Three days before Christmas a church employee in Philadelphia made an alarming discovery. Outside in the cold, the employee found a card board box with clothes inside. Under a pile of shirts, a newborn was found. The baby was transported to the hospital where doctors determined her to be 5.5 pounds and only a few hours old. Police say she was wrapped in a hounds-tooth patterned blanket, an adult sized brown women’s weather, black bathrobe with polka dots and a large peach colored towel.
Investigators are working to find the baby’s mother. If you have any information, please contact the Philadelphia Police.
UPDATE: Police in Overland Park, Kansas say Aisha Kahn, 19, was found unharmed and she was not a victim of an abduction. Aisha has been reuinted with her family and friends. It is unclear where she has been for the last six days, her family released this statment on the ’Help Find Aisha Khan’ Facebook page, “On behalf of the Khan family, we are ecstatic to announce that Aisha has been found.”
BACKGROUND: Investigators in Kansas are searching for a 19-year-old student who has not been seen since Friday. Authorities say Aisha Khan left her sister a troubling voicemail around 11 a.m. before she disappeared. In the message, there were indications that Aisha may have been harassed by a man who appeared to be drunk and tried to kiss her. Overland Park Police at this point to do not have information to confirm an abduction took place and they are moving forward with a missing persons investigation.
UPDATE:Investigators say they have identified the mystery child found dead on the side of a rural road as Camden Pierce Hughes. The 6-year-old is from Texas and a woman believed to be his mother is in custody… More to come.
Maine State Police are working to identify an unknown child after discovering the boy on the side of a rural road. The four or five-year-old was found dead Saturday, 5 p.m. under a green fleece blanket on South Berwick. The cause of death has not been released and investigators say it is suspicious. Authorities also say a witness noticed a woman driving a Toyota Tacoma pickup truck earlier in the day. There could be a military connection based on a naval insignia seen on or near the license plate.
Authorities say the child was clean, well nourished and wore nice clothes. The sneakers on his feet were virtually brand new and could have been purchased within the last week.
UPDATE: Investigators in Baltimore, Md. confirm they have found the body of missing N.C. student Phylicia Barnes. Phylicia’s body and another unidentified male body was located Wednesday floating in the Sesquehanna River. The cause of death has yet to be determined. Stay tuned as more develops in this tragic case…
BACKGROUND: Phylicia’s North Carolina high school is offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to the teen’s whereabouts. She was an honor student at her school before she disappeared in Baltimore while visiting her sister over Christmas. Authorities are planning another large scale search to find the missing teen.
Five facts about this case:
Phylicia Barnes (missing)
1) Phylicia Barnes, 16, disappeared on the afternoon of Dec. 28 from a Northwest Baltimore apartment.
2) The FBI has joined the case to help find her, and investigators are leaning toward foul play.
3) Authorities focused their search efforts earlier in the week on Leakin Park. Unfortunately, no clues from that search have led them to Phylicia. More than three dozen locations have been searched.
UPDATE:Authorities said Isabella Oleschuk was found earlier today in Orange, Conn. inside a barn. She took food and juice from her home before she ran away last weekend.
BACKGROUND: Investigators say Isabella Oleschuk, 12, disappeared on Sunday from Orange, Conn. It’s possible she could have left her home at some point during the night. Isabella is the daughter of a firefighter and hundreds of firemen, police officers, neighbors and the FBI are all assisting in the search to find the seventh grader.
Isabella cannot hear in one ear and her hearing aid was left behind. She was last seen wearing a brown felt cape, light blue jacket and black rain boots. She has blond hair, blue eyes and stands about 5’4.” Isabella weighs about 120 pounds. A young couple was seen walking in the area on Sunday, the female resembled Isabella. Authorities are trying to identify that couple.
If you have any information, please contact the Orange Police department:(230) 891-2130
Stephanie Sprang (left), Tina Herrmann (middle), Kody Maynard (right)
BREAKING NEWS: Investigators confirm this evening that the three people missing in Ohio were found buried in a hollow tree. Investigators say Matthew Hoffman, suspect in child’s kidnapping, led them to the bodies… More to come…
BACKGROUND:
Two members of an Ohio family and one of their friends vanished eight days ago and haven’t been seen since. Investigators have been tracking down leads, but so far there’s no information that has yielded solid information to locate them. Today investigators searched an area in Foundation Park. This location is south of downtown Mount Vernon.
Sunday, authorities arrested Matthew Hoffman, 30, after they received information that 13-year-old Sarah Maynard was held captive in his home. The teen was rescued unharmed and transported to an area hospital where she sustained non-life threatening injuries.
Hoffman was charged with one count of kidnapping and is being held in the Knox County Jail. Authorities say Hoffman is not cooperating with investigators. Authorities were hoping the discovery of Sarah would also lead them to the location of her 32-year-old mother, Tina Hermann, her 10-year-old brother, Kody, and Tina’s 41-year-old friend Stephanie Sprang. Investigators found both of the women’s vehicles abandoned and blood inside the family home last week.
UPDATE:Investigators confirm they have found Zahra Baker’s remains in North Carolina. Authorities found the bones earlier this week in an isolated location, dug beneath the earth in a large grave. A “no fly” zone was erected above the area where investigators were searching, that zone would not allow news choppers above.
Hickory Police Chief Tom Adkins said earlier today at a press conference, “I’ve been dreading this moment [since] early on in this investigation. As investigators we are trained to follow leads, but never give up the hope the evidence may take us in the wrong direction and the outcome may be different. We have recovered enough physical evidence to believe we have found Zahra.” Chief Adkins continued to say that he and his staff are devastated.
Zahra’s mother has arrived in the United States from Australia. Stay tuned for updates on this case…
UPDATE:I just spoke with Sgt. Bill Goodin, and he did confirm to me that Amber was found in the middle of the night. He says a tip came in that she was at a local gas station and when police arrived on location, she was gone. I spoke with Amber’s father, James White, and he did tell me that his daughter called him directly and said, “they decided to let me go.” He raced to the store where Amber called from and picked her up. White says Amber is extremely tired, she is resting right now, and he is “relieved” that his daughter was found alive. He cannot talk about the specifics of the case or where his daughter may have been held over the last few days, but he did tell me that more arrests may be made in this case. White also said that Amber was found in white pajama pants.
Stranger abductions are not as common as we think, but when they happen it feels like the entire nation knows about it through the news and social media. If there is a car description, an Amber Alert is usually attached to the announcement along with a suspect description. That was the case with little Alisa Maier from Missouri. She is only 4-years-old and investigators say she was snatched from her front yard two days ago by a stranger. Alisa was playing in her front yard with her brother when the abduction occurred, and their mother jumped into her vehicle and tried to chase the abductor down. The FBI from St. Louis and investigators from surrounding counties quickly joined forces to create a command post and follow up with every lead to help find Alisa. Members of the community met at the local Elk’s Lodge and volunteered their time going door-to-door passing out fliers with Alisa’s face and information on them. The first 48 hours in an abduction arethe most crucial. According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, since 1997 the Amber Alert program is credited with the safe recovery of 502 children. There are 120 active amber plans in check across the country.
This swift effort by the community and the authorities in and around Louisiana, Missouri should be commended, because their efforts worked. I received an e-mail around 3:45 a.m. this morning from FBI S.A. Rebecca Wu that said Alisa was found late last night wandering around a car wash in Fenton, Missouri. Someone saw a small child, they believed to be a boy, and made contact with “him.”
**Prayers were answered last night when Ariel returned home after a memorial vigil was held to pray for her safe return. Her parents say she may have met a child predator on line and could have left to meet him, investigators are looking into that claim, and to figure out where she was hiding for more than two weeks.**
Police need your help finding 14-year-old Ariel Beck who they say ran away from home on November 18, 2009 after being grounded by her parents. Ariel’s family says this is the first time she has ever run away, and they are devastated. Investigators have learned, before she left, Ariel told a friend she had a 23-year-old female friend living in Sacramento, but they have no evidence to prove that she is there. No one has seen or heard from Ariel. Anyone with information is asked to call the Simi Valley Police Department Tipline at (805) 583-6984 or please contact Detective David Delmarto: (805) 583-6218 / email at ddelmart@simivalley.org.
Michelle Sigona is a crime fighting, victims advocate extraordinaire, but for Michelle -- the good fight doesn't stop there. In her spare time, she is a volunteer firefighter -- and now, she is tackling the issues and cases that mean the most to her....
