Owner of Las Vegas BBQ restaurant missing, police say

Las Vegas police are asking for help locating a woman who went missing last week in the west valley.

Sharon Harrell, 53, was last seen Friday near Durango Drive and Oakey Boulevard.

For 15 years, Harrell has owned TC’s Rib Crib, a barbecue restaurant 2 miles south on Durango.

Harrell is from Louisiana but has lived in Las Vegas for years, according to her goddaughter, Alexis Germany. But when Hurricane Katrina hit, many of her Louisiana relatives were seeking refuge, and she opened her doors to them here in the valley.

In the aftermath, it became apparent that her family that they would have nowhere to return to, so Harrell and her family opened TC’s Rib Crib in 2004. The menu is filled with family recipes, Germany said.

In September 2017, the restaurant offered free meals to a Florida high school football team when it became stranded in Las Vegas as Hurricane Irma struck their hometown of Miami. Germany said her godmother was always willing to offer a helping hand to anyone who needed it.

“Anybody who needed anything, and I do mean anything, she’d make it happen,” Germany said.

Germany said some people have floated the idea that Harrell may have just needed to get away for a bit, but that’s not the kind of thing her godmother would do.

“It’s so far beyond her character,” Germany said. “She would never just disappear like that without at least telling close family and friends.”

Harrell is 5 feet, 5 inches tall and has brown hair and hazel eyes. Anyone with information about her whereabouts can contact the Metropolitan Police Department at 702-828-3111, or the Missing Persons Detail at 702-828-2907.

Contact Alexis Egeland at aegeland@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0335. Follow @alexis_egeland on Twitter.