MYRA LEWIS - 2 - CAMDEN, MISSISSIPPI

FBI offers $20,000 for return of missing toddler Myra Lewis

By Faith Karimi, CNN
updated 11:06 AM EDT, Tue March 11, 2014

(CNN) -- More than a week ago, a 2-year-old girl with a wide grin and butterfly barrettes in her hair vanished in Mississippi.

Authorities hope she's still alive, and are offering a $20,000 reward for her return.

Myra Lewis was reported missing by her family on March 1 after playing with her sister outside their home in Camden, the FBI said.

She was last seen about 11 a.m. the same day wearing white or khaki pants, a turquoise sweater adorned with a bear, and pink tennis shoes. Myra is 37 inches tall and weighs 27 pounds.

"Since her disappearance was reported, multiple state, local, and federal law enforcement agencies have participated in a massive, collaborative search effort," the FBI Office in Jackson said.

"Significant resources have been dedicated to this investigation, including extensive ground and air searches, and utilization of specially trained search teams."

Despite the effort, the toddler remains missing, and the FBI is offering the money incentive for her return.

"We are confident that information will be uncovered which will lead to Myra's return, and we continue to solicit the public's assistance in locating this little girl," said Daniel McMullen, the FBI special agent in charge.

Madison County Sheriff Randy Tucker told CNN affiliate WAPT that he believes the little girl is in the area.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/11/us/mississippi-missing-toddler-myra-lewis/

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nu9YvAa4i7o/Uxejxx18NzI/AAAAAAAAS5g/DpvzL6eqhhc/s1600/MyraLewisAMBERALERT.jpg

Mother of missing Mississippi toddler arrested on probation violation, search for Myra Lewis continues

The Associated Press By The Associated Press
on March 09, 2014 at 3:56 PM
updated March 09, 2014 at 4:01 PM

CANTON, Mississippi -- Madison County Sheriff Randy Tucker says his office is investigating numerous leads in the search for a 2-year-old girl missing for more than a week.

Tucker told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Sunday afternoon that there is no sign of Myra Lewis yet but his staff, working with the FBI and other agencies, is following leads as they develop.

The search for Myra began on Saturday afternoon, March 1, after she went missing from her home in rural Camden, Miss.

Tucker said he encourages anyone with any information about Myra Lewis to contact authorities.

Tucker also said the arrest of the girl's mother, 35-year-old Ericka Lewis, on Friday on a probation violation was not connected to the disappearance. Tucker said she faced a warrant for a probation violation following a welfare fraud conviction. She also faced a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Online booking records indicated no bond had been set and there was no information available on whether she had an attorney.

"Nothing whatsoever," Tucker said when asked if the charges had anything to do with Myra's disappearance.

"At this point we're starting to develop a lot of leads through the community that we're following up on one by one," Tucker said. "It's a lot of footwork."

The FBI began helping with the case early in the week. Tucker said the agency has provided manpower and equipment. "They have been really fantastic," he said.

http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-news/2014/03/mother_of_missing_mississippi.html

Father of Missing Two-Year-Old Pleads For Her Return

Posted: Mar 10, 2014 7:36 PM CST
Updated: Mar 10, 2014 9:59 PM CST
By Perrise Thomas

Myra's father, Gregory Lewis says he just wants his daughter back home.

He says since Myra disappeared, his family has faced many tough obstacles.

He addresses the question many people are asking regarding his involvement in his daughter's disappearance.

"Do you know where Myra is, or what happened to her?" asks reporter, Perrise Thomas

"No, I do not. I don't have any idea or the whereabouts of where my daughter is at this time." says Lewis

Gregory Lewis tells us the whole situation has been tough on his family, especially after his wife was jailed for an unrelated charge.

"I've never been in a situation that I couldn't control. This is the first one and I really don't know how to deal with it."

Lewis says he feels his wife's arrest has affected the search for little Myra.

"In my opinion, it got in the way of what the actual reason for being there was. They were there to help to find my daughter an everything got twisted." says Lewis

Myra's family has started their own efforts.

They've created t-shirts with the toddlers picture, asking for her safe return.

"They're focusing on my family. They're just focusing on us and I'm just feeling that the search for my daughter is not going on like it should." says Lewis

Lewis believes someone has Myra, he is pleading for her return.

"All is ask is that, they return her home safe."

The Lewis family tells us proceeds from the t-shirts will go towards a reward to bring Myra home.

A Go Fund Me account has also been set up.

http://www.wjtv.com/story/24937350/father-of-missing-two-year-old-pleads-for-her-return

Renewed Effort By Police To Find Missing Mississippi Girl

Posted on: 2:42 pm, March 12, 2014
updated on: 05:53pm, March 12, 2014
by Dennis Turner

(Hernando, MS) John Phillips never dreamed a nationwide search for missing 2-year-old Myra Lewis would end up in his backyard.

”I was kinda shocked. I hope they find her.”

For nearly two weeks, the search for the girl who is missing from Camden, Miss., has taken center stage across the state.

DeSoto County Chief Deputy Macon Moore says it’s all anyone could even talk about at a recent state-wide meeting.

”It was probably 40 different agencies represented in Jackson and it was the buzz of that meeting.”

Now, everyone has put a renewed focus on the Memphis area.

Local Law enforcement agencies say the report of a clerk who claims to have seen little Myra Lewis at this Memphis motel Tuesday night, has only heightened their awareness and sense of urgency.

Moore says DeSoto deputies get regular updates on the case at roll call, and bulletins though their in-car computers.

“After yesterday, we stepped up our awareness, put it on our Facebook page.”

He says there’s nothing DeSoto law officers won’t do to make sure they stay on top of the case.

“When there’s a child involved, we pull out all the stops. We just want to make sure the public is aware that she could potentially be in our area. One citizen, one person could solve this crime.”

Even casual observers say they’ve noticed a difference in local police and deputies since the focus of the case shifted here.

Officers say they won’t rest until there’s a break or an arrest in the case, and Myra is safe.

http://wreg.com/2014/03/12/renewed-effort-by-local-police-after-report-of-missing-girl/

Police: Toddler spotted in Memphis was not Myra Lewis
Divers return to pond near missing girl's Camden home

UPDATED 7:44 AM CDT Mar 13, 2014

CAMDEN, Miss. —Police have determined that a toddler spotted in Memphis was not Myra Lewis.

Myra has been missing since March 1, when family members said she was last seen playing outside her home in Camden.

Click here to watch the reportDivers search for missing girl

Memphis police said a motel employee reported seeing Myra with a man on Tuesday at a Discovery Inn in South Memphis. Police were able to track down the man and determined that the girl was the man's daughter and was not Myra, authorities said.

Meanwhile, divers on Wednesday were again searching a pond that is across from Myra's Pilgrim Road home. Madison County dive teams searched the same pond earlier this week.

The search for Myra has been done by ground and by air. Special search units have been called in along with the FBI, without success.

The FBI is hoping that a $20,000 reward will lead to a tip that helps them find Myra. Anyone with information about her whereabouts is asked to call 601-948-5000.

Read more: http://www.wapt.com/news/central-mississippi/police-toddler-spotted-in-memphis-was-not-myra-lewis/24942092#ixzz2vxmqAw7F

Myra Lewis case involves tips, dead ends, frustration
2-year-old reported missing 3 weeks ago from Camden home

UPDATED 7:35 AM CDT Mar 25, 2014
By Andrew Kinsey

CAMDEN, Miss. —It's been more than three weeks since toddler Myra Lewis was reported missing from her Camden home, and authorities have not given up on finding her.

"It has been an extremely strange case to work," said Madison County Sheriff Randy Tucker. "Everywhere we turn we are hitting a dead end, and it's frustrating."

Tucker said the search for Myra has been grueling.

"I wake up with her on my mind. She is on my mind all day," Tucker said. "We pray every day that we are going to locate her."

Myra was reported missing by her family on March 1, which sparked a massive search. For several days, multiple state, local and federal agencies combed the woods surrounding the girl's home and a nearby pond looking for clues.

"Unfortunately, we have not been able to locate Myra," Tucker said. "But the effort is still there. The intention is still there."

Tucker said he feels confident that Myra is not near her home, however, he admits that she could be anywhere in the country by now.

"Is there any fear that she may not be alive?" 16 WAPT's Andrew Kinsey asked.

"There's always that fear," Tucker said. "It is the fear of the unknown. We just don't know."

Since the FBI offered a $20,000 reward two weeks ago for information that could lead to Myra's whereabouts, authorities have been flooded with tips of possible sightings of the little girl. Tucker said the tips have come in from Memphis, Atlanta and even Washington state.

"All babies tend to favor (each other) when it's a situation like this, and everybody wants to help," Tucker said. "You get a lot of information that you have to decipher and sift through. We have been able to do that, but we just have not been able to find that good piece of tangible evidence."

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the FBI at 601-948-5000.

Read more: http://www.wapt.com/news/central-mississippi/myra-lewis-case-involves-tips-dead-ends-frustration/25139660#ixzz2wzYeq9PY

This little darling has been missing since March 1st, 2014.   

I'm merging threads because Myra is an Amber Alert now (retroactively?)

As long as someone finds her....

Officials ask for public help in Myra Lewis case
Therese Apel, The Clarion-Ledger
4:39 p.m. CDT April 10, 2014

More than a month after 2-year-old Myra Lewis disappeared from her home in Camden, officials have asked for the public's help in the search.

It was March 1 that 2-year-old Myra Lewis disappeared from her home in Camden, seemingly into thin air.

The toddler was in the front yard when her mother and brother left for the store. Her father, who was tending to an infant in a back bedroom, didn't realize she was missing right away. That kicked off a massive weeks-long manhunt. Now investigators are stumped as to where she could have gone.

On Thursday, Madison County Sheriff Randy Tucker held a press conference to ask people everywhere to please keep their eyes and ears open and to report anything they know, no matter how insignificant it might seem.

"We need the help. We're asking you guys to keep the story alive and keep her picture out there. Someone is going to match it up," he said. "When you start getting tips from a broader area, you have to give some credence to the possibility she could be in another state or another part of the country."

But Tucker said he still believes the toddler is alive somewhere. His explanation for that is not scientific, but it's simple.

"Because I don't have any evidence to the contrary and I'm an optimist," Tucker said.

Myra's mother, Ericka Lewis, is currently in jail for a probation violation stemming from when police found guns inside her home. Since she was on probation for felony foodstamp fraud, she was charged with being a felon in possession of firearms. Tucker said although the timing of her arrest a week after Myra went missing was unfortunate, that the law is still the law.

"It's a felony crime, so any felony is a serious charge. Once you're convicted of a felony, you're not supposed to have firearms and if you do, it's another felony," he said. "They were in the home right beside her bed. She had dominion and control over them, yes."

Madison County District Attorney Michael Guest said she also had not paid court costs and supervision fees.

"The sheriff's department and the Department of Corrections can't overlook the fact that while she is the mother of a victim in this case, she cannot violate the terms and conditions of her probation," he said.

But Guest also asserted that Ericka Lewis is not in jail because law enforcement are trying to extract information from her.

"She has cooperated with the investigation, she and the other family members," he said.

Tucker said Ericka Lewis has not been questioned again since the initial investigation. In fact, he said, his department and the family have kept in touch, but not closely.

"We haven't had a lot of direct contact with the family, but any tip we get, we call them. Anything they get, they call us," he said. "They still want their baby home."

Investigators want her home too, Tucker said.

"It's absolutely heartbreaking, frustrating, All the adjectives you can put with it, it is," he said. "I go to bed thinking about her, I wake up thinking about her, about what we haven't done or what we could do. I think we've pretty well exhausted all the footwork. We need the community's help. We need that one tip that will lead us to her."

To contact Therese Apel, call (601) 961-7236 or follow @TRex21 on Twitter.

http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2014/04/10/officials-still-need-publics-help-find-missing-toddler/7564133/

4 Months Since Myra Lewis Went Missing

Posted: Jul 01, 2014 10:28 AM CDT
Updated: Jul 01, 2014 12:45 PM CDT
By Donesha Aldridge

ACKSON, Miss. - Today marks four months since 2-year-old Myra Lewis went missing. Little Myra vanished without a trace from her home in the Camden community of Madison County back on March 1st. She has not been seen since that time.

Authorities continue to work to track down the toddler, but at this point, no arrests have been made and no suspects have been identified in this baffling case.

Madison County Sheriff's Deputies say they are still following all leads, but they have no new activity at this time. Authorities say they are still very hopeful that Myra will be returned to her parents. They say they will continue to do everything they can to make that happen.

During the early weeks of Myra's disappearance, several law enforcement agencies were involved in the search for the 2-year-old, including the FBI.

A $20,000 reward has been offered for the safe return of Myra.

Just days after Myra's disappearance, her mother, Ericka, was arrested for a probation violation. Ericka sat in a Madison county jail until she was released by a judge in May.

In an exclusive story on WJTV News Channel 12, Ericka talked for the first time about her daughter's disappearance in May. You can view a clip from that interview here.

http://www.wjtv.com/story/25915533/4-months-since-myra-lewis-went-missing

Lewis family speaks out on Myra's disappearance

Posted: Aug 22, 2014 5:22 PM CDT
Updated: Aug 22, 2014 7:29 PM CDT
Posted by David Kenney

JACKSON, MS (Mississippi News Now) -
It's now been almost six months since 2 year old Myra Lewis vanished from her home in Camden. Friday her parents spoke to us exclusively about her unexplained disappearance, and why they continue to believe she'll be returned home safely.

Ericka Lewis, her husband Greg and their children, have been without little Myra since March first. She disappeared from Mt. Pilgrim road in Camden without a trace.

"I want her home," says Ericka Lewis, Myra's Mother. "I want it to be revealed to anybody that has her, let them come out and bring her home to us because I know she's ready to come home."

Even after a massive search of the area, Myra's whereabouts remain a mystery. Even after all this time, the Lewis' still are hopeful, she will walk back into their lives one day.

"She was abducted, I know she was and they just need to bring her home to her family where she belongs," says Lewis.

"I can't see anyone hurting a child like Myra," said her father Greg. "I just can't see anyone hurting a baby like that, she has a synergy persona."

Cell phone video of Myra attending a parade shows just how full of life she is. The Lewis family says her return will make their lives complete, and they're not giving up hope.

"I wish there was something I could do to bring her home, but I don't have anything, I don't know what to do," added Ericka Lewis. "I just miss her. I just want them to bring her home to me."

This weekend the Myra Lewis 'help find me' Facebook page is organizing a ribbon event that will be held at Canton. People are invited to help tie pink ribbons around the city, and hand out flyers.

It starts at 10 a.m. on the Canton square. The public is invited.

http://www.msnewsnow.com/story/26350277/lewis-family-speaks-out-on-myra-disappearance

Search continues for missing Camden toddler
12:55 p.m. CDT September 1, 2014Monday,
September 1st makes six months since Myra Lewis disappeared.

Law enforcement officials say the investigation has not changed much.

The Mississippi Highway Patrol issued an Amber Alert on March 2 after the toddler had been missing since the day before from her Camden home.

Family members said at a vigil at the Jackson Medical Mall that they think Myra has been kidnapped, but Madison County Sheriff Randy Tucker said that so far all officials know is that Myra is gone.

"It was reported as a missing child, she was reported as having wandered off. We haven't been able to corroborate anything except that Myra is still missing," Tucker said. "Until we can prove or disprove one theory or another, we've still got to consider every possibility. She may have wandered off, she may have been abducted, we just don't know at this point. We don't have any physical evidence to lead us in any certain direction other than that."

Family members told television reporters that their family dogs, who are always with Myra, seemed to have caught a scent that ended at the road.

Authorities say Myra was last seen by her mother at their home on Mount Pilgrim Road. Ericka Lewis said Myra and her sister were outside playing as she left to go shopping. Lewis said she told them to go inside.

"I saw her walk back into the house with her sister," Lewis told WLBT-Channel 3.

Lewis left about 10:30 a.m. She said the child's father was in the house when she left, as was a newborn. None of the other children is missing. Tucker would not elaborate on what authorities know from the time Myra was last seen outside the house.

"I don't want to get into too much what transpired that day. There are statements from everyone involved that are pretty accurate with one another," he said. "We've put together a timeline of events based on those statements. We feel pretty comfortable that Myra was last seen about the hours of 10 and 11 a.m., so that's what we're going on until anything changes it."

Tucker said the property has been searched extensively, including a large pond across the road.

"We've foot-searched every inch of the four square miles around this home. What we need are persons that may know the family or have contact with the family that may have knowledge of Myra's whereabouts," he said. "We need them to call the Sheriff's Department, however insignificant they feel the information may be. It may be that piece that we need that can put everything together for us. I would urge them to call and give us that information."

Myra is approximately 3 feet tall and weighs about 25 pounds.

She was last seen wearing khaki pants, a turquoise sweater with a black bear on the front and pink shoes with glitter.

Authorities are asking anyone with information about the girl's whereabouts to call 1-855-642-5378 or contact the Madison County Sheriff's Department at (601) 859-2345.

http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2014/03/03/search-continues-for-missing-camden-toddler/5998495/