Missing woman, husband owed $1.2M

A Bartow County woman missing since Friday and her husband were in serious financial trouble, according to documents filed in U.S. bankruptcy court.
 
Abed and Wazineh Suleiman, of Cartersville, owed debtors more than $1.2 million when they filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy in August, court documents show. The couple, which owed more than $150,000 on credit cards,  was forced to surrender most assets, including rental property in Florida. The couple retained possession of their Law Road home and a 2009 Toyota Tacoma.

Investigators were not sure Wednesday if the financial problems had anything to do with Wazineh Suleiman's disappearance, Bartow County Sheriff Clark Millsap told the AJC.

"I don't have any idea at this point," Millsap said. "I don't know if she left on her own free will."

Wazineh Suleiman, a 30-year-old mother of five, has not been seen since around 9 p.m. Friday, when she allegedly told her children she was going to rent a movie. Abed Suleiman has told the AJC he retued home about 10 minutes after his wife allegedly left, and he was shocked to find that his wife had left the home at night, allegedly driving the couple's 2004 Nissan Armada.

That SUV was found Tuesday moing parked and locked at a vacant business near I-75 in Cherokee County. There was no sign of any struggle or foul play, Millsap said.

Abed Suleiman has pleaded for his wife's safe retu and was organizing a search Wednesday evening in the Acworth area near where the SUV was found. He has told the AJC it is out of character for his wife to not contact him. The two were apparently exchanging text messages Friday night.

Investigators are reviewing cell phone records for more clues to the woman's disappearance, Millsap said Wednesday. Detectives also interviewed the couple's children and a friend of Abed Suleiman. Investigators are waiting on bank records to determine if Wazineh Suleiman has used a debit or credit card since she has been missing.

Wazineh Suleiman worked as an assistant in a kindergarten class at Dar-Un-Noor Academy in Atlanta, where her children also attend, Abed Suleiman said. School leaders declined to comment about the woman's disappearance Wednesday afteoon.

Abed Suleiman is a pharmacist who has worked at Redmond Regional Medical Center in Rome, according to his Facebook profile. He told the AJC he previously worked at a Walmart pharmacy in Calhoun. In bankruptcy documents, Abed Suleiman listed his monthly net income at $8,350.

Abed Suleiman said he moved his family to Cartersville from south Florida about three years ago.