Kayla Bailey, a mom in Jacksonville, Florida, has been found safe after going missing. The last time she was seen by her family was on August 17, 2025. When she didn’t return the following morning, they contacted police. Her relatives believed she had been struggling in the time before her disappearance, which led them to think she may have been in danger, but she was found unharmed. And just as police were finding Bailey, her husband was arrested, although police say the two things are unrelated.
Kayla Bailey, a 35-year-old mom of five ranging in age from 5 to 12, was reported missing on the morning of August 18, First Coast News reported. According to her husband, Joshua Bailey, her cellphone last pinged at a gas station around 6:40 a.m. After that, the phone either died or was turned off.
According to her relatives, she had recently been struggling and was having trouble managing her photography business. “This is not her character. She would never, ever, ever leave these kids. She wouldn’t do this to me,” her mother, Lisa Lucas, told the news outlet. Her husband believed that she could be in personal danger.
Volunteers, along with members of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and other local authorities, began a search for the mom that went into Tuesday. More than 50 police officers and firefighters worked to find her.
Members of the sheriff’s department’s Missing Persons Unit found Kayla in the morning on August 20. She was lying down in a wooded area less than a mile from her home. Although she was found “alive and well,” she was taken to a hospital for treatment.
“Imagine somebody that’s been out in the weather that we’ve been having for the past two days with no water, no food, no shelter, that is the condition that she was found in,” Sgt. Michael Monts of the unit said during a press conference. He did note, “She is stable.” Police believe Kayla was in that location “on her own accord.”
On August 19, 40-year-old Joshua Bailey was booked into the Duval County jail around 10:22 p.m., Action News Jax reported. His charges include violation of injunction for protection against domestic violence and violation of probation/community control. According to police, the arrest was unrelated to his wife’s disappearance.
A recent incident report viewed by Action News Jax showed the couple was having marital problems. Their daughter said her mom had taken her children to stay with her mother for a few weeks. They had only returned home a week before she went missing.
Joshua Bailey appeared in court on August 20, WJXT reported. His bond was set at $15,003, and he was ordered not to use drugs or weapons. He also was ordered not to contact his wife nor return to their address.
The investigation into why Kayla Bailey left home is ongoing.
If you or someone you know has been the victim of domestic abuse, you can find help and support at DVIS.org, the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or by contacting your local women’s shelter (domesticshelters.org).
