PHYLICIA BARNES - 16 yo (2010) - Baltimore MD

Monroe Teen Goes Missing While Visiting Family In Baltimore



Posted: 9:56 am EST December 30, 2010

BALTIMORE -- Police in Baltimore are searching for a missing 16-year-old Monroe girl.

Phylicia Barnes was last seen Tuesday afternoon in Baltimore, where she was visiting family members for the holidays. The teen is unfamiliar with Baltimore and knows few people, according to the Baltimore Police Department.

Barnes was last seen wearing a navy blue hooded pea coat, a turquoise thermal shirt, blue jeans and white slippers/boots. She was carrying a caramel-colored purse.

Barnes’ family and detectives in Baltimore’s Missing Person Unit are “extremely concerned,” police said. Anyone with information about her whereabouts is asked to call the Missing Persons Unit at 443-984-7385, the Northwestern Police District at 410-396-2466 or 911.

http://www.wsoctv.com/news/26319822/detail.html

http://dedekeene.posterous.com/missing-teen-phylicia-barnesbaltimore-md

Phylicia Barnes was last seen Tuesday afternoon in Baltimore, where she was visiting her father for the holidays.

Her father, Russell Barnes, said she left his home to get something to eat.

“It's not in her character to disappear. It's not her character at all to not let anybody know her whereabouts,” he said.

“She's not just a runaway or anything like that.”

Russell Barnes said he tried calling Phylicia’s cell phone after she didn’t return, but her phone went dead.

The teen is unfamiliar with Baltimore and knows few people, according to the Baltimore Police Department.

Barnes was last seen wearing a navy blue hooded pea coat, a turquoise thermal shirt, blue jeans and white slippers/boots.

She was carrying a caramel-colored purse.

She is a student at Union Academy, where students are praying for her safe return.

“You hear about it in the news, but that's just a person. But now it’s somebody you know and it’s so different,” student Shana Grigston said.

“She needs to come home. Hopefully, she's OK, because everybody is real worried about her,” student Brenna Cripe said.

Anyone with information about Barnes’ whereabouts is asked to call Baltimore's Missing Persons Unit at 443-984-7385.

http://www.wsoctv.com/news/26319822/detail.html

Respectfully,

Tammy Ross
Senior Support Member
www.lostnmissing.com

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/12/30/1945029/baltimore-police-search-for-missing.html

Baltimore police search for missing teen from Monroe

By Glenn Counts / NewsChannel 36
WCNC.com
Posted: Thursday, Dec. 30, 201


Posted: Thursday, Dec. 30, 2010

CHARLOTTE -- A 16-year-old girl from Monroe has gone missing in Baltimore and police say they are concerned for her safety.

Phylicia Barnes was on a family trip when she went missing Tuesday afternoon.

Barnes is a senior at Union Academy, and friends and classmates gathered in Monroe on Thursday to pray for her safe return.

Her friends say she has the kind of personality that lights up a room.

"The smile – you can't beat it, it was a huge smile," said Sandee Thomas.

Barnes was visiting her two sisters in Baltimore when she disappeared near Eberle Drive around 1:30 p.m. Tuesday.

"To hear the distress in Felicia's mother's voice, it's very stressful," said Angela Tims, a family friend.

Tims is close friends with the family. Her daughter is best friends with Barnes.

"I can't believe that she is missing," says Jeniece Tims. "She's not the kind of person that deserves to be missing."

Family members say Barnes has never run away before. Police are worried because some of the items that were left behind could indicate trouble.

Investigators in Baltimore believe the teen's cell phone is still active. They have tried calling it but haven't had any luck yet.

Barnes was last seen wearing a navy blue pea coat with a hood, turquoise thermal shirt, blue jeans, white slippers or boots and a caramel colored purse.

Anyone with information about Barnes should call Baltimore police at 443-984-7385.


Read more: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/12/30/1945029/baltimore-police-search-for-missing.html#ixzz19eB0cRSv

http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2010/12/31/family-of-nc-teen-missing-in-baltimore-speaks-out/

Family Of N.C. Teen Missing In Baltimore Speaks Out




December 31, 2010 7:29 AM



Reporting Mike Schuh



Concern is growing for a 16-year-old girl from North Carolina who is now missing in Baltimore.
WJZ spoke with worried family members who haven’t seen her in three days.

Mike Schuh reports there also has been a strange turn of events in the case.

Her family describes her as an “A” student who was graduating high
school early and wanted to attend Towson University. But right now they
have no idea where she is.
The Barnes family in Northwest Baltimore is at a loss. They can’t
find their sister Phylicia Barnes who was visiting from North Carolina
for the holidays.

“This is no runaway,” said her father Russell Barnes. “This is no
child that’s having a bad day or a bad night. We don’t feel that she’s
fell in love. That’s not her character.”

Her sister agrees.

“I think somebody might have taken her,” said Deena Barnes, her half-sister.

Deena Barnes says she left Phylicia sleeping Tuesday morning when she
left from her Northwest Baltimore apartment. Her sister’s boyfriend
last saw the girl at 1p.m. Tuesday.

Phylicia’s last Facebook post at 11:30 a.m. mentioned being hungry.
The family wonders if she walked to the nearby plaza for food.
“She texted me while I was at work and asked me to come pick her up,”
said Kelly Barnes, her half-sister. “I started calling her, texting
her, leaving her voicemails, everything. And nothing.”

“My daughter’s friends came home,” said Russell Barnes, “and the door
was unlocked and the music was loud. That’s all they can tell me.”

WJZ has confirmed Phylicia tried to stay at a
24-hour emergency shelter on Guilford Avenue. But a staff member who
answered the phone overnight told WJZ they didn’t know
she was a missing child adding, “We called the police to come get her
because minors aren’t allowed to stay here.”

The staff member tells WJZ a police officer picked
her up, but it’s not clear where she was taken. It’s also unclear on
what day Phylicia was kicked out of the shelter.

The 16-year-old girl has only visited Baltimore a handful of times to
see her dad and siblings. Her family says that when she left the house
on Tuesday, she was only wearing her slippers and she left behind her
money.
“We don’t want to speculate that something bad has happened, but we
feel that she’s been missing and somebody has her,” said Russell Barnes.
“You can’t put it into words when you’re missing your child, when you
know your daughter is fragile. You know she’s fragile.”

Meanwhile, back at Phylicia’s high school in Monroe, N.C., her friends are heartbroken at the news she is missing.

“I was very surprised. I couldn’t see her becoming missing. She’s
not the kind of person to become missing,” said Jeniece Tims, friend.

“My heart just broke basically. Very upset. So we’re all praying and
we know that she’s going to come back to us,” said Sandee Thomas, after
school director.
Baltimore City Police and Maryland State Police are working this
case, but they say have little to go on and need to hear from the
public.

She was last seen wearing a navy blue peacoat with a hood, a
turquoise thermal shirt, blue jeans, white slippers/boots and a
caramel-colored purse. She is 5’8″ and 120 pounds.

If you have any information on Phylicia Barnes, you can call the Missing Person Unit at 443-984-7385.

I have 4 thoughts. Number 1....if the cell phone is thought to still be active...please tell me that they are trying to locate it by the signal and not just if she answers or not. This is critical before the battery is all the way dead or the phone is cut off. Number 2) the sister's boyfriend was left there with her? He had no contact with her or what? Number 3) What was going on in the home that this girl felt the need if true to go to a shelter? Perhaps something happened after her sister left and she no longer felt safe there until someone came back? and Number 4) I saw a tv interview with the father that said he immediately came back from ATLANTA when he heard the news but she was in Baltimore to visit him? Wondering what happened there?

yitwow wrote:I have 4 thoughts. Number 1....if the cell phone is thought to still be active...please tell me that they are trying to locate it by the signal and not just if she answers or not. This is critical before the battery is all the way dead or the phone is cut off. Number 2) the sister's boyfriend was left there with her? He had no contact with her or what? Number 3) What was going on in the home that this girl felt the need if true to go to a shelter? Perhaps something happened after her sister left and she no longer felt safe there until someone came back? and Number 4) I saw a tv interview with the father that said he immediately came back from ATLANTA when he heard the news but she was in Baltimore to visit him? Wondering what happened there?

---Welcome to J4C yitwow! You pose some very good questions there, Sherlock. Let's hope we get some answers.

I too would like to know why there are no official comments about cell phone "pings" - but this is Baltimore City we're talking about. Growing up in Balto. Co. and working for years in the City, well lots of criminals escape from our City Holding Intake Center (City jail), lots of criminals are just let out without going to trial, the 'news' is not accurate... all political stuff. But here is a snip from the WJZ/CBS's comment section:

Lynn (comments):
According to this girl’s friends and family in NC, Baltimore City Police told them that the news report on the shelter aired by WJZ 13 was inaccurate and that hey never picked her up. When you watch WJZs video again the reports validity is questionable. After all why wasn’t the shelter worker shown or their comment heard or a video or official comment aired from an official/representative of the shelter? Why didn’t WJZ conduct its broadcast in front of the Guildford shelter or a map location shown that would given the public and idea of the area where this girl was allegedly last seen in hopes of someone remembering something? Why didn’t WJZ obtain and air a direct comment from a Baltimore City Police spokesperson or investigation representative? I doubt Baltimore City Police would have refused to do so even if they said nothing more than “we refuse to confirm or comment on this case at this time”. The mayor has spoken on it. Just brings everything back to the genesis which is where she was last seen by her family (the apartment) and who last saw her (sister and boy friend). Still prayerful and hopeful that she is alive; however, this case will grow colder as each day goes by."
http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2010/12/31/family-of-nc-teen-missing-in-baltimore-speaks-out/

There is a similar comment from her friends in NC who called the PD
directly after hearing this report and were told it was not true.

TomTerrific0420 wrote:

yitwow wrote:I have 4 thoughts. Number 1....if the cell phone is thought to still be active...please tell me that they are trying to locate it by the signal and not just if she answers or not. This is critical before the battery is all the way dead or the phone is cut off. Number 2) the sister's boyfriend was left there with her? He had no contact with her or what? Number 3) What was going on in the home that this girl felt the need if true to go to a shelter? Perhaps something happened after her sister left and she no longer felt safe there until someone came back? and Number 4) I saw a tv interview with the father that said he immediately came back from ATLANTA when he heard the news but she was in Baltimore to visit him? Wondering what happened there?

---Welcome to J4C yitwow! You pose some very good questions there, Sherlock. Let's hope we get some answers.

Welcome yitwow. Hmmm.....have to agree Tom, these are some excellent questions. Wonder if anybody will answer them???? Something is very fishy here.

BALTIMORE, Md. -- A Monroe teen who was visiting family for the holidays in Maryland has not been seen since Tuesday.Phylicia
Barnes, 16, of Monroe, was last seen at an apartment building in
Baltimore near Pikesville around 2:30 p.m. on Dec. 28. Barnes was in
Baltimore visiting her father.Officers told our newspaper
partners, The Enquirer Journal, a reported sighting of Phylicia at a
local emergency shelter was not her. Investigators said the person
spotted was that of a similar description to the missing teen.Police
found personal items of Phylicia’s at her father’s house; they believe
if she had run away she would have taken the items with her.

http://www.wsoctv.com/news/26340498/detail.html

I think all roads point back to the appartment that morning she was last seen. I saw that she has a facebook account and an older myspace account. They need to check into those and all of her contacts...as well as was the dad in Atlanta or where when she was missing? I would doubt her parents are involved but I am still wondering about the boyfriend of the sister that last saw her? And were there any texts or calls the night before or any sightings of her the night before she went missing? By all accounts, this was a good kid who would not just walk away. Time is critical. Where are the phone pings etc. Something is not right.

A vigil was held this weekend in Baltimore, Maryland for a missing teenager.
Baltimore police are asking for the public's help in finding
16-year-old Phylicia Barnes. The teenage from Monroe, NC vanished last
Tuesday.
She was visiting relatives in northwest Baltimore for the holidays.
She was last seen at an apartment building complex on Eberly Drive.
Barnes' family, friends and classmates also gathered in her hometown to pray for her safe return.
Her mother arrived in Baltimore late night. She says her daughter is an honor roll student who would never run away.

"I know she's traumatized right now. She's scared out of her mind right
now. She's a little innocent girl who does not do any wrong to anybody,"
her mother said.
"This is no runaway. This is no child that's just having a bad day or
bad night. We don't feel she's done fell in love cause she's not in
that character," the teen's father, Russel Barnes, said.

Police brought search dogs to the apartment complex where the teen was
last seen. but relatives say the dogs lost Phylicia Barnes' scent in the
parking lot.

Police: Missing Teen May Have Been Abducted





snipped.....

They’re considering this a high profile missing persons case and the most likely scenario now is that someone took Barnes because no one has heard from her for nearly a week.

Some of the last images of Phylicia Barnes are from the family Christmas gathering. No one has seen her since Tuesday and the search is intensifying.

“She would’ve needed access to thinks like bank cards or money or she would have tried to use her cell phone at least once and that’s not been the case. So detectives are very concerned and as a result, the commissioner transferred it over to homicide for investigation,” said Anthony Guglielmi.

The mayor and police commissioner spoke about the case for the first time Monday.

“I have to tell you that we have very serious concerns now into several days,” said Commissioner Fred Bealefeld.



read more



http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2011/01/03/mother-keeps-hope-alive-to-find-missing-daughter/

Police 'enormously concerned' about missing teen girl
16-year-old honors student has not been heard from since Dec. 28

By Justin Fenton, The Baltimore Sun
10:03 p.m. EST, January 3, 2011





Excerpt:

City police said they suspect foul play in the disappearance of a 16-year-old North Carolina teen and are investigating whether she was abducted from Baltimore last week.

Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III said police are "enormously concerned" that Phylicia Barnes has not been heard from since last Tuesday. Barnes, an honors student who was visiting an older sister, missed a plane back home and has not updated her Facebook page.

"We have serious concerns about this case," Bealefeld said.


READ MORE: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-ci-missing-teen-girl-20110103,0,6842080.story

Missing Teen May Have Been Given Vodka And Marijuana


snipped.....


All along, Barnes’ family has said they think she was going to get food, when she suddenly stopped answering her cell phone.

“I feel that she is being sexually assaulted against her will. I feel that she is being physically abused. I feel that she could be a part of the human trafficking,” said Barnes’ mother, Janice Sallis.

Sallis says she just found out that her Phylicia Barnes’ sister created a bad environment for Barnes at her apartment, where she was staying.

Sallis says there was not only lots of alcohol and marijuana, but also men — more than a dozen of them — coming in and out of the apartment.

“You allowed her to drink. And you drank vodka with her. You’re 28 and she’s 16-years-old. And then I find out that you’re allowing her to smoke marijuana,” said Sallis.

Sallis said her daughter was uneasy around one of the men.

“She’s a country girl. She doesn’t know anything about hard city life,” said Sallis.

Baltimore City Police say they are worried about what happened to her.

“I have to tell you that we have very serious concerns now into several days,” said Police Commissioner Fred Bealefeld.

“She would’ve used her cell phone at least once and that hasn’t been the case,” said Anthony Guglielmi, Baltimore City Police spokesperson.

Police confirm they did find evidence of drugs and alcohol inside the sister’s apartment. They still do not have any suspects or even a person of interest yet.

Police are also talking to many people, including the sister’s boyfriend, who was one of the last to see her.



http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2011/01/04/missing-teen-may-have-been-given-vodka-and-marijuana/

This isn't looking like it's going to have a good outcome.

so the mom let her 16 year old visit her aunt (mom's sister) without knowing her living conditions and her behavior??? I hope we do not hear about a body being found next week.

FBI joins hunt for N.C. teen who went missing from Baltimore
Police have said they fear girl a victim of foul play; detectives search Leakin Park

An elite FBI team set up to find missing and exploited children has joined Baltimore police in the search for a teenager who disappeared last month, even as detectives search Leakin Park based on a tip from an Internet posting, according to authorities involved in the investigation.

As of 11 a.m. Tuesday, investigators were scouring the woods along the 4000 block of Franklintown Road after reading an online comment posted on a Baltimore Sun story about the missing 16-year-old girl.

It read: "Humor me, somebody pop over to the 4000 block of Franklintown Road and look at the Southward shoulder."

Police say there is no evidence other than the post to suggest that Phylicia Simone Barnes has been killed and left in the park, a notorious dumping ground for bodies in Baltimore. The post could be a vague reference to the park's reputation, but police said detectives want to thoroughly investigate all tips.

read more

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-missing-teen-baltimore-20110104,0,2597415.story

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20027203-504083.html

Sad!!!! Praying for her but it doesn't look good. I definitely felt it had something to do with the appartment and the people in it, i.e. the sister's boyfriend or his friends....now they say there was more going on.......

BALTIMORE -- Police spent hours
searching a park in Baltimore on Tuesday in hopes of finding answers to
the disappearance of 16-year-old Phylicia Barnes.Officials said a
comment about the search for Barnes, which was left on the Baltimore
Sun website, propelled more than 100 investigators to scour the Leakin
Park for nearly eight hours, but turned up nothing.Public
information officer Anthony Guglielmi said the tip, which said, "Humor
me, somebody pop over to the 4000 block of Franklintown Road and look at
the southward shoulder," was too specific that it left them no choice
but to investigate.Police later learned that the person who made
the comment intended to make a suggestion based on the history of the
area, Guglielmi said."Detectives have been working around the
clock, literally around the clock on this case. (We have) 20 detectives
in shifts. This is extremely high priority for us. Every hours that
passes, we get more and more concerned," Guglielmi said.Barnes,
who was visiting from North Carolina, was last seen at about 1:30 p.m.
Tuesday at the Reisterstown Square apartments in northwest Baltimore."It's
very unlike her to not update her Facebook page, to not even turn on
her cell phone, to not try to access money to pay for things. This is
not the case of a runaway, and again as we said yesterday, we do suspect
some kind of foul play," Guglielmi said.The police official said the Federal Bureau of Investigation has joined in the search."We
are going over every single shred of evidence that we've already had.
We are re-interviewing everybody who we've already interviewed, just to
make sure that we didn't miss anything," Guglielmi said.

http://www.wbaltv.com/news/26372206/detail.html

oviedo45 wrote:so the mom let her 16 year old visit her aunt (mom's sister) without knowing her living conditions and her behavior??? I hope we do not hear about a body being found next week.

I got the impression the sister was Phylicia's, not her Mom's. Could be a half sister as she's 28.

kiwimom wrote:

oviedo45 wrote:so the mom let her 16 year old visit her aunt (mom's sister) without knowing her living conditions and her behavior??? I hope we do not hear about a body being found next week.

I got the impression the sister was Phylicia's, not her Mom's. Could be a half sister as she's 28.

---Per the interview on HLN last night, it is a half-sister to Phylicia. Same question, different relation

The written word, whether it is in traditional print or on a computer screen, remains powerful.And nothing could prove that more than what happened on Tuesday in the frantic search
for the missing 16-year-old girl, Phylicia Simone Barns (at left), who
disappeared without a trace from a Northwest Baltimore apartment on Dec.
28.A comment posted on the bottom of a Baltimore Sun story read:
"Humor me, somebody pop over to the 4000 block of Franklintown Road and
look at the Southwest shoulder." Cops, hunting down any and
every clue, took immediate interest. Was this simply an obvious
reference to Leakin Park being a notorious and popular dumping ground
for bodies, or did this poster know something specific?Hard to
tell. The version that appears in public identifies the author only by a
screen name, Cham101. Police sought more information on the poster from
the newspaper, but as that was being worked out, police mobilized more
than 100 police officers to search the area. An entire cadet class. More
than 20 homicide detectives. A dive team. A helicopter. Officers from
the Maryland Natural Resources police. Nine cadaver dogs.They
searched a section of the isolated park all day, giving up only after
the poster had been tracked down, by this newspaper's chief police
reporter, Justin Fenton. He reported back:

The comment
was posted by a Sun reader and frequent commenter, who uses the screen
name Cham101. In early November she had posted a research project on her
blog that attempted to map all the bodies found in Leakin Park over the
years. You can check it out here.

"The reason I said look at the
4000 block of Franklintown Road is because if someone disappears on the
West Side that is ground zero of where they are going to be found,"
Cham posted on our site after police said her comment had sparked the
search. "The police should have searched in all these places 2 days
ago. These are easy drop points for bodies and many many bodies have
been found at these sites."

At a news conference, police
called this tip the only credible tip they had at the time. The said
they mobilized such a heavy force because the message was very specific
as to a potential location. They were understandably not happy when they
discovered the new information about the commentator later in the day.This
is a problem with anonymous comments. They allow the writer to say
almost anything, and it's what newspapers across the country try to
encourage -- a free-wheeling debate. But had the identity of the poster
been known up front, it would've prevented such a massive and fruitless
search, and allowed detectives to concentrate on other leads. Some
newspaper editors, citing the viscous and often-time racists and
personal attacks, have suspended comments on crime and other similar
stories. The Baltimore Sun blocks comments on stories when the topic
veers into hateful territory.Cham101's defense that police
should've looked in Leakin Park from the start is without merit. Though
true that it is known for body dumps, Leaking Park and adjoining Gwynns
Falls Park make up 1,100 acres of mostly wooded land. It took more than
100 cops seven hours to thoroughly search just the area that the poster
directed them too.Though anonymous, and with police knowing it
could be a general statement rather than a specific tip, had to act. Had
they not, and her body was discovered next to stream along Franklintown
Road, it would've appeared they had ignored an early lead. But it also
serves as a lesson that the written word is powerful, and shouldn't be
written in haste.

MONROE, N.C. -- Police turned up no sign of a missing Monroe teenager during a Tuesday search of a secluded Baltimore park.


SLIDESHOW:
Photos Of Missing Monroe Teen

Phylicia Barnes, 16, was last seen on Dec. 28 in Baltimore, where
she was visiting her half-sister. She may have been abducted,
investigators said."I'm told she’s a straight-A student,
graduated high school early, planned to attend Towson University, has no
history of running away, has no history of emotional distress, no
criminal history," Anthony Gugliemi, a spokesman for the Baltimore
Police Department, said.More than 100 police officers searched
Leakin Park for hours on Tuesday, but found no signs of a body or clues
to Barnes’ whereabouts. They searched a stream and woods in Leakin Park,
helped by a police helicopter, members of the dive team, dogs trained
to sniff out bodies and officers from the Maryland Natural Resources
police.Investigators also searched the half-sister’s apartment for a second time, but still found no sign of the teen.There
has been no activity on Barnes’ Facebook account, bank account or cell
phone account since she was reported missing, Baltimore police said.
Guglielmi said the boyfriend of one of Barnes’ half-sisters was the last
person to see her before she went missing. Neither he nor anyone else
has been named a suspect or person of interest in her disappearance.Barnes’
mother, Janice Sallis, said her daughter had connected with her
half-sister through Facebook. Eventually, she decided to allow her to
take a trip to Baltimore to visit over the Christmas holiday.“Before
she was allowed to go there, I questioned her sister, Deena Barnes, who
is 28 years old. ‘How was her environment?’ She said, ‘It’s just going
to be me and Phylicia because my boyfriend and I, we broke up and he
would be officially moved out by Jan. 1,’” Sallis said.However,
Sallis said she later learned that people were in and out of the
apartment and Barnes’ half-sister may have allowed the teenager to drink
alcohol.“I was infuriated,” Sallis said. “I said, ‘You know that’s not the environment she comes from.’”Sallis said she last spoke with her daughter on Christmas Day.Barnes’
disappearance has stunned her classmates at Union Academy in Monroe,
where she is a senior. They gathered on Monday morning to hold a vigil.

http://www.wsoctv.com/news/26352094/detail.html?cxntlid=cmg_cntnt_rss