Missing Athens Woman: Authorities Fear the Worst

Police in Georgia and Florida fear that a University of Georgia graduate last seen in late August may have harmed herself. She last wrote about having problems she needed to sort out, according to a story in the Athens Banner Herald.

Ivy Dawn Merck, who worked at Good Hands Veterinary Clinic in Oconee County, told friends she was going home to see her parents. She left her car in a parking lot in Deerfield Beach, far from her Kingsland, Georgia, home and disappeared, the story says.

Merck boarded her dog in Kingsland but didn't stop at her parents' house. Her car was found 350 miles away in Broward County. Authorities at first feared someone may have abducted her, but now believe she may have committed suicide.

There's a Facebook page set up about her disappearance.