A 28-year-old woman was killed and her two children were abducted and later found “unharmed.” Two suspects have absconded and investigators seek public support in tracing them.
An amber alert went active for a 3-year-old girl who was abducted after her mother was killed in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Aug. 12.
The 28-year-old mother, Aiesha Shantel Summers was allegedly killed by Edward Garner, 35, who also abducted her two children Aziyah Garner, 1, and Dior Muhammad, 3, said the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department in a statement on Twitter.
“A female was located with a gunshot wound inside of an apartment and was pronounced deceased on scene,” the police said in a homicide notification on Twitter.
Police said Edward Garner is in the company of another 18-year-old man by the same name. Police refer to him as Edward Garner Jr.
“He’s considered armed and dangerous and was last seen driving a white 2000 S430 Mercedes,” the police said.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department later updated that all the children have been located.
“All of the children have been located safe and unharmed. The suspect, Edward Silk Garner, Sr., has not been located,” said the police in an update on Twitter.
In an update, the police later said in a message that they had located Aziyah Garner “safe and unharmed” with a relative in the Independence Divison.
The 3-year-old, Dior Muhammad was located on Tuesday morning with a relative at Trade Street in Central Division.
“Anyone with information is asked to call 704-432-TIPS and speak directly to Homicide Unit Detective,” the Police said in a homicide update.
Missing Children in the United States
According to the FBI, there were 424,066 entries for missing children in the National Crime Information Center and 464,324 in 2017, reported the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).NCMEC’s national toll-free hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST® (1-800-843-5678) received 4.8 million calls for missing children in the past 35 years and helped in the recovery of 296,000 missing children.
There are always those missing children who are never located or are found months, years, or even decades later. There are cases of missing children in the United States that have remained unsolved in the past many years.
In one case on Oct. 4, 2011, Baby Lisa Irwin went missing from her crib in Kansas City, Missouri. The 10-month-old was checked by her mother, Deborah Bradley, the previous night at 10:30 p.m. Her father, Jeremy Irwin, later discovered she was missing when he came back home from a late-night shift at 4 a.m.
According to ABC News, no arrests have been made in the case and Irwin is still missing. Irwin, who is blue-eyed and blond-haired, would have turned 8 on Nov. 11, 2018.
There have also been rare cases, such as that of the three children who went missing for 11 years and shocked the country when they were reunited with their families on May 6, 2013.
What to Do if a Child Goes Missing?
For anyone that needs help with a child gone missing, Safe Wise suggests the following actions:You should call law enforcement as soon as possible instead of spending time looking for the child yourself. There’s no waiting time for children below 18 years of age and the child’s name will be added to the FBI’s National Crime Information Center (NCIC) Missing Person File immediately. A Be On the Look Out (BOLO) alert will be sent to all nearby police jurisdictions.
Present facts about your missing child in an organized way so that authorities can do their work swiftly. Keep a picture of the child that clearly shows the child’s distinguishable characteristics.
After law enforcement agencies have been notified, you can start looking for the child in your vicinity.
Make sure you are available to coordinate with law enforcement in the search efforts during the next 48 hours—this period is very critical.
Once you have informed the local authorities, they can also contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678) who can assist you and the authorities in your search.
