Authorities are investigating the case of a missing woman from a town in North Carolina, where bodies of three other missing women were found earlier this year, reports said Thursday.

According to police, 20-year-old Abby Patterson was last seen leaving her family home in Lumberton on Sept. 5 and stepping into a brown Buick car parked outside.

Lumberton Police Department Captain Terry Parker stated Patterson was last seen in the area where the bodies of three women found in the past few months, but said her disappearance was not related those cases at this time, reported NBC affiliate WMBF.

Before leaving her house, Patterson had told her mother, Samantha Lovette, that she would be returning in an hour but has not been seen or heard since.

Later in the day, when the 20-year-old failed to return, Lovette called her phone, which went straight to voicemail.

Fox 8 reported that Patterson was living in Florida at the time of her disappearance and was in Lumberton visiting her mother.

Patterson was described as having brown hair, brown eyes, about 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighing 140 pounds. She also has a bird tattoo on her shoulder and was last seen wearing a white shirt and brown shorts, reports said at the time of her disappearance.

Her family told WMBF, "Abby is a light to everyone that knows her, and without her we are lost. We pray that whoever might know something about her whereabouts will come forward, even if they choose to remain anonymous. She is not just a missing person- she is a missing daughter, a missing sister, a missing granddaughter, and a missing piece of so many people's heart."

Lovette told Fox News that it was unlike her daughter to voluntarily cut all contact with her family.

"We talk or text every day," said Lovette. "When she didn’t come home after an hour, I called her cell phone and it went straight to voicemail."

"We just want her home," she added, describing her daughter, the youngest of her three children, as "bubbly and free spirited."Everybody she meets she just loves and they love her," Lovette said.

“My baby is still missing, please if you see or hear anything that may help please call 911. The smallest thing can lead into something big. We miss our ray of sunshine. Abby is strong and I know she feels the love of her family and strength from God. Keep praying!! God will bring her back to us, I believe in that,” Lovette posted on social media more than two weeks after her daughter went missing.

The man who Patterson was last seen with was identified by police and is being questioned, Fox News reported. “We think it’s someone she knew, but we’re not sure,” Parker said.

He also allayed fears that Patterson's disappearance was related to the three missing women who were found dead in the area.

Megan Ann Oxendine, 28, Christina Bennett, 32, and Rhonda Jones, 36, had gone missing and were later found dead in an area between East Fifth and East Ninth streets.

Bennett’s and Jones’ bodies were found April 18 and Oxendine’s body was found June 3. Investigators have not disclosed details about how any of the women died, nor have they named any suspects in the deaths, according to CBS affiliate WNCN.

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