Black and Missing but Not Forgotten

 A 17-year-old boy from Pittsburgh’s Homewood neighborhood has been missing for nearly a month after dropping his girlfriend off at her home in Plum, his mother said.

Rodnell Burton

Pittsburgh police said on Monday afternoon that Rodnell Burton’s girlfriend recently contacted them and gave them a photograph of him, saying she felt something is wrong because she has contact with Burton on a daily basis.

Police said Burton’s mother called to report him missing on April 3 at 9:15 a.m. She said she last heard from him after he gave his girlfriend a ride home on March 28 at 2:30 p.m.

Burton, of Singer Place in Homewood, is described as 5 feet 4 inches tall and 130 pounds, with tattoos covering both arms. The clothing that he was last wearing is unknown, police said.

Burton was driving a white 2000 Chrysler Sebring with Pennsylvania license plate HJX-9029, police said. He’s known to frequent Homewood, Braddock, Wilkinsburg and Blairsville, according to his girlfriend.

Detectives from the Pittsburgh Police Bureau’s Missing Persons department said they’ve learned through Burton’s mother that he has left home in the past but she always had some idea of his whereabouts.

Anyone who has information regarding Burton or his whereabouts is asked to call 412-323-7141 or 911. Callers may remain anonymous.

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Haunting nightmares and three tattered photos are all Samerica Reeder has left of her missing mother.

In her dreams Reeder sees her mother pleading for her life, begging for an attacker to let her go. But, that’s the only time she hears her mother’s voice.

“I pray that wherever she is, she is in God’s hands,” 25-year-old Reeder said through tears. “I don’t think she’s alive. My gut tells me that she’s not alive. But there is still hope.”

State Police believe they have recovered the body of a 3-month-old infant allegedly abducted by her father and thought to have been thrown off the Driscoll Bridge.

If the body is identified as Zara Malani-Lin Abdur-Raheem, it would end more than two months of uncertainty for desperate family members and authorities prosecuting a murder case that still has no body

State Police believe they have recovered the body of a 3-month-old infant allegedly abducted by her father and thought to have been thrown off the Driscoll Bridge.

If the body is identified as Zara Malani-Lin Abdur-Raheem, it would end more than two months of uncertainty for desperate family members and authorities prosecuting a murder case that still has no body.

An official identification of the body found this morning along the Raritan River in Sayreville could take several days, pending DNA tests, but State Police spokesman Sgt. Stephen Jones said there is “strong evidence” to indicate the baby is Zara Abdur-Raheem. Clothing and wrappings on the infant’s body match the description given by Abdur-Raheem’s family.

Detectives from the State Police and East Orange Police Department notified the baby’s mother, Venetta Benjamin, this morning.

At the East Orange apartment of Leno Benjamin, the baby’s grandmother, family members said they did not want to talk about the news. One of Venetta Benjamin’s sisters said she was “shocked” and the family is devastated. “It’s horrible,” she said.

Benjamin’s attorney, Mitchell Liebowitz, said the family is “profoundly grieved.”

“We hope their privacy is respected at this time,” he added, declining to comment further.

The day before the Feb. 16 kidnapping, Benjamin, a 23-year-old college student, went to police in East Orange seeking a restraining order against her estranged boyfriend, Shamsid-Din Abdur-Raheem, 21, of Galloway Township. But because it was a holiday — Presidents Day — the order was not issued against until the next day, when the court reopened.

Before the temporary restraining order could be served, Abdur-Raheem, a fellow student at the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, stormed into the Leno Benjamin’s home in East Orange. Police say the two argued and Abdur-Raheem punched and choked the 60-year-old woman, then struck her with his minivan when she tried to stop him from fleeing with the infant.

When Abdur-Raheem was later arrested at his father’s home in Winslow Township, Camden County, he told police he had pulled over on the Garden State Parkway and tossed the swaddled infant off the Driscoll Bridge into the icy river below. Divers searched the area for several days but did not find the baby.

Days after the kidnapping, Venetta Benjamin said she believed her ex-boyfriend was lying and the baby was still alive, but around 8:30 a.m. this morning, the body of an infant was discovered by people doing survey work on the southern bank of the Raritan River in Sayreville, Jones said. The site, just east of the Route 35 bridge, is near the Driscoll Bridge, which connects Woodbridge and Sayreville.

Shamsid-Din Abdur-Raheem is charged with kidnapping and attempted murder in Essex County for injuring Leno Benjamin. He pleaded not guilty to those charges and is being held in Essex County Jail.

Although the baby’s body had not been found, Abdur-Raheem was charged with murder in Middlesex County. He pleaded not guilty to that charge as well.

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A mom and her infant daughter are at the centre of a missing persons investigation in Toronto, police said Saturday.

Arlene Leonardo Perez, 27, and her nine-month-old daughter, Alexandria, were last seen near Dawes Rd. and Danforth Ave. at about 10 p.m. on Thursday, Toronto Police said in a news release.

The missing woman was described as black, 5-foot-10, with a thin build, brown eyes and short, curly, black hair. Her daughter is also black, with curly, black hair, police said.

Anyone with information was asked to contact police at 416-808-5400 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-8477, 222tips.com, or by texting TOR and your tip to CRIMES.

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The New York City Police Dept. is asking for the public’s assistance in locating two missing children — a brother and sister — in Queens.

13-year-old Bryana Bowman and 9-year-old Erik Bowman were last seen on Friday April 23 leaving 87-41- Parsons Blvd.

Erik is approximately 4’10” and was last seen wearing a blue collared shirt with orange writing, blue jeans and brown boots.

Bryana is 5’9” and was last seen wearing a purple jacket, a black shirt with green neon writing, black dickie pants and purple black sneakers.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of these missing children is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS(8477).

The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CRIME STOPPERS website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or by texting their tips to 274637(crimes) then enter TIP577.

All calls are strictly confidential.

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Milwaukee-family-new-to-the-area-looking-for-missing-child

13-year-old Angela Larry is gone without a trace soon after her family moved to Milwaukee.

Even though Patricia Larry has not slept in days she says she feels like she’s trapped in a nightmare. Her 13-year-old daughter Angela has been missing for five days. “She wanted to go to a game with some girls to a basketball game, but I told her no because I didn’t know their parents because their parents has not called me and asked so I didn’t want her to go.”

The last time she saw her daughter was outside their north side apartment on April 11th. “It’s horrifying, it’s scary and I don’t want to wake up to a knock or something and somebody telling me come identify your child that is real scary and i don’t want to happen to her.”

Angela’s parents say she is a straight ‘A’ student. The family recently moved to Milwaukee from Arkansas. These days her bedroom sits empty and her parents spend their time scouring the neighborhood for answers.

If you have any information about the whereabouts of Angela Larry you’re asked to call Milwaukee Police at 414-935-7402.

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Nicky Allder says she strongly felt her mother’s presence about a week ago at her West Virginia home, after nearly 10 years without hearing from her.

Allder’s intuition told her she should come to Wilmington, and on Monday she was here to talk to people who knew her mother and to detectives, to give out fliers and try to draw attention back to her case. Her mother, Pamela Bradshaw, has been missing since September 2000, and information is scarce.

“I just felt like she was there, like I needed to come down no matter how long I was going to stay and try to get some help,” said Allder, a 34-year-old mother of two. She said she doesn’t believe Bradshaw is alive, and is looking for closure.

What the CUE Center for Missing Persons has heard is that Bradshaw was last seen near Red Cross Street, leaning into the passenger side of a blue Cadillac-style vehicle with a white top. Bradshaw was 41 when she disappeared.

The Wilmington-based victim advocacy center and its founder, Monica Caison, have worked to keep the case alive. A case like this is especially tough for those affected this time of year, with Mothers’ Day approaching, Caison said.

Allder says it’s bizarre to look at the billboards of missing persons and realize it’s happened to her family.

On Monday, she clutched a flier with her mother’s picture as she spoke to cameras in the parking lot of a Wilmington hotel. As tears overpowered Allder, Caison came to her side and gently asked if she’d like to take a break.

The break didn’t last. A reporter with a notepad followed Allder as she sat down, and asked what her mother was like.

She said that growing up, she kept going back and forth between her mother and grandmother, as Bradshaw’s drug addiction “overpowered her being a mother.” But Allder says she always saw the good in her mother.

“She was great,” Allder said. “If she had 50 cents, she was going to give you a quarter. … She was outgoing, she was fun, caring, loving. …Not a mean bone in her body.”

The last time Allder saw her mother was when she drove her home to Seventh and Red Cross streets on Sept. 20, 2000, after Bradshaw had spent time with her grandchild. Following her mother’s disappearance, Allder moved away but has been back to Wilmington several times since, hoping to find some answers.

Bradshaw is described as black, 5’9″, 110 pounds, with brown eyes and black hair. She has a surgical scar on her left breast, her molars have been removed and she is HIV-positive, according to the CUE Center’s Web site. Bradshaw may use the alias Denise Williams.

Anyone with information on this case is encouraged to call Wilmington police at 343-3600. In case of a sighting, the best bet is to call 911, police say.

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A 15-year-old girl from the West Side West Garfield Park neighborhood has been missing since Friday.

Leshun Campbell, 15, was last seen on Friday at Schurz High School but did not go home, according to a missing person alert from Harrison Area detectives. She lives in the area of South Pulaski Road and West Van Buren Street.

Leshun is described as black, 5-foot-3 and 135 pounds, with brown eyes, black hair and a medium complexion, the alert said.

Police are seeking a mentally challenged woman who went missing Friday.

Jada Jones, 18, was last seen Friday, according to a missing person report from Wentworth Area detectives. Jones is mentally challenged and may appear disoriented. She does not know her phone number or address.