3.09.10 6:40pm UPDATE

The family of a missing Tallahassee woman is speaking out for the first time since she vanished one month ago.

It comes as deputies change Danielle Brown's status from missing to murdered.

"We want closure. We just want closure and we want to be able to bury her proper and you know, to mourn her proper," said Brown's cousin, Michelle Jefferson.

Michelle Jefferson wears a purple ribbon waiting for word that someone has found her cousin, Danielle Brown. That call hasn't come yet.

Tuesday, the Leon County Sheriff's Office reclassified Brown's case from missing person to murder.

"Detectives have developed evidence during this investigation which leads us to believe this is a homicide investigation and we are treating it as such," LCSO Spokesman Tony Drzewiecki said.

Brown's ex-boyfriend, Elijah James, is a person of interest in the case, but he hasn't been charged with her murder.

Elijah James has been charged with torching her car in Georgia.

State Attorney Willie Meggs decided this week to drop car theft charges against James in Tallahassee, so he can be extradited to Georgia to face arson charges there.

"We clearly know that an arson occured in Georgia and at this point, we're going to kind of let Georgia deal with that charge," Meggs said.

Michelle Jefferson says she has no doubt Elijah James killed her cousin and hopes he'll eventually be charged with her murder.

In the meantime, she's outraged that he's keeping quiet and making her family suffer.

"What would you say to him if you had an opportunity?"

"To him?"

"Yes."

"How could you? How could you do this to us? What gives you the right to decide that she's no longer allowed to live? He didn't have that right," Michelle Jefferson said.

James could be extradited to Georgia later this week or possibly next week.

Leon County deputies say they'll continue their murder investigation and say it's possible James will be back.

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The Leon County Sheriff's Office has reclassified its investigation into the disappearance of Danielle Brown as a homicide, according to LCSO Spokesman Tony Drzewiecki.

Brown vanished February 5th after leaving her Springhill Road home with ex-boyfriend Elijah James.

James has since been arrested for torching Brown's car and abandoning it a dump site in Pavo, Georgia, but he has not been charged with her murder.

Brown's license and phone were found on a Georgia roadside, but no one has found her body.

State Attorney Willie Meggs made a decision Monday night to drop car theft charges against James in Leon County, saying deputies are not sure in which state James stole Brown's car.

That clears the way for James to be extradited to Georgia to face arson charges.

As to whether Meggs will pursue murder charges against James without finding Brown's body, he said they'll have to cross that bridge when they get to it.