PHYLICIA BARNES - 16 yo (2010) - Baltimore MD

Sadly Phylicia Barnes Still Missing Over a Month

Jan 29th, 2011


Phylicia Barnes



Yesterday marked a month since then 16 year old Phylicia Barnes was
reported missing. Her 17th birthday has passed since that time. The
North Carolina teen was visiting her half sister, Deena Barnes, during
the Christmas holidays in Baltimore when she literally disappeared.
Although her story was not immediately picked up by national media as
time went by and people spoke out about that, it gained attention.
Authorities have some people of interest in the investigation
including her half sisters ex-boyfriend who was the last person to see
Phylicia. He reportedly told authorities Phylicia said she was leaving
to get something to eat. The ex-boyfriend has now retained an attorney.
Some question his need for an attorney if he truly knows nothing about
her disappearance. Authorities have said he was not being considered a
suspect.

The school that Phylicia was attending, Union Academy, the Monroe
charter school, has upped the reward for information leading to the
whereabouts of the missing teen. They have pledged $25,000.00 from a
school foundation fund for kids in need, bringing the total reward
amount to $35,000.00.

Although authorities have made a mass effort in the investigation
leads have been few and were dead ends. From fliers, to roadside
billboards, to national media and many internet websites, Phylicia
Barnes photo and story has been placed in the public eye, yet it seems
no new information is coming forth. Police suspect some sort of foul
play. They are saying any break in the case would likely have to come
from the public.

Janice Sallis, Phylicia’s mother, said at a news conference Friday “Someone knows something.”
The family remains hopeful that Phylicia will be returned to them safe.
If you have any information that could help police find Phylicia Barnes, please call the tip hotline at 1 (855)223-0033.

Police in Baltimore are pleading for help to find a 17-year-old who
vanished from her family's apartment Dec. 28. Foul play is suspected but
there are no leads, and detectives and family members hope media
coverage of Phylicia Simone Barnes' case will help them find her. Barnes'
cousin, Harry Watson, recently stood on a corner in the chilly sun,
passing out fliers to the people hurrying in and out of the tall office
buildings in downtown Baltimore.

Enlarge Courtesy of Phylicia Barnes' family Phyilicia
Simone Barnes' family has posted this flier at businesses around
Baltimore, where she went missing in December at age 16.
Courtesy of Phylicia Barnes' family
Phyilicia
Simone Barnes' family has posted this flier at businesses around
Baltimore, where she went missing in December at age 16.

A man stopped to ask: "You haven't found her yet?" "Not, not yet," Watson replied. Despite
freezing winds, many people stopped to chat with Watson and to shake
their heads over the red, black and white fliers he held. On the flier, there's a picture of a fresh-faced, mahogany-skinned Phylicia Simone Barnes smiling in the middle of the page. "We don't pass up anybody; we try to get a flier into just about everybody's hands we possibly can," he said. Those
same fliers are posted on the glass doors of nearly every building in
the northwest Baltimore apartment complex where Barnes was staying
before she went missing. She had traveled to Baltimore from North Carolina, and was staying with her 28-year-old half-sister. Police Suspect Foul Play

There's no forensics, there's no blood spatter, there's nothing to indicate that
she was harmed in the apartment. ... Phylicia's trail goes cold at the
front door.
- Anthony Gugliemi, Baltimore Police Department

"We've suspected foul play from almost the beginning," says Anthony Guglielmi, spokesman for the Baltimore Police Department. He
says this case has been incredibly frustrating. Officers have searched
much of the city, including homeless shelters, hospitals and state
parks. They've checked security camera footage both from the apartment
complex and from the large shopping mall behind it. And they've put her
picture up on billboards along the Interstate 95 corridor. "What
we've tried to do since the very beginning of this case was make sure
that Phylicia's picture and our toll-free hotline was put on every media
outlet from Baltimore to Las Vegas," Guglielmi says. With
help from the FBI, Baltimore police have even used technology that
finds heat signatures given off by human bodies. But they found nothing. "We
don't have any physical evidence to help us out otherwise. There's no
forensics, there's no blood spatter, there's nothing to indicate that
she was harmed in the apartment," Guglielmi says. "We've used canine,
we've used every resource at our disposal. Phylicia's trail goes cold at
the front door." About Phylicia Police
say the 5-foot-8, 120-pound Barnes lived with her mother in the small
city of Monroe, N.C. Within the past two years, she had become
reacquainted with her biological father and her half-siblings in
Baltimore. She was last seen by the half-sister's ex-boyfriend at 1:30
p.m.

Courtesy of "Pray For Phylicia Barnes" Phylicia Simone Barnes went missing Dec. 28 while visiting her father and half-siblings in Baltimore.

Her cell phone goes to voice mail. She hasn't
used her debit card or gotten onto any social networks. "That was not in
her character," says her father, Russell Barnes. He says the high
school honor student didn't know Baltimore very well. Police
and Phylicia's parents say they hope she has been abducted — as awful
as that could be — because the alternative would be worse. "We're just keeping hope going that Phylicia is missing. Someone has her and they're not letting her go," Russell Barnes says. Phylicia's mom, Janice Sallis, says she is frustrated and furious that her daughter is missing. "She has a loving personality. She doesn't like confrontation. She's just a peaceful person," Sallis says. Police
confirm the parents' statements that Phylicia wasn't a troubled child
who would run away or hang with the wrong crowd. Her mother says she
was a typical teenager who enjoyed acting and having fun with her
friends.
http://www.npr.org/2011/02/21/133681328/baltimore-police-look-to-media-to-find-missing-teen

The family of missing teen Phylicia Barnes isn't giving up hope.

During
a vigil held Tuesday night, Phylicia’s sisters joined other members of
the community at New Christian Bible Baptist Church on West Northern
Parkway in Baltimore to pray for her safe return. Her family says
they're not giving up the search and beg anyone who may know something
to come forward.

“I feel like you can be anywhere, you see her
picture. I was at Wal-Mart the other day, I turned around and there she
is, which is a good thing but it also kind of gets us because we don't
know what's going on,” said Kelly Barnes.

Phylicia is from North Carolina and was visiting her sister in Baltimore when she disappeared on December 28th.
If you have any information call 1-855-223-0033

http://www.abc2news.com/dpp/news/region/baltimore_city/praying-for-answers-in-missing-teen-case

Media criticized on response to case of missing N.C. teen

Story not getting much play because she's black? Mother pleads for help

Video: Media response to missing teen case criticized

MONROE, N.C. — The mother of a missing North Carolina teen is pleading for information about her 16-year-old daughter in a case police say might have gained more media attention if the girl had been white.

Missing teen

Baltimore police set up 24-hour hotline — 855-223-0033 — and are pleading for the community's help in finding Phylicia Simone Barnes.

Phylicia Simone Barnes disappeared while spending Christmas break with relatives in Baltimore, her mother, Janice Sallis of Monroe, N.C., told NBC News on Tuesday.

She last talked to Phylicia on Christmas Day, just three days before she disappeared from her half-sister's apartment in northwest Baltimore.

"I told her how sad that I was because all of the children were gone and that next year, they're not going to be able to go because I was lonely without them. And she said, 'Mommy, I miss you, too,'" Sallis said.

Her disappearance has been reported in local media, NBC's TODAY show and CNN. But a Baltimore police official told NBC News that had the missing person been white, the case might have received even more media attention, perhaps aiding investigators in finding a suspect.

"I think the question has to be asked. It's not my position, I don't know what goes into these decisions, but this is Baltimore's Natalee Holloway case," said Anthony Guglielmi, spokesman for the Baltimore Police Department. Holloway, then 18, disappeared in 2005 while on a high school graduation trip to Aruba. Her remains have never been found.

Guglielmi said he and "the commander of the homicide unit had been prepared to go on CNN's Nancy Grace but got bumped for an hour-long report on a missing Texas cheerleader," The Baltimore Sun reported.

"Day two, day three, when we were putting information out about Phylicia's disappearance, we were talking about birds falling out of the sky in Arkansas," Guglielmi said in an interview with CNN, The Charlotte Observer reported. "And this girl's in danger. And she needs help. And it was very frustrating for my office to see an anemic response from our national media partners."

Nearly 100 officers — from city, state and federal agencies — joined in the search for Phylicia, a popular, straight-A student who was reported missing Dec. 28. There has been no sign of her since. No cell phone calls or use, no use of her credit cards, and no updates to her Facebook page.

Guglielmi said detectives believe the teen may have been abducted, in part because of items she left at the apartment. Police described the apartment as a flop-house for college students. Janice Sallis told a North Carolina newspaper that at least 20 men had stayed at the house during her child's stay,

"We're doing everything we can do," Guglielmi told The Baltimore Sun.

"We're basically at square one with the investigation. It's not like we have forensic evidence to guide us. The key here will be community intelligence."

Barnes is from Monroe, N.C., about 25 miles southeast of Charlotte. Her mother said her daughter was on track to graduate early from a charter school and had been applying to colleges.

Two congressmen also pleaded to the public to help solve the disappearance. Reps. Elijah Cummings of Maryland and Larry Kissell of North Carolina issued a joint statement asking the public to contact Baltimore police immediately with any information about Barnes' whereabouts.

Baltimore police are preparing for another large-scale search for
Phylicia Barnes, a teenager with metro Atlanta ties who disappeared from
her half-sister’s Baltimore apartment three months ago today.

Baltimore Police Dept.

More than 100 detectives - including half of the Baltimore police's
homicide unit as well as Maryland State Police and the FBI - had been
assigned to Phylicia Barnes' case.
Baltimore police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said authorities will search an area that they have investigated before.
“We wanted to dig deeper earlier, but the weather got in the way,” he
said, adding that he will reveal the area as the day of the actual
search gets closer.
Barnes, whose 17th birthday was in January, was visiting her
half-sister in northwest Baltimore. She was visiting from Monroe, N.C., a
city outside of Charlotte where she was preparing to graduate from high
school a year early.
Barnes’ father, Russell Barnes of Riverdale, spent time in Baltimore after his daughter disappeared. Her mother, Janice Sallis, also went to Baltimore but then moved back to Atlanta in January at her family’s urging.
Investigators talk to the family daily, Guglielmi said.
Authorities have gone to North Carolina and other areas to interview
people but have found no reason to go to Atlanta, Guglielmi said.
“We don’t have any evidence that she left Baltimore,” he said.
Barnes left her 27-year-old half-sister’s apartment on the afternoon
of Dec. 28. Her debit card hasn’t been used, her cell phone was turned
off, and her Facebook page hasn’t been updated. She also missed a flight
home to North Carolina.
More than 100 detectives -- including half of the Baltimore police's
homicide unit -- -- as well as Maryland State Police and the FBI had
been assigned to Barnes' case. Authorities were using helicopters,
cadaver dogs, and other investigative tools to try and find her.
Authorities have interviewed more than 25 so-called “persons of
interest,” but no one has risen to the level of a suspect, Guglielmi
said. Investigators are pursing the case as an abduction and as a
homicide, he said.
“It is truly, truly a baffling case; there’s no physical evidence to
drive us in a new direction,” Guglielmi said. “What we’re waiting for is
the innocuous tip, a tip that seems like nothing, that breaks the case
wide open.”
A Facebook page, "Pray for Phylicia Barnes," has more than 21,048
"Likes" and thousands of postings, including one from her father on
Monday, which says "Staying Focused.
"http://www.ajc.com/news/teen-now-missing-for-889009.html

Baltimore police are planning a mass search Saturday for Phylicia Barnes, the North Carolina teenager and track star missing since a December visit to the city.The new search will involve more than 200 law enforcement officials.Police
are also seeking volunteers to help distribute fliers in the Northwest
Baltimore neighborhood where Barnes had been staying with her half
sister. Anyone interested in helping should call the public affairs unit
at 410-396-2012.Anthony Guglielmi, the chief spokesman for the
city Police Department, would not identify the precise area to be
searched or what is prompting detectives to concentrate there. He said
only that investigators linked a person associated with Barnes to the
area.More details will be released Saturday morning, when police begin the dawn-to-dusk search."It will be an extensive effort," Guglielmi said.Barnes
went missing the afternoon of Dec. 28. The 16-year-old had planned to
graduate early from high school and move to Baltimore to attend Towson University. She was last seen by her half sister's ex-boyfriend sleeping on a couch.Six
homicide detectives worked the case for months but reported few leads.
They have questioned up to 30 people who knew Barnes or who had been
among the last to see her.Police have conducted more than a dozen
searches, including a stream bed in Leakin Park and a well behind an
apartment in Southwest Baltimore. Authorities have also conducted an
extensive media campaign and gone on national cable television stations.But
tips have recently slowed to a telephone line (1-855-223-0033) still
staffed 24 hours a day exclusively for the Barnes case, which police
describe as one of the most extensive and complex missing-persons
investigations undertaken by the department in years.Guglielmi
said only five tips have been called in to the line in the past two
weeks, compared to 180 to 200 in the two months before that."We
know there are people out there who know more than what they've shared
with police," the spokesman said, urging anyone with information to
call. "We're trying to generate as many leads as possible." A $35,000
reward is being offered.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-barnes-search-saturday-20110407,0,4778506.story

Hundreds of police officers and volunteers who spent Saturday trudging through ravines and woods in a state park just west of Baltimore
failed to find any sign of a teenage girl missing from the city since
December, frustrating authorities who said they have run out of leads in
the case. "We are now very much back at square one," said Baltimore police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi, echoing frustrations felt by people who spent 10 hours looking for Phylicia Barnes, the subject of one of the most extensive searches undertaken by police in years. "We have no doubt in our minds that something very tragic has
happened to her," Guglielmi said. "It's been devastating for the family.
We've been at it for three months and we're not very far in knowing
what happen to Phylicia."

Volunteers with the Civil Air Patrol did find a body in Patapsco Valley State Park - the decomposing corpse of a man dressed in layered clothing. Maryland State Police said they did not suspect foul play in the man's death. "We found nothing related to Phylicia Barnes," Guglielmi said. The 17-year-old disappeared from her half-sister's Northwest Baltimore apartment on Dec. 28 while visiting from Monroe,
N.C. Reached by telephone, her mother Janice Sallis called the results
of the search "good news. It's good news that they didn't come up with
anything. My baby might still be out there." Police have declined to say what led them to the park, but Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III
said at the onset of the search that such a big and complex undertaking
would not have been undertaken without what he called "actionable
intelligence." Guglielmi said only that "we identified this
as an area of interest. It was associated with one of the people of
interest we talked to, one of the 30 people who last saw Phylicia."
Police said they had searched part of the park before, but "frozen
ground and the snow limited our ability to search further."
Two dozen police dogs and Maryland Natural Resources Department officers
familiar with the 16,000 acre park that sprawls over two adjoining
counties joined city homicide detectives and FBI agents from a task
force on exploited children. Two dozen students from a criminal justice class at Coppin State University, taught by former Baltimore Police Commissioner Leonard Hamm,
helped search the park. Two hundred volunteers distributed 10,000
fliers near the apartment building from which Phylicia disappeared. Police say they have searched more than a dozen places and
interviewed associates and friends of Barnes, who turned 17 in January.
The former -boyfriend of Barnes' half-sister was the last person to see
her alive, reportedly sleeping on a couch in the sister's apartment the
afternoon of Dec. 28. Barnes, who lives with her mother in North Carolina, was visiting her half-sister in Baltimore for the Christmas holiday. The track star and honors student had planned to graduate early from high school and attend Towson University.

Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/04/09/3541114/maryland-searchers-find-no-sign.html#ixzz1J62GHCLd

(CNN) -- The body of a 17-year-old honor student from North Carolina -- missing since December -- has been found in a Maryland river, her father said Thursday.
Russel Barnes said that a female body found Wednesday in the Susquehanna River in Maryland is that of his daughter, Phylicia Barnes. The father said he'd learned as much after talking with authorities.

(snipped)

http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/04/21/maryland.north.carolina.body.found/index.html

I wonder if the male body found is associated with her and her death.

I've had a bad feeling about her all along.

Sad news

Here is a link from a Baltimore paper. This is all so sad.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-barnes-body-20110421,0,6874419.story

"As the desperate search for missing honors student Phylicia Barnes came to a heartbreaking end Thursday, police said the discovery of her body in the Susquehanna River could be "instrumental" in hunting down new leads in a four-month-old case that has yielded painfully few clues.

"We're at stage one of a new phase of the investigation," said Baltimore Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III. "Finding her body is really going to be instrumental in giving us an opportunity to bring closure to the family. … It gives investigators a real opportunity."

The North Carolina teen was 16 years old when she disappeared on Dec. 28 from her half-sister's Northwest Baltimore apartment, touching off the Baltimore Police Department's most extensive and elusive missing person investigation in years.

Her body was found early Wednesday, nude and floating near the Conowingo Dam in a waterway that splits Harford and Cecil counties about 40 miles northeast of Baltimore. A tattoo on the lower leg of the body appeared similar to one Barnes had, and the state medical examiner's office confirmed the match using dental records. A cause of death has not been determined, and may not be known for weeks.

"All of us have been praying and hopeful for a different outcome to this case," Bealefeld said at a news conference at state police headquarters in Pikesville.

The discovery came with a twist: Another nude body, that of a black male, was also pulled from the Susquehanna, hours later Wednesday, after being spotted by boaters about three miles south. He had not been identified, and while police said there's no evidence of a connection they also said they could not rule it out.

Col. Terrence Sheridan, the superintendent of the Maryland State Police, said police throughout the region have been notified about that body, and additional tests would be conducted on both to determine how they died.

"Our mission today is to find out what occurred with Ms. Barnes and the unidentified man recovered at the same time," Sheridan said.

State police and city homicide detectives said they plan to work jointly out of Baltimore Police headquarters to investigate the case.

The national media was slow to report on Barnes' disappearance, prompting cries of double-standards and racial bias involving what otherwise seemed to be a made-for-TV case: a beautiful honors student and athlete, disappearing without a trace while visiting her sister.

City police pushed for appearances on news programs, encouraged family members to speak publicly, sought help from law enforcement agencies across the country, and put up billboards. On April 9, hundreds of police and volunteers helped search Patapsco Valley State Park in Howard County and handed out fliers in the neighborhood where she went missing.

But the following day, police said they were at "square one" and had no leads.

News that her body had been found confirmed the worst fears of those in Baltimore, North Carolina and across the country who were hoping for her safe recovery, a prospect that police had acknowledged seemed increasingly bleak.

Messages of condolence were flowing in by the hundreds to a Facebook page called "Pray for Phylicia Barnes," which had more than 25,000 followers Thursday night.

"RIP Phylicia Barnes!" wrote one woman. "You touched a lot of hearts nationwide and justice will be served to those who are responsible for ur [sic] death."

Leonard D. Hamm, the former Baltimore police chief who is currently the police chief at Coppin State University, had 30 of his criminal justice students volunteer in the search of Patapsco Valley State Park. After hearing that her body had been identified Thursday, he called her death "a tragedy for the whole city," but echoed Bealefeld's comments that the discovery of the body should aid the investigation.

"I have a lot of confidence that this case will be closed now," he said...."
There are two more pages.

I was so sad to hear this but it seems most of these missing children end up like this, very few elizabeth smarts and jaycee dugards'.

Investigators hope the discovery of Phylicia Barnes' body will yield new clues about the how the North Carolina teenager went missing while visiting family in Maryland in late December.
Phylicia, a straight-A student and track star who turned 17 in
January, was visiting her half-sister in Baltimore for Christmas. She
was last seen Dec. 28. Her body was found Wednesday in the Susquehanna
River and she was identified Thursday. Her cause of death hasn't been
determined.
The teen's disappearance puzzled investigators, who believed she didn't leave on her own accord.
Baltimore Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld said the
discovery of her body could be "instrumental" in finding new leads to
why she went missing, the Baltimore Sun reported.
"We're at stage one of a new phase of the investigation," Bealefeld said.
"Finding her body is really going to be instrumental in giving us an
opportunity to bring closure to the family. … It gives investigators a
real opportunity."
The body of a black man, who has not been identified, was also found
in the river the same day. Police say there's no evidence of a
connection, but continue to investigate.

Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/capital-land/2011/04/investigators-hope-new-leads-teens-disappearance-md#ixzz1KIkNCDdm

Search begins for Phylicia Barnes' killer

Body of Clayton couple's daughter recovered from river in Maryland
The search for Phylicia Barnes, a missing teenager with metro
Atlanta ties, came to a tragic conclusion Thursday when her body was
found in a Maryland River. The discovery ends the search phase of the
case and begins the investigation into who killed her.

Baltimore Police Department

More than 100 detectives -- including half of the Baltimore police's
homicide unit -- -- as well as Maryland State Police and the FBI had
been assigned to the Phylicia Barnes case.

The chief medical examiner's office confirmed that the body, found
floating in the Susquehanna River near the Conowingo Dam, is Barnes.

Two Maryland State Troopers recovered a body of an unidentified woman
around 10 a.m. Wednesday and then were contacted about a second body,
this time of an unidentified male, around 2 p.m., state police said.
Troopers were alerted to the area by some people who were working on the
dam, state police said.
Maryland State Police have 12 homicide investigators working with
Baltimore police on the investigation, Maryland State Police
Superintendent Col. Terrence Sheridan said Thursday.
"We're not going to spare any expense to try to find out what
happened to these two people," he said. "It's going to take a lot of
work."
There were no signs of injury to Barnes' body, Sheridan said. Neither body had clothes on.
Barnes, whose 17th birthday was in January, was visiting her
half-sister in northwest Baltimore. She was visiting from Monroe, N.C., a
city outside of Charlotte where she was preparing to graduate from high
school a year early.
Barnes’ father, Russell Barnes of Riverdale, spent time in Baltimore
after his daughter disappeared. Her mother, Janice Sallis, also went to
Baltimore but then moved back to Atlanta in January at her family’s urging.
After Barnes' body was identified, hundreds of people posted condolences on a Facebook page set up for the teenager after she disappeared almost four months ago.
"Speechless to hear that they found your body Phylicia. May you rest
in peace. Your whole family and your friends are in my prayers. We all
love you. My heart aches for your family. May we always remember you for
what a great person you were. RIP Phylicia."
More than 100 detectives -- including half of the Baltimore police's
homicide unit -- as well as Maryland State Police and the FBI had been
assigned to Barnes' case. Authorities were using helicopters, cadaver
dogs, and other investigative tools to try and find her.
Authorities have interviewed more than 25 so-called “persons of
interest,” but no one has risen to the level of a suspect, said
Baltimore police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi, speaking to the AJC in March.
Investigators are pursing the case as an abduction and as a homicide, he said.
Authorities had gone to North Carolina and other areas to interview
people but had found no reason to go to Atlanta, he told the AJC.
Barnes left her 27-year-old half-sister’s apartment on the afternoon
of Dec. 28. Her debit card hadn’t been used, her cell phone was turned
off, and her Facebook page wasn't updated. She also missed a flight home
to North Carolina.
http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/search-begins-for-phylicia-919934.html

Posters note: As this is a homicide inquiry I'm moving to Murdered.

The half-brother of a missing North Carolina teenager who was found
dead in Maryland last week says she had no reason to go to the dam where
her body was discovered.Bryan Barnes told The Baltimore Sun on
Sunday he doubts 16-year-old Phylicia Barnes, who was visiting relatives
in Baltimore when she disappeared in December, would have decided to go
to an area about 40 miles away without telling anyone.Bryan Barnes also said he's hopeful authorities will make an arrest soon in his half-sister's death.Phylicia
Barnes' body was found Wednesday near the Conowingo Dam on the
Susquehanna River in northeast Maryland. The body of an unidentified
male was also found. Bryan Barnes says the family doesn't know of anyone
missing who might be linked to Phylicia Barnes.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iN-koUzQ2h_7z00nVK5ixWuX1vcg?docId=cdb7c701f13f41cb962511e8d9967c58

Bump

I was hoping to see some news on this case - any leads? cause of death prob won't be known just yet, right? and what's with the male body found nearby?

SoCal, I've been wondering about the male body also. Seems too coincidental to not be related to her death.

Posters note: I've been keeping an eye out for news. This just out today.


BALTIMORE (AP) — Maryland State Police
have identified a man whose body was found in the Susquehanna River
last week, but say they have not found a link to a missing North
Carolina teen whose body was found nearby on the same day.Police identified the man on Tuesday as Darryl Harper, 53, of Richmond, Va. after matching fingerprints from his body with prints entered in the National Crime Information Center database for missing persons.Authorities have not yet determined a cause or manner of death for Harper or Phylicia Barnes,
whose body was spotted by workers at the Conowingo Dam hours earlier
about three miles upstream from Harper's body. It's not clear yet when
either died, but they went missing months apart.Harper's
wife reported him missing on April 15 and told investigators she and
her husband had moved from a Cockeysville, Md., apartment to Richmond in
February and he traveled to their former apartment in early March to
collect items, police said.The
last time Harper's wife spoke with him was when he called in mid-March,
but a relative in the Harrisburg, Pa., area told her Harper had checked
himself into a hospital in East Penn, Pa., on the Susquehanna River, on
March 25, seeking help with mental health. Police learned he stayed
one night.Harper's
wife told police that her husband had attempted suicide in 2006 and
told a relative in March he was going to jump off a bridge.Barnes,
from Monroe, N.C., was 16 when she disappeared Dec. 28 while visiting
her older half-siblings for the Christmas holidays. Baltimore police
called her disappearance one of the strangest and most vexing missing
persons cases they had investigated.Investigators
worked to keep the search for Barnes in the public consciousness, but
none of the tips or searches in the region panned out. Their next big
lead came when her body turned up in the river, an hour's drive
northeast of the apartment where she was last seen.




Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/article/Police-identify-2nd-body-found-in-Maryland-river-1353152.php#ixzz1KfSjwjfc

While the two may not be connected to each other, I do believe that the same suspect is responsible for both watery graves.
Look at what's going on out on that Long Island beach... same perp, different victims.
These folks aren't so smart. Once they find a "burying field" they like, they will stick with it for familiarity's sake.

Phylicia Barnes death labeled a homicide by Maryland Police

MONROE, NC (WBTV) - Police in Maryland say they are investigating the death of a teen girl from Union County as a homicide.
The body of Phylicia Barnes, 17, was found
unclothed in Maryland's Susquehanna River on April 20, nearly 4 months
after she vanished from her half-sister's northwest Baltimore apartment
three days after Christmas.
On Wednesday, Maryland State Police, along
with officers with the Baltimore Police Department released a statement
saying an autopsy by the Medical Examiner's office ruled Barnes' death a
homicide.
While officers say they have determined her
cause of death, they are "not releasing that information because it is
an important part of the ongoing investigation. To release a cause of
death at this time could jeopardize the investigation by revealing
information known only to the person or persons responsible for her
death."
The Monroe honor student's body was found at
the same time that police found the body of 53-year-old Darryl Harper,
of Virginia, just 4 miles away.
Photos: Click here for a photo gallery of Phylicia
Maryland State Police investigators are
continuing to review information concerning Darryl Harper. However,
neither they nor Baltimore Police homicide detectives have found
anything that would connect him to Phylicia Barnes or her disappearance.
It was not immediately clear what led Harper may be connected to Barnes, 17, the honor student who went missing December 28.
Maryland State Police are leading the death
investigation, using 10 detectives to assist Baltimore Police on their
case, Shipley said. "This case is a top priority," he said.
Although Phylicia's body has been found,
there are still no charges in the case. But police said finding
Phylicia's body could be a tremendous help in bringing about justice in
the case.
"Without it, it would have been an incredibly
difficult case, but now it gives investigators a real opportunity,"
Baltimore police commissioner Frederick Bealefeld said at a press
conference two weeks ago.

Police continue to urge anyone
with information regarding the murder of Phylicia Barnes to contact them
immediately. Persons with information may call the TIPS Line that has
been established since Barnes disappeared at 1-855-223-0033. Or, they
can call the Maryland State Police duty officer at 410-653-4200. Calls
may be kept confidential.


http://www.wbtv.com/story/14573596/phylicia-barnes-death-labeled-a-homicide-by-maryland-police

Phylicia Barnes' death ruled homicide, cause withheld
Funeral can be viewed online this weekend, family says
By Justin Fenton, The Baltimore Sun

9:54 p.m. EDT, May 4, 2011

The death of Phylicia Barnes, the missing teenager whose body was found last month in the Susquehanna River, has been formally ruled a homicide by the state medical examiner's office, officials said.

Police also said a cause of death had been determined, but they were withholding the information for investigative purposes. "To release a cause of death at this time could jeopardize the investigation by revealing information known only to the person or persons responsible for her death," state police said in a statement.

The investigation, which has joined state police homicide investigators with the Baltimore detectives who have been working the case since Barnes disappeared last year, is continuing, officials said. FBI agents are also assisting.

Meanwhile, Barnes' family announced plans for her funeral in Georgia, which they said would be private but also streamed live on the Internet on Saturday. Services will begin at 1 p.m. in Conyers, Ga., and can be viewed at the website of the Springfield Baptist Church at http://www.sbclive.com.

"Phylicia's family wishes to thank her school family, law enforcement and the thousands of people that have expressed sympathies following her untimely demise," her mother's family said in a statement.

Barnes, a North Carolina honors student and athlete, vanished without a trace Dec. 28 from her half sister's Northwest Baltimore apartment during a visit. She was 16 at the time.

The case slowly gained national attention, and thousands of volunteers and law enforcement officers helped search neighborhoods and local parks.

On April 20, her body was found floating in the Susquehanna River, 40 miles northeast of Baltimore between Harford and Cecil counties, and she was later identified through dental records. Another body found in the river was that of a Richmond, Va., man whose death is not believed to be connected with hers.

Police said they have received very few leads in the case and were asking anyone with information to call a tip line at 1-855-223-0033, or the Maryland State Police at 410-653-4200. Callers can remain anonymous.

justin.fenton@baltsun.com

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-barnes-homicide-20110504,0,228792.story

The Baltimore Sun

After months of searching, the family of Phylicia Simone Barnes welcomed
her home Saturday, but it was hardly the reunion they had prayed for.Family
and friends gathered for an emotional afternoon funeral service at
Springfield Baptist Church in Conyers, Ga., to remember the teen who
went missing from a Northwest Baltimore apartment complex four months
ago while visiting family over Christmas."We are so grateful to
announce that Simone is no longer lost, no longer missing," said Pastor
Eric Wendel Lee Sr. at the start of the service, which the church
broadcast over the Internet. Speakers during the 90-minute service
included her childhood pastor and faculty at her school in Monroe, N.C.,
where she lived with her mother.Barnes, an honor student who
would have turned 17 this year, was found dead April 20 about 40 miles
north of Baltimore in the Susquehanna River, where work crews noticed
her body floating north of Conowingo Dam. On Wednesday, state police
said that an autopsy confirmed Barnes was the victim of a homicide, but
said they were withholding the cause of death for investigative
purposes. No arrests have been made.Next to her closed casket
Saturday sat a large purple flower display in the shape of a cross and a
large print of her senior class picture, in which she wore a black
drape and a strand of white pearls. Many of the mourners wore her
favorite color — purple — or purple ribbons. At least one wore a black
t-shirt with Barnes' picture.Lawrence Sullivan, the dean of students at the
school from which Barnes was supposed to graduate early before attending Towson University,
remembered teaching Barnes in the seventh grade. He told mourners about
their first parent-teacher conference, when he was amazed by the
expectations Barnes' mother, Janice Sallis-Mustafa, had for her
daughter.He then gave Sallis-Mustafa her daughter's high school diploma and a hug."I
knew her for only six years," said Sullivan, dean of students at Union
Academy in Monroe, N.C. But he added that those six years amounted to
nearly a third of Barnes' short life.Chrissy Rape, a school counselor and
college placement director at Union Academy, described Barnes as "highly motivated.
"At first, Rape said, Barnes wanted to be a pediatrician. But later, after a psychology class,
she decided on child psychology. Either way, Rape said, she knew she wanted to work with kids.
"She was loving and patient with the children" at an afterschool program where she worked.
"It was her calling," Rape said.Before
she went missing, Rape said, Barnes had received several responses from
schools who wanted Barnes as a student, some offering her merit
scholarships.She spoke of Barnes' love of the theater and her participation in drama groups at school.She
remembered how the school reacted when, after many days passed, Barnes
still did not return to her home, to the school. On Phylicia days, she
said, the students wore purple, and hung purple ribbons on trees in
front of the school. They plan to plant a tree next week in her honor.
The school will also start a Phylicia Barnes scholarship.A young friend sang an emotional,
original composition: "Come Home Simone.""As
I'm looking out my window, I'm missing you. I ask myself why," the song
began. "We won't give the search up until we found you."The girl began to cry,
but managed to push through the song.Another
speaker read a poem by Barnes' mother. Written from Barnes' point of
view, it began: "I know from everyone, my homecoming was a surprise."
And later: "Please for me don't cry, it's only a temporary goodbye."At
the end of the funeral, mourners watched a slideshow of Barnes through
the years with the CeCe Winans song, "Don't Cry For Me," playing.One
photo showed an elementary school-age Barnes wearing a lime green
heart-shaped balloon around her head. Another showed her petting a black
and white tuxedo cat. Some of the later photos showed Barnes in a
turquoise satin prom dress linking arms friends.In all of her
pictures, she flashed her broad, bright smile. One of the final photos
was of a rock painted white with "Faith, Hope, Love. Phylicia" in purple
paint."God, if we ever needed you, we certainly need you now," Lee said.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-md-barnes-funeral-20110506,0,6912221.story?track=rss

Six months later, Phylicia Barnes' family rallies for answers

Sister recalls moments after North Carolina teen went missing

June 28, 2011

In the hours, then days, after her teenage sister went missing during a
Christmas visit, Deena Barnes remembers the gripping panic that took
over — staying up for two days straight, on the edge of the couch,
waiting to catch a glimpse of 16-year-old Phylicia returning to the
Northwest Baltimore apartment from which she vanished without a trace. Six months later, the family is without answers. Though Phylicia's body
was recovered in April from a river 45 miles northeast of Baltimore,
the case remains open, and family members fear the trail is growing
cold. "We haven't forgotten," Deena, 28, said in an interview Tuesday. "We haven't given up." About 50 local relatives of the North Carolina teen and other
supporters gathered in front of City Hall on Tuesday night, wearing
T-shirts and waving signs. They're hoping to spark tips in a case that
so far has garnered few despite a reward fund that has reached at least
$7,000
.http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2011-06-28/news/bs-md-ci-phylicia-barnes-rally-20110628_1_phylicia-barnes-deena-barnes-northwest-baltimore