Nearly 100 police and federal agents have joined in the search, hoping to discover what happened to Phylicia Barnes, a high school honor student from North Carolina.
She disappeared three days after Christmas while visiting a relative in Baltimore.
Since then, not a trace. There have been no cell phone calls, no use of her credit cards, and no updates to her Facebook page. Friends and classmates back at Union Academy pray for her return:
“We all have faith that you’re going to bring her home real soon, Lord,” said a schoolmate.
WATCH PHYLICIA BARNES’ STORY HERE
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On December 28th, she left her half-sister’s apartment to run some errands but never came back. Since then, police have scoured the neighborhood, a nearby park, and area ponds. Helicopters have responded to tips day and night and leaflets have been circulated door-to-door. Her picture has also been flashed on electronic billboards along Interstate 95.
Phylicia’s disappearance has been reported in local media and on NBC’s Today program and CNN. But it hasn’t been much of a story nationwide.The spokesman for the Baltimore police Department says he thinks this case — of a popular straight-A high school student who simply vanished — might have received more national attention if the victim had been white.
“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,” he said.
Phylicia’s mother is hoping for a breakthrough. She says they last talked Christmas Day:
“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.’”
As her friends post tributes on You Tube, Baltimore police hope a ten-thousand dollar reward will help solve the mystery.