The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department announced that they believe Williams has travelled to Flint, Michigan and have contacted the city’s police department to share her face and information in the hopes that someone will recognize her.
An Indianapolis family has been rocked by the death of a home healthcare worker who was found dead under mysterious circumstances. Mo’Nesha McKinley tragically died in her home following a fatal shooting in the 1000 block of North Rural Street in Indianapolis, Indiana. The circumstances of the case triggered a death investigation which is now being treated as a homicide by Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.
Just days before Mo’Nesha was discovered in her home, her family had reported her missing. After reporting her missing, Mo’Nesha’s sister went to her home for answers. The sister, who wished to remain anonymous when she spoke to Fox59 said, “Her door was open and my sister went upstairs and found her by her tub dead.” At the time of her disappearance, Mo’Nesha had fierce and loving bonds with her large family, including her three boys, her siblings, parents, and godparents—all of whom called her ‘Moe Moe’. “We’ve got to bury her,” said Mo’Nesha’s sister, “We’ve got to bury her in front of her three kids. They’re lost. The three kids are lost. All they want is their momma.” Mo’Nesha was pronounced dead at the scene by investigators.
In addition to the tragic and grisly discovery of her body, there were also valuables missing from Mo’Nesha’s home, including her SUV. What’s piqued investigators’ interests is the timeline of the case. Mo’Nesha was found deceased on Sunday, October 17, 2021. Her family had reported her missing the previous Wednesday, October 13. At the time of the missing person report, a search of her home had turned up no clues to her whereabouts. Four days later, her body is found in her bathroom.
Even more disturbing, the family has reported to Fox59 that they have received threats by individuals online who are allegedly connected to the case, and pray for answers or an arrest before anyone else is hurt. “We shouldn’t have to sleep with one eye open,” said Mo’Nesha’s sister. “Were just afraid for our life. We don’t’ know what she could have done to make people feel this way.”
If anyone has information regarding the homicide of Mo’Nesha McKinley, they are encouraged to call Crime Stoppers at (317) 262-TIPS, or call Detective Charles Benner at IMPD Homicide Office at (317) 327-3475, or email at Charles.Benner@indy.gov.
When 30-year-old mother Najah Ferrell didn’t show up for work at a new job on March 15 of 2019, people began to worry. When she didn’t collect her two children later that afternoon, concerns mounted further. As far as missing person investigations could deduce, it had been a morning just like any other, but Najah had vanished. More than two years after her disappearance, Najah’s story will feature in upcoming show on Discovery Plus. Could such high profile publicity finally trigger a lead that sheds light on the fate of this missing adult?
Najah Ferrell’s sister described her as kind and caring; she was the mother of two children, as well as three foster kids. That Friday, Najah was ready to start a new job at a Panera Bread restaurant in Indianapolis. She’d been up since 3:00 am, and has asked her fiancé to wake the children and get them to school because her shift started at 5:00 am. Later, he would tell missing person investigators that the moment Najah left the apartment was the last time he saw her. She had set off for work from their home in Avon, Indana, in a 2018 Black Nissan Altima, with a 30 mile drive ahead of her.
Najah’s mother, Paula Gholson, soon reported her daughter missing to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department. She later shared, “I knew then. I said, ‘Something is wrong.’ Because that’s not Najah.” The case was later transferred to the Avon Police Department, under whose jurisdiction her last known whereabouts fell. Missing person investigations began with interviews of Najah’s fiancé, friends, family, and neighbors. Leader of the case Detective Nugent confirmed that everyone who was questioned fully cooperated with the investigators.
While those working the case were dedicated, Nugent shared that they came up against frustrating delays. The cell phone company were slow to respond to data requests, and an unrelated missing person case nearby left local resources thin on the ground. Najah’s mother Paula later revealed that she felt crucial time had been lost in the 48 hours that immediately followed her daughter’s mysterious vanishing.
On March 26, a breakthrough emerged and hope was reignited when Najah’s car was found abandoned in Indianapolis on Interstate 65. To the alarm of investigators and family members, some of Najah’s belongings were discovered strewn along the side of the road. However, her purse and cellphone were nowhere to be found. The hope that she may still be safe quickly faded on April 8 following a grizzly discovery. 100 miles north of Avon, a fisherman found a human foot in a retention pond at Crown Point. Realizing the greatest fears of her loved ones, the foot was confirmed to belong to Najah.
While missing person investigations began working on the assumption that Najah Ferrell had likely been murdered, no suspects have emerged, and her family members have vowed to continue their search. The Indiana State Police and Federal Bureau of Investigation are both actively involved. Authorities released the following statement: “We believe that somebody knows something about this case. We are pleading with the public to step forward with information that can help bring closure for Najah’s family and her children.” Police are encouraging anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers Central Indiana, highlighting that every single caller remains absolutely 100% anonymous.
If swifter action had been taken in the 48 hours following the disappearance of Najah Ferrell, could her fate have been different? For loved ones of any missing person, knowing where to turn for additional support can be invaluable. Here at Lauth Missing Persons, we take every step to ensure that the families of those who have vanished have access to every resource possible. Alongside providing immediate expert missing person assistance, we help loved ones to set up critical Go Fund Me campaigns in order to fund their efforts. We can also advise on other organizations that offer additional support, such as The Black and Missing Foundation and National Missing and Unidentified Persons System. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help.
Two decades have passed since sisters Diamond and Tionda Bradley disappeared without a trace. Both girls were last seen on July 6th, 2001, when their mother Tracey Bradley left for an early work shift at 6:30 am. The girls were ten and three years old respectively at the time of their unexplained disappearance.
Today, Diamond would be approaching her 24th Birthday, while Tionda would be 30 years of age. Following the realization that the two young sisters had gone missing, one of the biggest manhunts in the city of Chicago’s history was initiated. However today, the family of the two sisters continues to wait for answers in a case that—despite a number of twists and turns—has never provided much-needed closure.
When Tracey Bradley returned home from work on July 6th, 2001—to the apartment she shared with her daughters near 35th and Cottage Grove in Chicago, Illinois—her two girls were nowhere to be found.
The sisters’ mother discovered a note from Tionda which said they had planned to walk to a store and Doolittle Elementary School, where the eldest was enrolled in summer school classes. Although children from the local neighborhood reported having seen the sisters playing nearby at around midday, Tionda did not attend class, and the girls were never seen again.
On the day that they went missing, Tionda’s hair was styled with green ponytail holders, and she bore the usual signs of a playful childhood—with a scrape on her left calf and a quarter-sized burn mark on her left arm. Diamond sported purple ponytail holders and was described as having a scar on the left side of her hairline at the time she went missing.
Two men were said to be of interest to the case, including a Middle Eastern man who was reported to have paid child support for one of the sisters and later learned that he was not her father. However, no conclusive evidence was ever declared to the public, nor charges brought. Not long after the sisters’ disappearance, a young girl was found—raising hopes for the frantic family—however, she was otherwise identified and reunited with her own kin.
In the spring of 2005, a body of a girl close to Tionda’s age was found in a South Side industrial zone in Chicago. Once again, the Bradley family endured the emotional roller coaster of a possible lead, however following a DNA test performed against a sample from the girls’ mother Tracey, it was confirmed that Tionda remained missing.
Eighteen years after the disappearance, a woman from Texas came forward claiming to be Tionda. Communicating with the family via text message in 2019, she claimed that she and Diamond had been abducted by a family friend. Enlisting the help of a private investigator, the Bradley family were tragically able to identify that the woman—known at the time as LayLay Rodriguez on social media—was lying. This was reportedly in part due to a missing scar.
Speaking to CBS News, the girls’ great aunt Sheila Bradley-Clark shared, “This group of scammers are not the missing Diamond or Tionda Bradley.” Meanwhile, the family expressed on Facebook, “We hope that all will continue to provide any tips as to the whereabouts of Diamond and Tionda Bradley.”
Each year since the disappearance of Diamond and Tionda, their devoted family have gathered to stage a vigil in Chicago’s Taylor Park—both in the girls’ memory, and in the hope that answers will one day be revealed. “Some days I have dreams that I’m seeing them walking down the street,” said Diamond and Tionda’s great uncle K.D. Jones when speaking at the gathering in 2017. Last year, mother Tracey Bradley shared, “I know in my heart they’re still alive.”
The FBI continues to hold the case open, but unfortunately no further developments have emerged. Periodically, the FBI has also released age progression photos that aim to suggest what Diamond and Tionda might look like today. As the family prepares to mark 20 years since the Bradley sisters’ disappearance, the truth of what happened on that fateful morning sadly remains shrouded in mystery.
Have you seen Victor Johnson? The missing Indianapolis man is Black, 6’3” with a medium build and tattoos. At 40 years old, Victor has only ever called Indianapolis home. A familiar face on the eastside, Victor’s friends and family are now missing him following a mysterious disappearance. Victor Johnson was last seen by his family near 10th Street and Oakland Avenue on March 31st.
Adults have the right to go missing, but that doesn’t mean they don’t need help. If a person over 18 goes missing, investigating authorities might be less inclined to prioritize it without evidence that the person went missing under malicious circumstances. After all, adults have the right to go off the grid without calling their families, but Victor’s family has reason to believe that Victor may be experiencing some level of distress. Victor’s stepfather, Crosby Swinney, told FOX59 that Victor had been struggling with hallucinations as the result of withdrawal from alcohol, and had been experiencing seizures. Swinney was the last person to see Victor on March 31st when he dropped him off at his girlfriend’s house. la
News of Victor Johnson’s disappearance has rippled throughout the eastside, leading to more than one witness coming out of the woodwork to speak to local media. A woman identified herself to FOX59 over the phone as Victor’s girlfriend, but refused to give her name. She claimed that male stranger had possession of Victor’s cell phone, because when she called it, he answered and claimed to have found the phone, but would not give his name, nor has he turned up to return the phone.
Authorities have not ruled out foul play in Victor’s disappearance. Meanwhile, his family continues their own search efforts in the streets of Indianapolis.
Anyone with information on Victor’s whereabouts should call Detective James Burton at IMPD’s Misisng Persons Branch (317-327-6160)
The family of Alexis Tiara Murphy, 17, finally have some semblance of closure after 7 years of searching for her—though the circumstances were devastatingly tragic. Alexis left her home in Shipman, Virginia to visit the nearby city of Lynchburg. She was last seen on surveillance video at a Lovingston gas station. After seven long years and multiple searches, her remains were finally discovered on a Lovingston property on December 3, 2020.
It wasn’t until February 5, 2021 that the Chief Medical Examiner in Richmond was able to positively identify the remains as belonging to Alexis Murphy. In the wake of this tragic development, her family released a statement about their devastating loss, “While we have been grieving the loss of Alexis since 2013, we remained hopeful that she would be found alive and well. Alexis was the fashionista, athlete, and joker of our family; we were blessed to have loved her for 17 years, and her memory will continue to live on through us all.”
The original search conducted outside Lovingston in 2013 involved helicopters, canine units, and volunteers searching for any sign of the missing teenager. While they searched, police poured over the surveillance video from the Lovingston gas station. Police were able identify a person of interest on the surveillance video, Randy Taylor, 48. Taylor was arrested following the discovery of one of Alexis’s hairs in his camper. Despite Taylor’s insistence that he only knew Alexis for a brief time when she offered to help him buy marijuana, Taylor was convicted of her murder in 2014. In a statement, the Nelson County Sheriff’s Office stated “With the comprehensive investigation, successful prosecution by the Nelson County Commonwealth Attorney’s Office, and the recovery of Alexis, this case is now no longer active.”