WARRENSVILLE HEIGHTS, Ohio — As her loved ones continue to search for 23-year-old Michelle Arnold more than five weeks after she went missing from Warrensville Heights, her sister Ebony Arnold says she received a bizarre call Sunday night they think could be a break in the case.
"They stayed on the phone for a duration of 84 minutes and 21 seconds," Ebony said.
According to Ebony, it was a call from a private number, While no voice was heard, the individual on the line was answering questions through knocks and pressing buttons.
"'If this is 'Shell, press a button,' and we heard a button. We heard a button pressed," Janez Vines, a family friend who was with Ebony when the call came in, told 3News.
"She did say it was her," Ebony added. "She did say that someone did take her and had her in a hotel room."
Though the family knows it could have been anyone, they are holding onto hope that it's a cry for help from Michelle. They drove to the Warrensville Heights police station, but claim the way they were treated was "unacceptable."
With emotions high, they said they pounded on the door, hoping to get an officer to take the call before it was too late.
"I got hit in the head like we had gotten bum-rushed," Ebony recalled. "And they were cussing us out, like, 'We don't care, we don't give an F what you're here for. ... Just don't knock on our door like that.'"
When reached for comment, police told WKYC they are getting a court order to pull cell phone records and track down the number.
Michelle is a Type 1 diabetic who requires an insulin pump. Authorities spoke to her doctor, who says she has not filled her prescription.
Lieutenant Paris Johnson tells us they have searched Michelle's home as well as that of her girlfriend, whom she was last seen with. Officials also searched vacant apartments in the area, but say they still don't know if she is considered a missing endangered adult or if she left on her own.
All this as the family continues to call for police to do more.
"I understand that this is our loved one, this is somebody that we care about and it is a stranger to them," Vines stated. "But [show us] some compassion, a little understanding, because it doesn't feel like that."
Michelle is 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighs 150 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. She was last seen at Banbury Apartments in Warrensville Heights wearing black Balenciaga sneakers with a black crossbody bag, gray sweatpants, and a white shirt.
Anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to call the police tip line at (216) 587-4545.