Black and Missing but Not Forgotten

A TEENAGE runaway missing for more than four months could be with a man in Birmingham, police have warned.

Fourteen-year-old Makeba Shepherd’s family have not seen the Highbury Fields schoolgirl since January.

Now stepmother Gillian Shepherd has made an emotional appeal to the teenager to come home.

Mrs Shepherd, 53, a carer and caterer, of Grosvenor Avenue, Highbury, said: “I think someone is holding Makeba somewhere.

“It must be an older person and that person has taken her out of London. Somebody has got her, whether it’s a boy or a girl. I wouldn’t doubt it if they said she was living with a man in Birmingham.

“Somebody is holding her, somebody is feeding her – probably the guy she is with.

“I have taken care of her since she was 10 years old, when I married her father and she came to live with me. All we want is for her to come home. If she doesn’t want to come home, let us know where she is.”

At the time of her disappearance, Makeba had been living in Offord Road, Islington, with her stepmother, her construction worker father Richard Shepherd, 50, and a younger brother.

Mrs Shepherd said that problems started after Makeba got into a row with her father after coming home late the year before last.

According to police, Makeba has run away nine times in the previous two years – although until now the longest she has stayed away is five days. Mrs Shepherd last saw Makeba on the morning of January 17, when the teenager was getting ready for school.

There were two possible sightings of her in January – one in Wood Green and the other around Holloway Road.

In February, she used her mobile phone to text and call police – even agreeing to meet an officer outside Angel Tube station. But she never turned up and later told police she was afraid she would be taken into care.

Makeba once more made contact on May 16, when she called her father to say she was not in London.

Sergeant Julie Henderson, of Islington police missing persons unit, said: “She has not made any contact with friends, her mobile phone is switched off and she does not have a cash card.

“There is a suggestion she might be in Birmingham with a man, possibly a boyfriend. But it’s come to us third-hand and we don’t know if it’s true.

“We spoke to her best friend at the beginning of May who said she was not aware of any boyfriend and was very surprised that she hadn’t contacted her family. We are really in the dark on this case. We have followed every lead. She has gone missing nine times before and we thought she would just turn up.”

Anyone with information should contact Police Constable Scott Roney on 020 7421 0161 or 07904 324 181 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

[Source]

A TEENAGE runaway missing for more than four months could be with a man in Birmingham, police have warned.

Fourteen-year-old Makeba Shepherd’s family have not seen the Highbury Fields schoolgirl since January.

Now stepmother Gillian Shepherd has made an emotional appeal to the teenager to come home.

Mrs Shepherd, 53, a carer and caterer, of Grosvenor Avenue, Highbury, said: “I think someone is holding Makeba somewhere.

“It must be an older person and that person has taken her out of London. Somebody has got her, whether it’s a boy or a girl. I wouldn’t doubt it if they said she was living with a man in Birmingham.

“Somebody is holding her, somebody is feeding her – probably the guy she is with.

“I have taken care of her since she was 10 years old, when I married her father and she came to live with me. All we want is for her to come home. If she doesn’t want to come home, let us know where she is.”

At the time of her disappearance, Makeba had been living in Offord Road, Islington, with her stepmother, her construction worker father Richard Shepherd, 50, and a younger brother.

Mrs Shepherd said that problems started after Makeba got into a row with her father after coming home late the year before last.

According to police, Makeba has run away nine times in the previous two years – although until now the longest she has stayed away is five days. Mrs Shepherd last saw Makeba on the morning of January 17, when the teenager was getting ready for school.

There were two possible sightings of her in January – one in Wood Green and the other around Holloway Road.

In February, she used her mobile phone to text and call police – even agreeing to meet an officer outside Angel Tube station. But she never turned up and later told police she was afraid she would be taken into care.

Makeba once more made contact on May 16, when she called her father to say she was not in London.

Sergeant Julie Henderson, of Islington police missing persons unit, said: “She has not made any contact with friends, her mobile phone is switched off and she does not have a cash card.

“There is a suggestion she might be in Birmingham with a man, possibly a boyfriend. But it’s come to us third-hand and we don’t know if it’s true.

“We spoke to her best friend at the beginning of May who said she was not aware of any boyfriend and was very surprised that she hadn’t contacted her family. We are really in the dark on this case. We have followed every lead. She has gone missing nine times before and we thought she would just turn up.”

Anyone with information should contact Police Constable Scott Roney on 020 7421 0161 or 07904 324 181 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

[Source]

Memphis Police say a 16 year-old girl, who was last seen on May 15, 2008 has been found.

Ariel Adams had been listed as an “endangered runaway.” Police say on Thursday, May 15, Adams walked away from her foster mother’s home in the 4100 block of Silverleaf.

Police did not release any details of how and where she was found.

[Source]

Memphis Police say a 16 year-old girl, who was last seen on May 15, 2008 has been found.

Ariel Adams had been listed as an “endangered runaway.” Police say on Thursday, May 15, Adams walked away from her foster mother’s home in the 4100 block of Silverleaf.

Police did not release any details of how and where she was found.

[Source]

City police were asking for the public’s help Friday in finding a 14-year-old Asheville girl who ran away from her guardian May 2.
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Lisa Hazel Peay has not been getting treatment for a medical condition since she left home, making it imperative that she be found soon, police said.

Peay is about 5 feet tall with black hair and brown eyes. She weighs about 135 pounds. Her last known address was 102 Furman Ave., Apt. 38.

Anyone with information on her whereabouts is urged to call the Police Department at 252-1110 or Asheville-Buncombe CrimeStoppers at 255-5050.

[Source]

City police were asking for the public’s help Friday in finding a 14-year-old Asheville girl who ran away from her guardian May 2.
Advertisement

Lisa Hazel Peay has not been getting treatment for a medical condition since she left home, making it imperative that she be found soon, police said.

Peay is about 5 feet tall with black hair and brown eyes. She weighs about 135 pounds. Her last known address was 102 Furman Ave., Apt. 38.

Anyone with information on her whereabouts is urged to call the Police Department at 252-1110 or Asheville-Buncombe CrimeStoppers at 255-5050.

[Source]

The search for a 10-year-old girl missing for nearly 30 hours ended about 10:30 p.m. Friday when she stepped out of the darkness near her home to ask police officers for help. Sierra Myles was cold and hungry, but otherwise in good health, said Roseville Deputy Police Chief James Berlin.

“She had been hiding the backseat or trunk area of an abandoned car not far from the family’s home all that time,” Berlin said. “She was just afraid to come out.”

Her father, Nathan Myles, believed she ran away because he threatened to ground her Thursday morning due to slipping grades.

He said the girl has had a hard time dealing with her mother’s move to a medical facility near family in New Orleans due to serious injuries suffered in a fire one year ago.

Berlin said the girl was reunited with her father shortly before 11 p.m.

Sierra’s father knew something was wrong when his brother went to pick her up from latch-key after school at Dort Elementary School and she wasn’t there. After school, Sierra was seen by a school secretary riding a bike that wasn’t her own, he said.

Since she didn’t have a key to the house, Sierra got into the garage to grab some old clothes that no longer fit her and hung out with friends before she ran away, he said.

The father found a note on the porch written on lined paper from a school notebook.

“She said she loves me but she hates me and doesn’t want to live here anymore,” Myles said. “I’ve never heard her speak that way.”

The father said he was impressed by widespread efforts to find his daughter. “It seems like everybody is trying to pitch in,” he said.

A $1,250 reward had been offered for information leading for the return of the girl who left a note about leaving home Thursday afternoon.

Crime Stoppers offered a $1,000 reward, and a Metro Detroit church chipped in another $250.

Police searched yards, garages and sheds. They talked to Sierra’s family members, friends and classmates. Michigan State Police and the FBI aided in the search.

“I’m just thankful it was a happy ending,” Berlin said. “I was getting pessimistic.”

[Source]

The search for a 10-year-old girl missing for nearly 30 hours ended about 10:30 p.m. Friday when she stepped out of the darkness near her home to ask police officers for help. Sierra Myles was cold and hungry, but otherwise in good health, said Roseville Deputy Police Chief James Berlin.

“She had been hiding the backseat or trunk area of an abandoned car not far from the family’s home all that time,” Berlin said. “She was just afraid to come out.”

Her father, Nathan Myles, believed she ran away because he threatened to ground her Thursday morning due to slipping grades.

He said the girl has had a hard time dealing with her mother’s move to a medical facility near family in New Orleans due to serious injuries suffered in a fire one year ago.

Berlin said the girl was reunited with her father shortly before 11 p.m.

Sierra’s father knew something was wrong when his brother went to pick her up from latch-key after school at Dort Elementary School and she wasn’t there. After school, Sierra was seen by a school secretary riding a bike that wasn’t her own, he said.

Since she didn’t have a key to the house, Sierra got into the garage to grab some old clothes that no longer fit her and hung out with friends before she ran away, he said.

The father found a note on the porch written on lined paper from a school notebook.

“She said she loves me but she hates me and doesn’t want to live here anymore,” Myles said. “I’ve never heard her speak that way.”

The father said he was impressed by widespread efforts to find his daughter. “It seems like everybody is trying to pitch in,” he said.

A $1,250 reward had been offered for information leading for the return of the girl who left a note about leaving home Thursday afternoon.

Crime Stoppers offered a $1,000 reward, and a Metro Detroit church chipped in another $250.

Police searched yards, garages and sheds. They talked to Sierra’s family members, friends and classmates. Michigan State Police and the FBI aided in the search.

“I’m just thankful it was a happy ending,” Berlin said. “I was getting pessimistic.”

[Source]