The sister of former NFL cornerback Sam Beal is pleading for help, saying her brother has been missing for seven months.
TMZ first reported on Essence Zhane’s social media announcement, where she wrote on Facebook in a shared post with the Virginia Beach Police Department and Missing People pages. In the post, she shared screenshots of the NamUs report of her missing brother, which was filed on October 16, 2025, and says the last date Beal was seen was July 13 of the same year. His last known location was Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Zhaen she has been carrying “this heavy feeling for months.”
“We’ve done everything we could on our end to piece things together and at this point we’re in desperate need of support on all ends,” she wrote in the post. “I’m not here to answer a bunch of why’s and how’s I just need this to land in the right direction to gain some form of answers or closure.”
Zhane shared the contact information for the Kentwood, Michigan, and Virginia Beach police departments to anyone who has information on Beal’s whereabouts. According to the report, the 29-year-old from Grand Rapids, Michigan, was last seen by his girlfriend when he dropped her off at a family friend’s house on July 12, 2025. She last spoke to him on July 13 via phone call. After he dropped her off, he was supposed to have borrowed her car and headed to work, but he headed instead to Virginia Beach.
The report says that Beal told his girlfriend he went to Virginia Beach and that he would head home, but he never returned. He did not bring anything with him besides the clothes he was wearing, a pair of slides, and his wallet, which had his banking card and driver’s license.
Beal’s girlfriend’s vehicle was recovered in Virginia Beach by her family member, per the report. In the car were his shoes, socks, and some sand on the floor and on the passenger’s seat. Zhane also shared photos of a receipt for paid parking on 210 25th Street, which is an avenue above the boardwalk, and a receipt for a beach store called Sunsations for items including a travel mug and a money clip.
“I’m a Big sister and I need my brother to know that We Love You and miss you and this has been a heavy feeling for months to carry around,” Zhane wrote on Facebook.
The New York Giants picked Beal in the third round of the supplemental draft in 2018. He played under ten games for the team due to an injury and opted out one season during the Covid-19 pandemic. He was released from the team in 2021.
