family who has fought for justice and is still waiting for closure. This episode discusses sensitive topics, so listener discretion is advised.
On the morning of Monday, March 12, 2018, Alvin Brooks pulled up in front of his sister Ebony’s apartment and honked the horn. This was their usual weekday routine – Alvin picked up Ebony’s children at 7:30 each morning and took them to school so Ebony could get to work on time. But when Alvin showed up on this particular morning, no one came to the door. He honked again, but there was no response. He didn’t have a key to Ebony’s apartment, so he rang the doorbell and knocked loudly instead. Ebony still didn’t come to the door.
Thinking she had just overslept, Alvin called her cell phone, but his call went straight to voicemail. He waited for a few minutes, then tried again, calling and texting over and over without success. His next step was to reach out to Roderick Daniel, the father of Ebony’s two youngest sons. Roderick told Alvin that he had talked to Ebony the day before, but hadn’t heard from her since. Also concerned that Ebony wasn’t answering the door for her brother, Roderick drove over to the apartment to help.
Together, the two men continued to knock loudly on Ebony’s door, calling out her name. Finally, the door opened, but it wasn’t Ebony on the other side – it was her five-year-old son. All he could tell them was that his mom was gone.
Alvin and Roderick immediately went inside the small apartment and started looking around. The little boy was right – Ebony wasn’t there. Her purse was in the living room, her wallet and keys inside. They didn’t see her cell phone and assumed she must have it with her, but why wouldn’t she take her purse, and why wasn’t she answering their messages?
Alvin called his mother, just in case Ebony had gone over to her house. But Lisa Giddens hadn’t heard from Ebony either. Lisa did think of one more person to ask, though – Ebony’s boyfriend Malcolm Jackson. She called Malcolm’s workplace, and the secretary told her that Malcolm was there, but he wasn’t available to talk to her.
By this point, it was clear that Ebony was truly missing. She would never voluntarily leave her boys by themselves – they were everything to her. Roderick called the Columbus Police Department and filed a missing persons report.
Located on the border of Georgia and Alabama, the city of Columbus is known for its long military history and beautiful natural landscapes. Ebony Giddens lived in the southeast part of the city in a small apartment building on Montclair Drive, not far from Interstate 185. Twenty-seven-year-old Ebony had three young sons ages 9, 5, and 2, and she loved them more than anything. Everyone who knew her talked about what a good mother Ebony was. Her cousin Ashley told NewsNation, “As a mom, she would do anything for her boys. Anything they wanted, anything she could try to get, she would get for them. She was doing the best she could.”
Ebony was also known for her sweet spirit, her kindness and generosity, and her love for her family. Her cousin Chernda told WTVM, “That’s one of the sweetest people you could ever meet.”
But now, Ebony was missing, and her family was afraid she could be in danger.
Investigators from the Columbus Police Department worked with Ebony’s family to piece together a timeline of her last known movements. On Saturday night, just two days before she disappeared, Ebony had been at the family cookout, laughing with her cousins, playing cards, and eating barbecue. Everything had seemed normal.
But the next night, on the phone with her cousins, Ebony had made a stunning confession. Her boyfriend was abusing her, and she was afraid.
Ebony had called the police on Friday, March 9th, after Malcolm had pulled a gun on her during an argument. She had also filed for a protective order against him, but within a few hours of his arrest, Malcolm had bonded out of jail and was flooding Ebony’s phone with calls and threatening texts, a violation of his bond. Ebony tried telling Malcolm that it was over – she wanted out of the relationship – but Malcolm wouldn’t take no for an answer. At the family cookout on Saturday, Ebony had managed to hide her secret, not wanting to dampen the mood. Her cousin Ashley told NewsNation, “Most things she would keep to herself because she would know how my family would react to them.” It wasn’t until that late-night phone call that Ebony had admitted that anything was wrong.
Now that they knew the truth, Ebony’s family was convinced that she hadn’t left home of her own accord. With the assistance of Columbus police, they searched the neighborhood around her apartment, scouring the wooded areas along the interstate. They branched out into neighboring towns, including the area of Cusseta where Ebony worked, hanging flyers and talking to locals.
Ebony had also confessed that Malcolm would sometimes kick her out of the car during arguments, dropping her off in secluded areas and leaving her to find her own way home. Had Malcolm taken her out of the apartment in the middle of the night while her children slept and left her somewhere alone?
The day after Ebony disappeared, Malcolm was arrested on charges of aggravated stalking and violating his bond conditions, but he maintained that he had nothing to do with Ebony’s disappearance.
While Malcolm sat in jail awaiting trial, Ebony’s family continued to search for her. They hired a lawyer to help them navigate the investigative process, and within a few weeks, they were able to offer a $10,000 reward for information in Ebony’s case. Her aunt Patricia told the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer that they were hoping for any clues that could lead them to Ebony. “Money makes people talk… Somebody might come and say something.”
Months passed, and Ebony’s 28th birthday came and went. Her mother Lisa spoke with WTVM about how hard it was to not have her daughter with her. “I miss my baby. I want her to come home… it’s really, really hard and she’s been gone a long, long time, but I pray every single day since she left me.”
Investigators were hard at work behind the scenes, although they wouldn’t officially name any suspects. Columbus Police Lt. Joyce Dent-Fitzpatrick told WTVM that they were working around the clock to bring Ebony home. “This case has never been not active. It is 100 percent active. We’re working on it, and we’ll continue to work on it… We want to reassure the family that Ebony is not forgotten.”
In October of 2019, nineteen months after Ebony disappeared, Malcolm Jackson went on trial. He was facing three felony charges – aggravated assault, aggravated stalking, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony – dating back to his altercation with Ebony in March of 2018.
Malcolm chose to represent himself in court with the support of a public defender. The judge allowed Ebony’s family members to testify about what she had told them, but Malcolm claimed that no one had actually seen any proof of him abusing Ebony, that he had never pointed a gun at her.
But the prosecution was ready with evidence. They played a recording of Ebony’s phone call to police in which she said Malcolm, “put a gun to my head, talking about I’m going to blow your ear off.” They also showed text messages that Ebony had sent to a Columbus police sergeant that same night: “He just put a gun to my head. I’m not playing.”
As Ebony’s family sat in the gallery and listened to the testimonies and evidence presented in court, they were heartbroken by the realization that Ebony had been facing abuse at Malcolm’s hands for months. Her cousin Chernda told the Ledger, “The fact that the whole time Ebony had been going through this, and none of us knew, I think that affected us a lot. The stuff that she endured, it hurts still that we couldn’t do nothing about that.”
During closing arguments, the prosecution talked about Malcolm’s obsession with Ebony’s ex-boyfriend Roderick, the father of her two youngest sons. Malcolm hated that Ebony and Roderick had a healthy co-parenting relationship, and even tried to blame Ebony’s disappearance on him. The prosecution argued that it was this jealousy and hatred that had fueled Malcolm’s anger the night he assaulted Ebony with the gun.
The prosecution also reminded the jury about Ebony’s last phone call with her cousins the night she disappeared. They had called her after hearing about Malcolm’s arrest and wanted to know what was going on. Ebony had been evasive and vague in her responses, as if she was afraid someone might hear what she was saying. When one of her cousins asked her point-blank if Malcolm had pointed a gun at her, Ebony had responded, “If you already know the answer, why do you keep asking these questions?” The prosecution suggested that Malcolm was in the room the whole time Ebony was on the phone, that she was fearful of what he would do if she spoke candidly.
On October 31, 2019, after two hours of deliberations, the jury found Malcolm Jackson guilty on all three charges. After the verdict was read, prosecutor Wesley Lambertus told reporters, “For the past 19 months, this family has been worrying and wondering about Ebony. The least that we could do was go forward with the charges… The evidence was pretty clear.”
While Ebony’s family was pleased with the verdict, they were still hoping for answers about Ebony’s disappearance. Chernda told the Ledger, “I cannot say with evidence, by his hands, that she’s missing, but I know in my heart that she’s missing because of him. If he knows anything, we ask for him to just tell us. I think we could deal with things better if we know the truth — if we have Ebony…. That’s the main thing: We want Ebony.”
At his sentencing hearing, Malcolm maintained his innocence, denying that he ever threatened Ebony with a gun and saying that he had nothing to do with her disappearance. He once again blamed Roderick, claiming that he had pressured Ebony into having him arrested. Ultimately, the judge took the prosecution’s recommendation for the maximum penalty, sentencing Malcolm to 35 years in prison. He is currently incarcerated at Ware State Prison, where he will remain until at least 2056.
Sadly, Ebony Giddens is still missing. Her family is holding out hope that she will come home someday, that she will be able to see her little boys grow up. Her cousin Ashley told WTVM, “The hurt and the pain is still there because we don’t know where she is or where she might be… We still have unanswered questions.”
Ebony Monique Giddens was last seen on March 11, 2018, at her home on Montclair Drive in Columbus, Georgia. She is described as a Black woman with brown eyes and black hair, standing 4’9” tall. At the time of her disappearance, Ebony was 27 years old. Her hair was short and worn in braids, but she may be wearing a different style now. If you have any information about the disappearance of Ebony Giddens or her current whereabouts, please contact the Columbus Police Department’s Special Victims Unit at (706) 653-3449.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, please contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or text START to 88788. Help is available 24/7 – it is free and confidential. Domestic violence is not your fault: you deserve to be safe and listened to.