Without a Trace

Jaliek Rainwalker was only 12 years old when he went missing from his adoptive parents’ home in Greenwich, NY. Jaliek was born into a difficult life, born into a crack/cocaine addiction, and entering and leaving 6 different foster homes before being adopted by Stephen Kerr and Jocelyn McDonald in 2002. Jaliek, because of the abuse he suffered in his early childhood, was not an easy child to take care of. His parents stated that he would have violent outbursts and temper tantrums and that his siblings said that they were sometimes afraid of him. Jaliek’s former foster family had planned on adopting him before he attacked their daughter, forcing them to decide he could no longer live with them. However, he was still a wonderful child when he was not having one of his outbursts. His parents described him as a very intelligent and happy boy, usually seen with a smile across his face. 

Jaliek’s life with the Kerrs was not by any means traditional– they lived together in rural New York with no running water and limited electricity, where the family slept together all in one room. This may have had a negative impact on Jaliek’s emotional well-being, causing him to lash out even more at the family. Jaliek did not receive treatment or medication for his emotional issues, and his parents stated that at the time of his disappearance he was both suicidal and homicidal– a week prior to his disappearance, his adoptive mother called a crisis hotline stating that Jaliek had become unmanageable and that they wished to un-adopt Jaliek and send him back into foster care. 

 

Upon the time of Jaliek’s disappearance, he had been living in the home of another foster family for a week when he was sent back to the Kerr family, where he would then be sent to another foster family the next day. His father, Stephen, would spend the night with Jaliek to watch over him while he was going through this transition. When Stephen awoke the next day around 7:30 in the morning, Jaliek was gone, leaving a note behind. The note stated, “Dear everybody, I’m sorry for everything. I won’t be a bother anymore. Goodbye, Jaliek.” Around 9 am, Jaliek Rainwalker was reported as missing. 

That day, a search of the area was conducted, turning up nothing of significance. The police have since made little progress on the case, announcing that they believe he may have been met with foul play, although they have not ruled out suicide or voluntary disappearance. 

 

Almost all of the speculation in this case has been made towards the parents of Jaliek, specifically his father, Stephen. Upon the time of his disappearance, the police requested him and his wife to take a polygraph. Jocelyn agreed and passed, but Stephen has since refused. Jaliek’s adoptive grandmother, since his disappearance, has been advocating nonstop for him and his safe return and has stated that she believes Stephen harmed Jaliek on the night of his disappearance and has covered up what occurred. Some of Jaliek’s former foster parents have agreed with this and have continued to advocate for him. Jaliek’s former foster parent, Tom, has alleged seeing Jaliek writing a letter apologizing for the harm he had caused, after being instructed to do so by Stephen. He believes that this may be the note left behind by Jaliek after his disappearance. The Kerr family, alternatively, suggests that Jaliek may have run away to live with an African-American family, as they state that Jaliek has always identified himself as black instead of biracial, and had expressed his desire to live with other African-Americans after being placed within white families, feeling out of place. 

Since Jaliek’s disappearance, the police have named Stephen Kerr as the main person of interest in his case, conducting searches on the places he has been staying, as well as seizing a computer belonging to him. Inside their home, the police have found a yellow fleece jacket belonging to Jaliek that he was reported to have been wearing on the night of his disappearance. His grandmother has also claimed to have seen Stephen acting in violence towards Jaliek in the past, dunking him in a creek and dragging him outside following one of his outbursts towards the family. 

 

The police now say that they believe Jaliek has been met with foul play, but do not have enough evidence to charge anyone in relation to the case. His grandparents and foster families continuously fight for answers and advocate for Jaliek, trying to keep his case and his story alive.

Cleashindra Hall, known to her friends and family as Clea, was an ambitious young woman, eager to start her internship at a Boston pediatrician’s office. She was a senior in high school at the time of her disappearance, two weeks from graduation, and as an honors student about to go on to Tennessee State University’s pre-med program, she had a very bright future. She was a reliable, level-headed girl, and was very close with her family.

While she was still in school, Clea held an after-school job with Dr. Larry Amos, in his home office, typically being picked up by her parents at the end of each day. Clea’s parents recall that she enjoyed her job with Dr. Amos, rarely complaining. Clea did mention to them before, though, that she believed he may be involved in some sort of shady business based on the checks she signed for him and other financial documents she sorted through on a daily basis. Dr. Amos was also known to be an extremely cheap man– almost any time he contracted work on his house or office, he would pick out something that he didn’t find up to standards, and never ended up paying. However, with all of this aside, Clea seemed happy and content with her job and only had good things to say. 

 

On May 9, 1994, Clea showed up to her job at Dr. Amos’ home office as usual. Dr. Amos reports that all went as usual– Clea helped him sign some checks, file some documents, and do her usual tasks. Nearing the end of the night, around 8 p.m, Clea realized she may need to stay a little later than usual, so she called her mother, Lauren Hall, to tell her to expect a phone call when she was ready to be picked up. Lauren would never hear from her daughter again.

 

According to Dr. Amos, Clea left his office sometime after 8:30 pm, leaving through his garage and getting into a car of whom he assumed, at the time, was her mother’s. While Clea’s mother grew panicked, she was assured by those around her that Clea had probably left to go with friends after her job, and being an 18-year old about to graduate high school, decided that she didn’t need her parents’ approval. Her mother, however, knew that this would be out of character and not something her daughter would do. On the morning of May 10th, Clea’s family called the police in order to file a missing person’s report, being told that they needed to wait 24-hours after her disappearance to report her as missing. Later, the report was filed. 

 

There are three main theories on what happened to Clea. First, some believe what is perhaps the simplest answer– Clea tried to walk home by herself, as she lived very close to Dr. Amos’ office, and was then abducted. No evidence for this theory has been found, and this leaves the question as to why Dr. Amos would report seeing Clea get into a car. Second, some believe that Clea may have decided to run away. Clea’s home life has been described as very strict, and many times with runaway cases, strict households leave children running away in their teenage years. However, everyone who knew Clea has said that this is not something they could picture her doing. 

 

Lastly, many suspect that Dr. Amos was involved in Clea’s disappearance. Dr. Amos was the last person to have seen Clea and is considered to be a person of interest by the police. His ex-wife, upon agreeing to meet with Clea’s parents, has said that he is abusive and violent. Dr. Amos’ home was searched following a warrant 2 weeks after her disappearance, but investigators found no sign of a struggle– her parents argue that two weeks would have been plenty of time for Dr. Amos to clean up the crime scene and that the police should not have waited that long to investigate. As of 2021, Dr. Amos is still considered a subject, the police believe her case involves kidnapping, and the investigation is still open.

Clea’s family still fights for answers and demands an explanation from the police department as to why Clea’s case took so long to process and why they have not gotten anywhere. They strongly believe that Dr. Amos has something to do with her disappearance, and they are thoroughly disappointed that the police have not looked further into his involvement. Although they will likely never see her safe return, they pray that she is out there somewhere, living her dream of being a pediatrician.

The case of Lisa Renee Irwin is different from any of the other cases I’ve covered on my blog for one heartbreaking reason– Lisa was not even a year old when she went missing from her home in Kansas City, MO. Born on November 11th, 2010 to her parents Deborah Bradley and Jeremy Irwin, Lisa was described as a sweet and happy baby– the one that truly completed their family, in Deborah’s eyes. 

On Tuesday, October 4th of 2011, Deborah Bradley checked on her baby Lisa at around 10:30 pm to see her sleeping soundly. From that point forward, with her baby put to sleep, Deborah decided to open a bottle of wine and start drinking with her friend and neighbor, knowing that all of her responsibilities for the day had been completed. Her partner, Jeremy, had just begun a job working on building a new Starbucks, and for the first time was working overnight away from his family. 

 

Upon arriving home from his job in the early morning hours of Wednesday, Jeremy was annoyed to find the lights on, an open window, and the front door unlocked. Jeremy and Deborah had spoken multiple times in the past about keeping doors and windows locked and leaving the lights off to help bring down their heating and electric bills, as money had been tight. Once he went to check on his daughter and couldn’t find her in her crib, he woke up his wife and the couple frantically searched through their home and street to see if Lisa had somehow managed to climb out of her crib and strayed from home. Once they realized could not locate her, they called 911 and filed a missing person report, and subsequently, an AMBER alert went out to the area. 

 

There has been much suspicion around Lisa’s parents, with many questioning the character of her mother, Deborah, for getting drunk with a baby in the house. However, this has prevented police from conducting a proper investigation and has taken much of the media spotlight away from Lisa and towards defaming Deborah. Deborah also claims that the police have accused her of being involved in her daughter’s disappearance and have unfairly targeted her without evidence, claiming that she was told by police, “You did it. You did it. And we have nothing”. Deborah also claims they lied about her failing a polygraph test in order to coerce a false confession. 

 

In terms of real suspects, two witnesses interviewed by police during the investigation claim to have seen a man walking down Lisa’s street carrying a baby. They reported that the baby seemed as if it had been carried out on last-minute notice, citing that she was dressed inappropriately for the chilly October weather, wearing no coat or warm clothing. While the police located the man one witness believes to have seen and cleared him, the other witness said that the man police apprehended was not the man she saw that day. 

In continuing the investigation, the family still hopes for answers. An anonymous benefactor has since hired a private investigator for the case and has offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to Lisa’s return. Thankfully, the police have the suspicion that baby Lisa may still be alive, and have no evidence to point to the contrary. Her father, Jeremy, stated, “We just want to make sure that we tell everybody that we’re still cooperating. We’re still talking to the police. We’re doing everything we can to try to find Lisa and bring her home.” The family holds out hope and wishes that the public will continue to do so as well.

Lashaya Stine was a beautiful, smart, and hopeful teen, ready to start her new internship upon the time of her disappearance from Aurora, CO. 

Lashaya’s mother remembers her being a good and gentle teenager, who would always respect her mother’s wishes. Although she was well behaved, she often asked to go to parties and stay out late, of which her mother would not allow. Although Lashaya wished she could, she always respected her mother and would do as she said. Most of the time, her mother recalls, it was easy to get in touch with her, apart from one time where Lashaya could not be accounted for. After much panic, she was found the same day while her mother drove through the neighborhood. While it’s still not public information why Lashaya was missing that day, it has been proven to be the least of her mother’s worries. 

 

On July 15th, 2016, Lashaya snuck out of her house without her mother’s permission, leaving no note or indication as to where she would be going. Lashaya’s room was in the basement, and upon investigation, her window was unlocked and the plant in front was moved. She left no items behind– her entire wardrobe, wallet, money, phone charger, and other personal belongings. Later on in the investigation, CCTV footage was recovered of her crossing a nearby street, of which no leads came out of. 

The interesting thing about Lashaya’s case is the amount of sightings that have been reported of her in all different areas. The most frequent storyline that the police have received and followed up on is the idea that Lashaya was drugged and trafficked. 

 

A pimp from the area contacted the Stine family saying he would keep an eye out for Lashaya and contact them if he saw her, and later on he ended up doing so. He claimed that her and an older man were renting out a hotel room for trafficking, which was later corroborated by other guests at the hotel. By the time Lashaya’s family and the police showed up to the hotel, they were gone, with women’s clothing still being strung around the room. 

 

The most recent development in the case came in 2020, when the police began a search and excavation of an abandoned home in the area, of which was rumored to be Lashaya’s ex boyfriend’s residence. It has not been reported if anything has been recovered from the search, but police were drilling in the basement level. The search was put off for over three years due to another uninvolved family taking up residence there. 

 

Lashaya’s family is still devastated and searching for answers. Due to all of the consistent sightings of her, there is still a very large chance that she is alive and out there somewhere. Both police and her family work tirelessly every day to ensure her safe return.

Brittanee Drexel was just like any other student on spring break– excited to leave school behind, have fun, and party with her friends. Brittanee was a junior at Gates-Chili High School, living with her mother and stepfather in upstate New York. She had a good home life, was popular in high school, and a star player on the soccer team. 

In April of 2009, as spring break rolled around, she, her boyfriend, and her friends planned a trip to Myrtle Beach, SC, but upon asking her mother’s permission, she was promptly shot down. Brittanee, being the spiteful young teenager she was, would not take no for an answer. Instead, she resolved to ask for permission to stay at her good friend’s house, and from there, she decided to sneak away with her friends to go on their trip. 

 

After Brittanne arrived in South Carolina, her mother still had no clue. They had spoken on the phone multiple times, and it seemed as if all was well. The last time Brittanee was seen was by her friends at the Bar Harbor Hotel in Myrtle Beach around 8:00 p.m. From there, she walked nearly a mile to her other friends at the Blue Water Resort, and was caught on surveillance footage leaving the resort after 8:30. At 9:15, her friend received a text message saying she was going to meet up with another friend. This was the last piece of communication Brittanee ever sent, leaving behind all of her clothes and taking with her her purse and cell phone, which has since been turned off. 

In 2016, Myrtle Beach investigators told the public that they believe they may know what happened to Brittanee, however, due to lack of evidence, no charges have been brought to the suspect. Timothy Da’Shaun Taylor is the police’s main suspect, and they believe that he kidnapped Brittanee with the intention of forcing her into prostitution. However, once the case gained national attention, they surmise that he had no choice but to kill her. 

 

Their main reasoning for this is the witness account of Taquan Brown. He claims that, while at a drug house in McClellanville, SC, he witnessed Taylor and multiple other men sexually assaulting Brittanee. He claims he saw Brittanee attempt to escape, only to be hit on the head and forced back inside. Brown claims to have later heard gunshots and saw her body being carried from the house, to be dumped in an alligator pit nearby. 

 

With little evidence, searches turning up nothing, and no other witnesses coming forward, there is no possible way to convict Taylor. He is already serving a sentence for acting as a getaway driving during a robbery, while his accuser, Brown, serves 25 years in prison for involuntary manslaughter. It’s doubtful whether the story is actually substantiated, and, sadly, it is likely we will never see anyone brought to justice for Brittanee’s disappearance. To many, her case is still unsolved.