Tragic discovery of Alisa Goods: Surveillance footage captures her final moments in a case that has unfolded
Tragic discovery of Alisa Goods: Surveillance footage captures her final moments in a case that has unfolded.
The 63-year-old woman vanished after leaving a friend’s home to go to CVS. Nearly two weeks later, her body was found in a drainage ditch near Harry Reid Airport.
Surveillance footage shows Alisa falling down a steep embankment, getting back up, and then collapsing again. Yet, prior to this, her family had received text messages from her phone demanding money, gas money, and Bitcoin—even though her relatives insist Alisa never sent them.
What happened to her? Why did her phone continue sending messages after she went missing? The cause of death has been revealed…
**Body of New York grandmother Alisa Goods found near Las Vegas airport; cause of death not yet released as family seeks answers**
The body of 63-year-old Alisa Goods, the New York grandmother who vanished while visiting Las Vegas, has been found. Police confirmed she was discovered in a drainage ditch area near Harry Reid International Airport nearly two weeks after she was last seen. Her family has described the news as devastating and continues to press for a full explanation of the circumstances surrounding her death, including the official cause.
Goods was last seen on the afternoon of 8 August 2026. She had been staying with a longtime friend, Roger John, at his apartment near Maryland Parkway and Tropicana Avenue. Around 12:45 p.m. that day she left the apartment, telling him she was heading to a nearby CVS by bus, reportedly to buy iron pills or other items. John watched her go down the stairs and said goodbye. She never returned.
A missing-person report was filed with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department on 10 August. In the days that followed, the family’s anxiety deepened when text messages began arriving from Goods’ phone number. The messages asked for money, claimed problems with a bank card, requested gas funds and eventually sought Bitcoin transfers. Relatives immediately believed the messages were not from Goods. Her niece Alana Calloway tested the sender by mentioning a family name that did not exist; the response was a request for money rather than confusion. Goods did not drive and had no car in Las Vegas, making the gas-money request particularly suspicious.
### Discovery of the body
Early on Thursday, 20 August (local time), Las Vegas police responded to a call reporting a deceased woman in a drainage ditch near Wayne Newton Boulevard and the Terminal 1 parking garage at Harry Reid International Airport. Officers located the body, later identified as Alisa Goods.
Police stated that surveillance video from the airport area on 8 August — the same day she disappeared — showed Goods falling down an embankment, getting back up, and then collapsing. “There was no further movement observed after that,” the department said. “Her location could not be seen from the street.” The footage indicated that Goods had reached the area near the airport on the day she went missing and remained there, unseen from the roadway, until her body was discovered nearly two weeks later.
The family was notified and confirmed the identification. Niece Alana Calloway issued a statement: “Our hearts are broken. We were notified that my aunt was found—unfortunately, not the way we wanted her to be. This is an unimaginable time. Words cannot describe the pain our family is experiencing right now. We just want to thank the public for the outpouring of love, support, and prayers. We also want to thank the media for helping bring attention to this situation. This hurts so deeply. We are still trying to learn the details surrounding her death. We ask for continued prayers and privacy as we grieve.”
### What is known — and not yet known — about the cause of death
As of the most recent public reports, the Clark County coroner’s office has not released an official cause or manner of death. News organizations, including CBS News, noted they had contacted the coroner’s office for information. Police have focused on the surveillance evidence of the fall and collapse on 8 August and on the fact that Goods’ body remained in a location not visible from the street for an extended period.
Goods’ daughter, Kristen Goods, had previously told reporters that her mother had undergone several surgeries that made walking more difficult on this particular trip. She also noted the extreme heat in Las Vegas at the time; weather records show daytime highs in the upper 100s Fahrenheit around 8 August. Family members have said they are still trying to understand how Goods traveled from the area near the CVS to the airport embankment and what exactly happened after she left her friend’s apartment.
The family has made clear they want every aspect of the case examined thoroughly. While official statements have not labeled the death a homicide, relatives have expressed ongoing concerns about the sequence of events, the earlier classification of the missing-person case, and the suspicious phone activity that followed her disappearance.
### The earlier investigation and the family’s frustration
Throughout the period Goods was missing, her relatives expressed strong dissatisfaction with the pace and priority of the police response. They said it took days for a formal report to be fully processed and for a detective to become actively involved. Calloway recalled being told that her aunt “wasn’t a priority.” The family contacted hospitals, jails and the coroner’s office on their own and distributed flyers in the neighborhood where Goods was last seen.
Police classified Goods as a missing adult rather than an endangered missing person in the early stages and assessed the text messages as likely the work of scammers using spoofing technology. A department spokesman told reporters that such classifications occur frequently in Las Vegas and that nothing at that stage suggested Goods was in immediate danger. The family strongly disagreed, pointing to the out-of-character silence, the suspicious messages, and Goods’ known medical limitations.
Roger John, the friend Goods had been visiting, cooperated with police and the family. Relatives later stated that he had been cleared of any involvement and that his account of the day was consistent with digital evidence.
### Background on Alisa Goods
Alisa Goods was a grandmother of five who lived in New York and had visited Las Vegas on multiple previous occasions, often staying with John. She was described by family as fit and full of life under normal circumstances, though recent surgeries had affected her mobility. On the day she disappeared she was reported to have been wearing black Adidas sweatpants and a blue denim jacket. She was last known to have been near the 4900 block of South Maryland Parkway around 1:40 p.m. on 8 August before the trail went cold until the airport surveillance footage.
A GoFundMe page established by the family described her as deeply loved. “Her absence leaves a space in our family that can never be filled,” the page stated. “We are doing our best to navigate this loss together and to celebrate the life she lived, the people she loved and the memories she left with us.”
### The path forward
The investigation remains open. The coroner’s findings on cause and manner of death, along with any further details police may release about Goods’ movements on 8 August, are expected to provide additional clarity. For the family, the recovery of her body has ended the agonizing uncertainty of not knowing where she was, while opening a new phase of grief and a continued search for answers about how she died and why her body remained undiscovered for so long.
Goods left her friend’s apartment on a simple errand to a CVS and never returned. Surveillance video later showed her falling and collapsing near the airport on the same day. Nearly two weeks later her body was found in a drainage ditch not visible from the street. The text messages that arrived in the interim added a layer of digital distress that the family never accepted as genuine communication from her. Police and the family have offered differing emphases on the level of urgency and the interpretation of the phone activity. The official cause of death has not yet been publicly stated.
Relatives continue to seek a complete accounting of the final hours of Alisa Goods’ life and of the investigation that followed her disappearance. They have asked for privacy as they grieve and make arrangements to bring her home. The case that began with a missing grandmother and a series of unsettling text messages has ended with the recovery of her body near a major airport, leaving a family to process both the loss and the unanswered questions that remain.
