Polaroid found in parking lot of a convenience store in Port St. Joe Florida in July 1989.
Tara Calico’s disappearance has baffled investigators for decades. In July 1989, a color Polaroid of an unidentified young woman and a little boy was found by a woman in a convenience store parking lot in Port St. Joe, a beach town approximately one hour south of Panama City, Florida.
The woman who found the photograph in a vacant parking space said she saw a man driving a windowless Toyota cargo van parked there when she arrived at the store. The man was described as being in his 30’s with a mustache. The photograph had recently been taken. Officials at Polaroid said the picture was taken after May 1989 because it was not available until then.
In the picture, the young woman glares at the camera, her mouth covered with black duct tape, hands bound behind her back, alongside a young boy who looks scared, his mouth taped and hands bound behind his back as well.
Pictured alongside the bound woman is a copy of V.C. Andrews book, My Sweet Audrina, a 1982 best-seller about a young girl who is haunted by her sister’s death. The thriller touches upon rape, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and autism.
The photograph made the national news and a “Current Affair” where family and friends of a young missing New Mexico woman saw a haunting resemblance. Tara Calico vanished in Belen, New Mexico, 10 months earlier on September 20, 1988. They contacted Tara’s mother, Patty Doel, who insisted she meet with investigators and see the photograph firsthand.
After viewing the photograph, Patty insisted the picture was her missing daughter, even noting a discoloration on the leg of the woman pictured being identical to a large scar on Tara’s leg she had sustained in a car accident. Not to be overlooked, V.C. Andrews was also Tara’s favorite author.
The photograph has been carefully analyzed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation who felt the photograph was not of Tara while Scotland Yard declared it was her.
The Disappearance
On Tuesday, September 20, 1988, Tara left her home at approximately 9:30 a.m. to go on a daily bicycle ride along New Mexico State Rd. 47 in Belen, a route she took almost every morning. A small town, Belen only had a population of 7,152 in 2015.
Tara Calico missing from Belen, New Mexico since September 20, 1988
Sometimes accompanied by her mother, Patty had warned her daughter to carry mace with her when she rode but Tara rejected the suggestion. On the morning of Tara’s disappearance, she playfully told her mother to come and get her if she did not return by noon because she had plans to meet her boyfriend at 12:30 p.m. to play tennis.
When Tara did not return, anxiously Patty drove south along Tara’s usual bike route but could not find her. In the process of searching, she spotted a Boston cassette tape lying on the side of the rugged road. She immediately called the police.
Several witnesses told police they had witnessed an older light-colored pickup truck, about 1953, with a camper shell following close behind her as she rode along the highway. Quite possibly, Tara would not have even noticed if a vehicle was following behind her while she listened to Boston on her Walkman.
Unidentified Boy
The boy in the disturbing photograph remains unidentified to this day. Initially, when the photograph was found, the mother of Michael Henley said she was “almost certain” the boy in the Polaroid was her missing son. Sadly, Michael Henley was found deceased in June 1990 in the Zuni Mountains near where his father and he were hunting when the child vanished in April of 1988. It was determined he died of exposure.
Another missing child case has caught the attention of law enforcement as the picture strongly resembles David Michael Borer missing since April 26, 1989, from Willow, Alaska, about five hours south of Fairbanks.
Resemblance between missing child David Borer and the unidentified boy in Polaroid
David was last seen walking along Parks Highway about 11 miles on his way to a friend’s home or to the Kashmitna River sandbar.
David once hitchhiked to Wasilla, approximately 30 miles from his home and described as a very independent young child,
Canine searches tracked his scent to Parks Highway, but the scent was lost at the road and there have been no signs of him since.
A missing lead
In 2008, the Sheriff of Valencia County claimed he had received information about what happened to Tara. A witness came forward telling law enforcement two teenagers had been following Tara in a Ford pickup truck, trying to talk to her and grabbing at her. Apparently, they accidentally hit Tara and panicked, then killed her. No further information surfaced from this allegation and no arrests were made.
Tara’s stepfather, John Doel, disputed the sheriff’s claims telling media the sheriff should not have released this information without enough circumstantial information to make an arrest.
More haunting photographs surface
In 2009, twenty years after the Polaroid was found, pictures of a young boy were mailed to the Port St. Joe police chief, David Barnes. The sheriff received two letters with photographs included, one postmarked June 10, 2009, and the other postmarked August 10, 2009, from Albuquerque New Mexico. One letter contained a photo copy of a young boy with very light brown hair with a band of black ink drawn over the boy’s mouth as if it were covered in the 1989 Polaroid.
The second letter contained the original picture. On August 12th, the Star Newspaper in Port St. Joe received a letter, also from Albuquerque, with the same picture, with the same hand-drawn mouth covering. Law enforcement has never been able to confirm the original Polaroid and the pictures received in 2009 are of the same boy. None of the three letters contained information indicating the child’s identity. Though there was not a reference to Tara’s case, police felt confident it was potentially connected.
Two other Polaroids have been found over the years some believe may be of Tara. The first was found near a construction site. It was a blurry photograph of a seemingly nude girl with tape over her mouth, light blue striped fabric behind her, similar to the fabric seen in the original Polaroid. It too was taken on film not available until 1989.
Copy of Polaroid found in Montecito, California.
The second photograph is of a terrified woman bound on an Amtrak train (possibly abandoned), her eyes covered with gauze and big black framed glasses, with a male passenger taunting her in the photograph.
Of the many photographs and unidentified remains Patty had to view to help police throughout the country rule out, these three could never be ruled out by her mother.
Sadly, Patti Doel passed away in 2006, never finding out what happened to her daughter. Tara’s father passed away in 2002. However, with advancement in technology, Tara’s remaining family and stepfather still hold out hope they will one day find out what happened to her.
Valencia County Sheriff’s Office is not actively pursuing any of the photographs as possible leads. Instead, they are working with the FBI analyzing local suspects given the information provided to the sheriff’s office years ago that Tara was killed by local residents of her small community. Supported by witness reports claiming Tara was followed prior to her disappearance and she was also receiving threatening notes placed on her vehicle prior to her disappearance.
Michele Doel, Tara’s stepsister, told People Magazine when asked if the Polaroid with the young unidentified boy is Tara she responds, “If I had to say yes or no, definitively, yes, that is her,” says Michele. However, she added “Does that make sense? No. That’s not the story that makes sense.”
Current lead investigator Sgt. Joseph Rowland at Valencia County Sheriff’s Department said the vehicle in the first polaroid was identified as a van and the sheriff’s department received many tips about vans that were not fruitful.
Mother never lost hope
Patty Doel died in 2006 after suffering several strokes after relocating from New Mexico to Florida with her husband John.
Friends and family say her daughter was always on her mind, never giving up hope she would one day find her.
She and her husband John even had a bedroom they kept for Tara, placing passing birthday and Christmas gifts there.
Even after the strokes, Patty would see a young girl on a bicycle and point and write her daughter’s name. Her husband would have to tell her it wasn’t Tara.
Tara’s older brother Chris told People Magazine he believed the stress of his sister’s disappearance and lack of resolution significantly shortened his mother’s life.
“The police would send photos of every possibility, including pictures of bodies, dismembered bodies, and every time mom got an envelope with the newest pictures, she had to look at them,” Chris told People. “She couldn’t not look , but it tore her up every time.”
The first Polaroid told Patty her daughter might still be alive, she survived whatever and whoever abducted her.
A case that is not exactly cold, Tara’s family holds onto hope; and many of the missing person investigators have taken the case into retirement with them. A case that happened long ago but is never forgotten.
For the last two weeks, the family of a missing Norristown mother have been fearing the worst.
Jessica Guidici, 32, had been missing for eight days when authorities finally listed her as missing. In her absence, four children were left without a mother. The longer family went without hearing from her, the more concerned they grew, as no one in the family who has spoken out about Guidici’s disappearance made any indication she would leave her children of her own free will.
Their concern was only compounded by the circumstances surrounding the last confirmed sighting of Guidici. She was last seen on June 12th in the local Norristown McDonald’s parking lot around 9:00 in the morning. According to the Find Missing Jessica Guidici page, “She was last seen with Alex Webster, who has also since gone missing. Webster has deleted his Facebook account…According to the press release, Jessica was in visible distress when she was last seen.” Other witnesses told various media outlets she was visibly upset and crying.
Despite these reports, her case was not being treated as suspicious. In a Facebook post, one of Guidici’s close friends expressed her frustration, “Even if she WAS MAD AT HER MOM AND FELL IN LOVE AND WANTED TO RUN AWAY, she would have called one of us. No matter what.” It sounds ludicrous given the reported circumstances of her last sighting, but this is not uncommon in the case of missing adults. Without any evidence of a disturbance, law enforcement are not always able to assume the worst right away, as adults can come and go without explanation.
On June 27th, Norristown law enforcement reported Jessica Guidici had been found safe. She told investigators she dropped out of contact with her family of her own free will and advised she had never been in danger. While her family can breathe a sigh of relief she’s been found alive, the circumstances of her disappearance still remain a mystery.
This is a developing story…
Carie McMichael is the Communications and Media Specialist for Lauth Investigations International, writing about investigative topics such as missing persons and corporate investigations. To learn more about what we do, please visit our website.
When 5-year-old Lucas Hernandez was reported missing on February 17th, 2018, there was a great deal of speculation surrounding the circumstances of his disappearance. On that fateful afternoon, his father’s live-in girlfriend Emily Glass, 26, reported she checked on him before showering, then took a nap. She claimed she awoke to find Lucas missing, and called the authorities. Lucas’s father was working out-of-state and had left his son in Glass’s care. Fruitless months passed in the search for Lucas with investigators unable to uncover any credible leads to his whereabouts.
In a shocking twist, on May 24th, law enforcement received a call from private investigator, David Marshburn, who was hired to find Lucas, telling them Emily Glass had just led them to the child’s remains under a bridge in Harvey County, Kansas. Marshburn recorded audio of a conversation in which Emily Glass can be heard saying, “I’ve done Lucas so wrong.” Glass told Marshburn on the morning of February 17th, she found Lucas dead in his bed. Investigators on the scene at the bridge could not confirm with certainty the identity of the child prior to autopsy, but police chief Gordon Ramsay said in a press conference, “It’s likely Lucas.” He also reports the investigation is now “very active” following the discovery—a change of pace from months of silence after Lucas was first reported missing.
Glass was later arrested and jailed on suspicion of obstruction of justice. The break in the case was a testament to how private investigators are often able to uncover leads where the police are not able to. “We’re less of a threat sometimes to people we’re talking to because we have no powers of arrest,” private investigator Jim Murray of Star Investigations told KMBC News. This might explain why Glass suddenly broke her silence on the truth about what happened to Lucas that day.
When Glass was later released from police custody with no charges filed, the community was outraged. In addition to media presence, an infuriated crowd bore witness to her release, with frustrated cries of “How can you release her?” Glass refused to answer questions from reporters about her involvement in Lucas’s death and her rumored pregnancy, but other individuals close to the investigation have opened up since Glass’s arrest, including Lucas’s father, Johnathan Hernandez. On June 4th, Hernandez spoke to television journalist and legal commentator, Nancy Grace, on her national podcast, Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.
In his interview with Grace, Hernandez asserted he did not doubt Glass’s story about Lucas disappearing until her arrest. Grace asked Hernandez if he had knowledge of Glass abusing his son, to which he replied, “No, I did not. … She was always good with him.” Despite characterizing Glass as a “good mother,” Hernandez is still left with questions about her actions. “She said that she had panicked. I’m not sure if it is because she was smoking meth, which I had no knowledge of. I asked her why she didn’t call 911? Why, if that’s what happened and it was an accident and she was asleep and he died, why not call 911?” Jonathan told Grace.
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace also dropped a forensic bomb in the June 4th episode, stating their source claims the autopsy results have determined Lucas could have died—not on February 17th, or the night prior—but as early as February 10th or 11th. Attempts by various media outlets to contact the Wichita Police Department about the autopsy results have been met with “no comment,” as investigators continue to investigate Lucas’s death. District Attorney Marc Bennett stated in a press conference following Glass’s release from jail, ““I appreciate the exhaustive investigation in this case conducted by law enforcement and this office will actively continue to work with law enforcement until the case is resolved,” Bennett added, declining to comment further on the ongoing investigation.
Although Glass led David Marshburn to Lucas’s remains, law enforcement will never have another chance to question her as a person of interest in his disappearance. On June 8th, Glass was found dead from an “apparent suicide,” with a rifle at her feet, and three suicide notes in the home she shared with Lucas and his father. Despite her death, the investigation is still described by law enforcement as “ongoing.”
On Memorial Day weekend, family and friends of Lucas gathered near Benton, Kansas to release balloons in the little boy’s memory. KWCH12, which covered the event, printed a statement written by Johnathan Hernandez:
“This is a hard thing to write. I held on hope that Lucas was still alive. The past 3 months have been full of so many different theories and ideas about where Lucas was that I still had hope. I now have to live with the knowledge that Lucas is gone.
I am not a perfect man and have made mistakes. My love for my children is the one thing that has always been most important thing to me. Judge me if you must but please don’t ever think I didn’t love my son.”
Carie McMichael is the Communication and Media Specialist for Lauth Investigations International, a private investigation firm based in Indianapolis, Indiana–delivering proactive and diligent solutions for over 30 years. For more information, please visit our website.
At Lauth Missing Person Investigations, we specialize in complex missing person investigations of endangered missing children and adults.
The investigative team at Lauth Investigations has over 40 years combined experience working closely with the families of missing persons, local, state and federal law enforcement, along with national media and missing persons organizations throughout the country and internationally.
Founded in 1995, Thomas Lauth is a nationally recognized Missing Persons and Human Trafficking Investigator and graduate of the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy, who initially served as Senior Criminal Investigator for Marion County Public Defender Agency located in Indiana.
Lauth has served as both a prosecution and defense witness on numerous missing persons and homicides at the federal and state levels, including being appointed by state and federal courts to conduct independent investigations of homicides, robberies, and other serious felony matters.
In addition, Thomas has attended various U.S. Department of Justice conferences on missing persons, human trafficking, and child abduction. He served as a volunteer Advisor to the Nation’s Missing Children Organization and the National Center for Missing Adults for nearly twenty years.
In addition to working with local and state law enforcement, Lauth has worked cooperatively with Interpol, Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. State Department, the U.S. Consulate and various foreign embassies.
Lauth is considered an expert in missing persons by national media and has appeared in publications like Essence Magazine, USA Today, Los Angeles Daily News, San Diego Tribune, New York Times and more.
According to the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, as of May 31, 2018, there were 87,608 active missing person cases in the United States.
Missing persons are entered into various categories such as Juvenile, Endangered, Involuntary or Non-family Abductions, Disability, Catastrophe and Other. Though it is not mandated for law enforcement to enter missing persons into NCIC, it is beneficial to both the missing person and the private investigation. Lauth Investigations verifies all missing persons investigated are entered into NCIC making the missing person’s information available to all law enforcement throughout the country to include, medical examiners and Coroners.
By creating more public awareness, it increases the potential for generating leads. Lauth is one of the few private investigators in the country who works every day in locating missing persons, focusing on creating a collaborative effort between various victim assistance organizations, media, and law enforcement to create a successful public awareness campaign.
Lauth Investigations success rate is averaged at approximately 85% over 20 years working with families of missing persons. Every case is unique based on the circumstances of the disappearance and discovery based upon the private investigator’s fact-finding.
When hired, Lauth exclusively focuses on the specific missing person case, ensuring full attention is given to each case. Lauth is experienced in searching for missing persons between the ages of approximately 12-years old to seniors.
Circumstances of disappearances include at-risk children, teens, at-risk adults missing due to foul play, human trafficking, custodial and non-custodial abduction, (including Hague and non-compliant Hague countries), homeless, and those suffering from disabilities such as mental illness or missing persons suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.
Following are a few excerpts from letters Thomas Lauth has received throughout the years:
Mr. Lauth’s credentials indicate he has a high success rate of locating individuals and we have also found this to be true. He not only utilizes various resources to help locate individuals, but he frequently follows up with them after they are located to see how they are transitioning.
We will continue to utilize Thomas Lauth’s services in the future. His assistance with this organization and the many families of missing person we refer him to give hope to the possibility these families will once again be able to hold their loved ones in their arms. We highly recommend the services he provides to the families of missing persons.
Erin Bruno, National Center for Missing Adults
At a highly emotional time, I found the contact with Mr. Lauth to be quite reassuring. His experience in investigations of missing persons is quite impressive and without pressure, he outlined the stages of his proposed investigation costs and projected number of days to successfully locate my son.
As Tom predicted, my son was located a day later and was brought to the hospital in very bad shape. I am convinced without his intervention, my son was at extreme risk of death, or trafficked to other major cities around the world.
I am honored to provide a letter of reference for this remarkable man who is such a strong advocate for missing persons. My experience is such that I do not recommend relying solely on a local police department to locate a missing person, particularly with mental illness. The risk of exploitation or other harm is simply too great and hiring an experienced private investigator is more likely to bring a loved one home again.
Liz Mallin, mother of Brandon
Thomas Lauth, an investigator who specializes in missing children and adults, has been one of the most reliable and imaginative investigators we have found to date. Mr. Lauth’s experience with our organization, as well as the work he has done for the National Center for Missing Adults, has proven to be invaluable in the locating of abductors and bringing missing children and adults home.
Mr. Lauth’s impressive list of successes as well as his passion for the “left behind parent” makes him more than qualified to work in the area of child abduction. I would not hesitate to recommend Mr. Lauth to any parent who has lost a child. I personally feel that it is Mr. Lauth’s feelings for the children that separate him from so many other investigators.
David Thelen, CEO of Committee for Missing Children, Inc.
I wanted to take this opportunity to formally commend and recommend the services provided by Thomas Lauth at Lauth Investigations. My family and I recently worked with Thomas regarding my sister and nephew who had been missing for almost two years.
Tom was the second investigator that worked the case. Based on the excellent service we experienced, I sincerely regret that we did not work with him initially.
I found Thomas to be extremely knowledgeable, professional and emphatic. I immediately felt comfortable confiding in him. In response, Thomas offered a complete plan, with accurate cost disclosures and regular substantive updates.
Most importantly, Thomas did exactly what he promised to do, on time and within the estimated budget we initially discussed. Thanks to his efforts, we were able to speak with both missing parties for the first time since 2003.
Tom is an absolute gem. I strongly recommend him to anyone who may find him or herself in the unfortunate circumstance of losing contact with a loved one.
Andrea D. Townsend, Attorney at Law
Recently, my son was missing, and we had nowhere to turn until we found you. He had taken off for work and never got there. No one knew where he was, and police couldn’t help because he was of age.
If any parent is in our situation, I highly recommend they call you. You were so helpful and kind to us. You understood just how worried we were.
You met my husband in Massachusetts, where we finally figured out where he was. You stayed there until he was found and let us contact him. Your kindness and professional manner were of great comfort to us in our time of need. It is so hard not knowing where your child is. Anyone going through these hard times needs to know there is an organization out there that cares and handles the problem for you.
You don’t know what you gave back to us. My son means the world to me and getting him back made my world complete again.
I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart and hope that anyone else missing a child will call you. You are the best!
It has been over a decade since Facebook first broke ground in social media. Since its inception in 2004, Facebook has gone from connecting people in close proximity—students on college campuses—to closing the gaps of space and time as old high school flames reignite their old love through the lines of Facebook Messenger. However, not even Mark Zuckerburg could have predicted Facebook would be used to connect family members and amateur investigators in order to uncover new leads in unsolved or cold cases. The social media platform hosts hundreds of discussion pages, like Cold Case Discussion Group and Missing Leads, all ranging from the unsolved murder of child pageant star, JonBenét Ramsay, to the disappearances of private citizens.
As the epidemic of missing persons and unsolved cold cases in the United States grows, so does the number of Facebook discussion groups dedicated to the collection of new leads in these cases. These discussion groups and subsequent websites devoted to the re-examination of these cases have provided a new platform for connecting armchair detectives across the country. The phrase “armchair detective” refers to a person, who is not a member of law enforcement and who is not involved in the investigation process, who makes a hobby or career to research crimes and investigations in the hope of solving them. The phrase possibly first appeared in a Sherlock Holmes short story called The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter in which Holmes says, referring to his brother, Mycroft, “If the art of the detective began and ended in reasoning from an armchair, my brother would be the greatest criminal agent that ever lived.” Armchair detectives may be professionals such as investigative journalists or former law enforcement. They may also be retired private citizens, like Gemma Hoskins and Abbie Schaub of Baltimore, Maryland.
Hoskins and Schaub are like many of the middle-class people who grew up in Baltimore in the 1960’s. They were involved in their community, they attended church, and like many of their peers, they attended an all-girls Catholic school, Archbishop Keough High School, where they were under the instruction of a nun named Sister Catherine Cesnik. Both Hoskins and Schaub were former students of Sister Cathy’s when she mysteriously disappeared in early November of 1969. Her body was found nearly three months later by hunters in a wooded area outside Baltimore. The medical examiner discovered Sister Cathy died by blunt force trauma to her skull—the manner of death is homicide. Despite various leads, including the victim’s car being found abandoned across the street from her apartment, the trail for those behind Sister Cathy’s murder went cold and stayed cold for nearly half a century.
In 2005, a journalist named Tom Nugent revived interest in the case when he wrote a story entitled “Who Killed Sister Cathy?” for the front page of the Baltimore Sun, but it wasn’t until 2013 that he contacted women like Hoskins and Schaub who might have been Sister Cathy’s students. This renewed interested prompted Gemma Hoskins to post a message on the Facebook group for Archbishop Keough alumni, seeking others who might have information about the circumstances around Sister Cathy’s murder. Her attempt to reach out was met with negative response, with one exception: Abbie Schaub. And thus, an amateur team of armchair detectives was formed.
Abbie Schaub and Gemma Hoskins
Hoskins and Schaub are both retired—Hoskins from teaching and Schaub from nursing—and in the last five years, they have used the leads garnered from their Facebook discussion page about Sister Cathy to break new ground in the cold case, including identifying possible suspects, and circumstantial information that might point to a conspiracy to have the nun abducted and murdered. In the 2016 Netflix series, The Keepers, an original docu-series chronicling the mysterious circumstances surrounding Sister Cathy’s murder, Tom Nugent describes Abbie Schaub as “the intellectual,” and Gemma Hoskins as “the bulldog.” Between the two of them, they make a highly efficient investigative team. While Schaub’s strengths lie in research and the recovery of documents in public-access, Hoskins uses her people skills to pound the pavement in search of anyone with information about their favorite teacher’s murder.
In addition to seeking out the perpetrator behind Sister Cathy’s abduction and murder, Hoskins and Schaub have also taken it upon themselves to help another family who was devastated by a concurrent tragedy in Baltimore in 1969. On November 11th, 1969, three days after Sister Cathy went missing, Joyce Malecki, 20, also disappeared from the Baltimore area. Her body was discovered two days later. The circumstances surrounding the disappearances of both women were strikingly similar: Both women were out shopping on the day they were abducted. Both cars belonging to the respective victims were later found abandoned. The important difference was Malecki’s remains were recovered almost immediately, whereas Sister Cathy’s were not be found for three months. There was no difference to Hoskins and Schaub, who took it upon themselves to solicit tips about the disappearance of the 20-year-old office worker. In The Keepers, Schaub told director, Ryan White, “We thought, ‘As long as we’re doing all of this digging around’ let’s see if we can find something to help the Maleckis.”
The Facebook group monitored by Hoskins and Schaub also spawned a website about the case where anyone could leave an anonymous tip regarding any information they might have about the disappearances of Sister Cathy or Joyce Malecki. Their hard work, determination, and meticulous investigation skills played a major role in the development of The Keepers, with some interviewees alleging Hoskins and Schaub possessed more information than law enforcement. After the release of the Netflix docuseries, the Facebook group received such an overwhelming influx of new members the page was forced to temporarily shut down due to high traffic. The pair of amateur sleuths have made a glowing example of why the rising popularity of true-crime media will play a crucial role in shining new light on unsolved cases. When reflecting on the magnitude of their investigation in the first episode of The Keepers, Tom Nugent tells the camera, “I’ve asked both of them, ‘Don’t you guys want to become investigative journalists? Let’s have some real fun.’ And they tell me, ‘We’ll do it our way.’”
For more information on the cases of Sister Catherine Cesnik and Joyce Malecki, or to leave an anonymous tip, please visit: WhoKilledSisterCathy.com
Carie McMichael is the Communication and Media Specialist for Lauth Investigations International, a private investigation firm based in Indianapolis, Indiana–delivering proactive and diligent solutions for over 30 years. For more information, please visit our website.
The month of May is a time to celebrate the women in our lives who brought us up. During this time, when they should have been talking of treasured childhood memories while visiting with family, one Baltimore family was in the grip of fear and uncertainty following the disappearance of a mother in their lives. Akia Eggleston, 22, was reported missing on May 7, 2017, and since then, both family and law enforcement have been trying to make sense of her disappearance. Was she a victim of intimate partner violence, or did she simply vanish without a trace?
As if it were not horrifying enough for a loved one to go missing without answers, the anxiety of Akia’s disappearance was only escalated by the fact she was eight months pregnant. Shortly before her disappearance, she’d recently had a prenatal checkup for, what her doctors described as, a “high-risk pregnancy.” The baby was determined to be breach and Akia was scheduled for a cesarean. She was placed on bedrest.
When Akia failed to show up for her own baby shower, her loved ones began to suspect something was wrong. Her family told police Akia was excited about her impending delivery and would never have left her two-year-old daughter willingly. She also placed a $900 deposit down for the baby shower.
Concerned family calls went unanswered prompting the family to go check on her at the apartment where she was staying. What they found only heightened their suspicions. According to Akia’s stepfather, Shawn Wilkinson, “The only thing left in her apartment was her bed and a couple of dressers. It looked like she had moved out, but we know she couldn’t move anything because of her high-risk pregnancy. She could barely walk.” A recent article by Fox News in Baltimore, marking the one-year anniversary of Akia’s disappearance, also notes her personal belongings were missing and there was a sizable hole in the wall.
One of the unique problems in the case of missing adults in the United States is law enforcement is not always able to treat cases like these with the urgency they might require. Akia’s age was a factor preventing law enforcement from ruling out she did leave the apartment of her own free will. According to The Charley Project—a publicity vehicle maintaining awareness of missing persons cases—reports before the time of her disappearance, the family did not know the identity of the father of her unborn child, only that he was a family friend. Law enforcement determined from text messages between Akia and her female roommate she was planning on moving in with him. Reports indicated Akia had remained active during her pregnancy despite having been placed on bedrest, so law enforcement had to consider the possibility Akia left the apartment of her own accord.
Another piece of evidence, strengthening this resolve, was the last confirmed time Akia Eggleston was seen alive—on surveillance footage at a nearby bank. Detective Michael Reno told Crime Watch Daily, “The bank surveillance shows her at the bank by herself. She doesn’t look disheveled, she doesn’t look like she’s under any kind of stress, she’s there on her own. She presents a cashier’s check to the teller, she receives cash, and she leaves.” The amount of money withdrawn by Akia is characterized by Reno as “a lot,” which might be another explanation as to why police did not suspect foul play when first investigating.
It wasn’t until July of 2017 investigators announced they were considering foul play in the disappearance of Akia Eggleston. Baltimore Police spokesman T.J. Smith said, “At this state, I think we’re prepared to pivot, foul play is something we’re absolutely exploring. We’re obviously beyond the point where she could have given birth.” Akia had been placed on a notification registry alerting law enforcement if she was admitted to a hospital to deliver her unborn child, but she never did. The serious implications of her high-risk pregnancy also make it unlikely she would have been able to survive a home birth without medical assistance.
In October of 2017, a vigil was held outside Akia’s home. Shawn Wilkinson was there to speak, reaching out to the community for answers about his stepdaughter’s disappearance, “We need that one individual to step forward and give us some closure.” At the vigil, while everyone prayed for Akia’s safe return home, an eerie clue surfaced. Someone approached Wilkinson and claimed they’d found something in a bush outside the apartment. “I went behind the bush. I flipped it over with my foot to see what it said. It was her bank card,” Wilkinson said. Authorities were immediately contacted, and the card was seized as evidence.
Now one year later, Wilkinson and his family still do not have answers. Is it possible an expectant mother who is prescribed bed rest could move herself and many belongings out of her apartment alone? Or could the unidentified father of the child have played a role? Remember, when her family went to check on her well-being, they noticed a significant hole in the wall. While thought to be woefully under-reported, the National Institutes of Health estimates 300,000 women are the victims of intimate partner violence during pregnancy. The NIH also reports the second leading cause of death in pregnant women—after car accidents—is homicide, with more than two-thirds of those women being killed in their first trimester. Authorities have reportedly spoken to the expectant father of Akia’s unborn child but have not yet named any suspects in their investigation.
Akia Eggleston is 22 years old and is described as 4’8” tall, weighing 145 lbs. with black hair and brown eyes. She would no longer be pregnant. Anyone with information regarding her case is urged to call the Baltimore Police Department at (443) 984-7385.
Carie McMichael is the Communication and Media Specialist for Lauth Investigations International, a private investigation firm based in Indianapolis, Indiana–delivering proactive and diligent solutions for over 30 years. For more information, please visit our website.
Pictured alongside the bound woman is a copy of V.C. Andrews book, My Sweet Audrina, a 1982 best-seller about a young girl who is haunted by her sister’s death. The thriller touches upon rape, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and autism.
In 2009, twenty years after the Polaroid was found, pictures of a young boy were mailed to the Port St. Joe police chief, David Barnes. The sheriff received two letters with photographs included, one postmarked June 10, 2009, and the other postmarked August 10, 2009, from Albuquerque New Mexico. One letter contained a photo copy of a young boy with very light brown hair with a band of black ink drawn over the boy’s mouth as if it were covered in the 1989 Polaroid.
Now one year later, Wilkinson and his family still do not have answers. Is it possible an expectant mother who is prescribed bed rest could move herself and many belongings out of her apartment alone? Or could the unidentified father of the child have played a role? Remember, when her family went to check on her well-being, they noticed a significant hole in the wall. While thought to be woefully under-reported,