Missing Denver hair stylist last seen in University Hills

Friends, family, community members and police are searching for a Denver hair stylist who went missing after leaving her University Hills apartment nearly two weeks ago.

Jax Gratton, 34, was last seen around 10 p.m. April 15 in the 4200 block of East Iliff Avenue, according to the Denver Police Department.

Her friends realized something was wrong when she didn’t show up for appointments with multiple clients, said Brandy Carey, a manager at Solera Salon Suites. Gratton rents a studio at the company’s North Broadway location.

Gratton’s parents reached out to her fellow stylists after not hearing from her, and Carey accessed her work computer to find that the last appointment she checked out was on April 12.

Gratton’s friends and family are worried for her safety, particularly because she left medicine, makeup and her beloved cat behind.

“She would never leave Madame Franchesca,” Carey said. “That’s her baby.”

Gratton’s mother, Cherilynne Gratton-Camis, started worrying something was wrong when her daughter didn’t call her on Easter.

Gratton never misses a holiday or birthday phone call, Gratton-Camis said, and she talks to her mom about everything.

“She has had a very rough life being transgender, but she has survived and I’m so proud of her,” Gratton-Camis said. “If she’s out there, alive, she’s going to make it through this.”

Word of Gratton’s disappearance spread quickly through Denver’s LGBTQ community and more than 300 people have joined a Facebook group Carey started Thursday to help find her friend.