THOMASVILLE — A Tallahassee mother can barely function because she is so concerned about the fate of her missing daughter.

“She’s my heart,” Betty Cooper said. “I can’t work. I can’t do anything. My body just feels empty.”

The last time Cooper saw her daughter, Kami Pettway, was about 7 p.m. Friday, May 9, at the family home in south Tallahassee.

The girl, 12, also is a daughter of Michael Pettway, a Thomas-ville resident until recently. The child has been a frequent Thomasville visitor.

In the early evening of the 9th, Kami returned home at 7 as her mother had instructed. She asked if she could go back outdoors until 8 p.m., an hour away.

That was the last time Cooper saw her daughter.

Cooper recalled an incident of about four months ago: Kami became angry with her mother and left a note saying she was leaving home for a while. She returned to the family’s residence at Pine Ridge Mobile Home Park three to four hours later.

“This time I’ve heard nothing,” Cooper said Monday. “It’s very unusual.”

The child calls her mother at work to let her know when she arrives home from classes at Nims Middle School. She also requests her mother’s permission to associate with new acquaintances.

Cooper said an older man tried unsuccessfully recently to get Kami into his vehicle.

“I think something might have happened to her,” Cooper said, pointing out that her daughter is only 12.

Tammy Diggs, a Thomasville resident and fiancee’ of the child’s father, shares Cooper’s misgivings.

“This is just not like Kami,” Diggs said. “I feel like she’s in the hands of someone who won’t let her go.”

According to Diggs and the child’s brother, Kadobe Martin of Tallahassee, the missing girl has been spotted at a Tallahassee park, in Havana, Fla., and at a Tallahassee mall.

Martin, who went to Havana to look for his sister, said one report has it that she was seen with a man in his late 30s — someone known to the family. Havana police searched the residence of a relative with whom the man is said to be living — to no avail.

“I don’t know what’s going on,” Martin said. “I figured in a week my sister would have called.”

Sandra Harrison, a Tallahassee Police Department detective, said police are staying in touch with the child’s family and following every lead.

“At this point, we don’t know,” Harrison said Monday. “We’re assuming she’s a runaway.”

Investigators have nothing that points to foul play, she said.

A reward of up to $1,000 is being offered by Crimestoppers for information leading to locating the girl. Anyone with information should call Tallahassee police at (850) 891-4200 or Thomasville police at 226-2101.

“I feel like if Kami could get her hands on a phone, she would call somebody — me, her mom, her dad,” Diggs said.