There were six victims in total, all of whom - save for one - were young black girls between the ages of five and nine. Titled "The Malakia Z. Logan Reward Fund," it hope to incentivize anyone with information to come forward. From Akia's FBI missing person's page: "If you have any information concerning this case, please contact the FBI's Baltimore Field Office at (410) 265-8080, the Baltimore City Police . It wasn't until the sister returned to the apartment complex half-an-hour later that anyone realized this eight-year old was missing. Courtesy of FBI About an hour later, Robertson's phone moved away from Eggleston's apartment and headed toward downtown Baltimore as. Nor am I criticizing those who have helped so far or those concerned citizens who have contributed to the present approximately $3000 reward. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? But there were also nude photographs of women - including images of his then-girlfriend - and a pornographic magazine named "Stroke Off Tales.". Family of Akia Eggleston who disappeared in May 2017 near the Inner Harbor have taken the story national. Unfortunately, none came, and the next day, they had to begin investigating Kia's disappearance in earnest. LAW ENFORCEMENT HAS BEEN SEARCHING FOR HER FOR OVER A YEAR. INVESTIGATORS NEED HELP FROM ANYONE WHO MAY HAVE INFORMATION REGARDING MR. GAMBLES DISAPPEARANCE. He later moved to Michigan after being interviewed by cops at the time. Greenwood's Emergency Preparedness Director Herbert Vaughn spoke to the local press, and talked about the searches his department had helped conduct in the area on Monday and Tuesday. Here, the skull would be confirmed as belonging to Kia Logan, with the FBI forensic investigators theorizing that Kia had originaly been killed in Greenwood County and then later dumped in Newberry County. They had already been waiting two hours for her to come there, so when I got the call stating that she wasn't there and nobody could reach her. He also soon recanted all of his prior confessions, meaning that police had to start back from square one. Further, the few statements Robertson has provided to law enforcement have been contradictory and deceptive, according to the statement of probable cause. Robertson was the father of Akias unborn child. They wanted to keep their options option, should more evidence be found against him, so they didn't want him to go free and then lose any chance at a prosecutor under double jeopardy laws. Her father, Shawn Wilkinson, told WJZ in 2019 "[t]here were no signs that any of us saw that she would just want to pack up and leave.". BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- It has been four years since Akia Eggleston was last seen in Baltimore on May 3, 2017. Eggleston's phone activity ends there, indicating the device was either turned off or disabled, Mosby said. It's a town of roughly 20,000 people - a population level that hasn't really changed in over thirty years. If they wanted to try him for any of those crimes, they needed a more definitive smoking gun. Sam Riley, who had been a Major in the Greenwood County Sheriff's Office, had recently been elected Sheriff. He spoke about the skull as well, stating about his communication with the Newberry County Sheriff's Office: "We were in contact with them yesterday and we will be in contact with them again today. Soon, children began playing outside of the Georgetown apartments once again, Kia's disappearance becoming an outlier to a safe community. She, also, went missing while riding her bike very close to her home, in a public setting. It has affected so many relationships and we will continue to stand united as a family until the final judgment in this case has been rendered.". How can we send such a message? When the skull was discovered in 1990, it proved a lone clue in a vast sea of nothingness. This was when he was transferred to a jail in Greenwood county - the same county where Kia Logan had disappeared from in 1988. This means that, between the time of his plea and now, Charles Wade Hampton has likely served his time and since been released. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Despite this overwhelming sadness experienced by Bernetta and her family at this moment in time, the article had a profound effect on the community. You see, despite being let go, he was arrested in 1996 after drilling some holes in the wall of the women's bathroom. You can also contact the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division at (803) 737-9000. Also, the Kia Reward Fund is growing and we are hopeful that this will bring someone forward with positive information. It's hard not to compare the crime to that of Tiffany Nelson, a nine-year old that went missing from Augusta, Georgia in June of 1994. That's really bad for the family. Akias case was featured in Datelines Missing in America series in September of that year. Neither she nor the child have turned up since then. They reconnected in 2016 and began dating. It is not the answer and there's always an alternative," he said at the news conference. We did also search the park. Charles Wade Hampton later plead guilty to obstruction of justice charges, which stemmed from him lying to investigators. A follow-up news article stated how employees of the local K-Mart, so moved by Wiggins' battle cry, raised $650 within an hour. It took police a while to line up the suspect description because the vehicles in-question varied based on each witness: two described the vehicle they had been abducted in as a champagne-gold Mazda, while others pointed out either a white Toyota Corolla or a white Chevy Celebrity. Robertson, 41, was arrested Tuesday in Michigan, where he moved in late 2017 accompanied by another woman with whom he already had two children, authorities said. February 03, 2022. "Domestic violence is real and when it happens, we need to address it," Wilkinson said. All cellphone and social media activity by Eggleston, who is survived by a 2-year-old daughter, stopped on May 3, the day investigators believe she was killed. Newspaper reports indicate that she was born with two holes in her heart, but she would turn out to be stronger than she knew. If you have information on any of these missing children, call 911, the local agency or 1-800-THE-LOST. It was only about 14 of us. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Most concerning, though, were torn out magazine images of children - a discovery that made investigators think that there might be more to this deviant than meets the eye. As Hampton prepared for his five-year sentence, he was facing investigations and charges from four separate states. After this discovery, interrogators circled back around to Hampton. They searched pretty exhaustively for around three weeks, unable to locate any more remains other than the skull. But its been four years since Eggleston went missing, and Wilson wishes law enforcement had done more from the start. Hampton confessed to committing three child abductions in a northern Georgia town, and even confessed to killing a child out on a farm. MS. NEBLING IS KNOWN TO FREQUENT THE TRAVELERS REST AND MARIETA COMMUNITES. Akia Eggleston. Egglestons phone, while in the same area as Robertsons, was then disabled or turned off after an unanswered call possibly from a telemarketer. Egglestons stepfather, Shawn Wilkinson, who went on The View in 2019 to plead for help in solving his daughters disappearance, thanked investigators Thursday for never giving up on the case. Michael Robertson has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder. He was a former Department of Transportation employee, who lived in Clarke County, Georgia, and worked at the rest stop at Hard Labor Creek State Park as a maintenance man. I am not criticizing the authorities, who are working hard to solve the case. The eyes were definitely on him," she said, reports WBAL. Speaking with investigators in October, Robertson claimed he changed his phone number after receiving threats from Eggleston's relatives, but phone records showed he got a new number the day before the baby shower, according to the statement of probable cause. The author of the newspaper article noted that as she spoke about her daughter, Bernetta was clutching a photo of Kia. Investigators had been pursuing clues as far away as California, and trying to tie Kia's disappearance to other stories of missing children in the surrounding states. But we can't prove it. South Carolina's Law Enforcement Division spokesman Hugh Munn stated about the composite drawing which the authorities had debuted the evening before: "We've done all the groundwork we can. The felony, which carried a potential ten year sentence, was handed down shortly after his plea. I don't know where my child is and I don't know where my grandson is.". Akia Eggleston . Police said at the time they had invested more than 1,000 man-hours into the case. Is it twisted thinking? Bernetta, the girls' mother, began looking around the apartment complex for eight-year old Kia. This would come up later in the story, so please keep that in-mind. He also brought attention to an issue that is all too common. ", Riley, of course, was Major Sam Riley of the Greenwood County Sheriff's Office. Sadly, he wasn't too far off. He openly confessed to committing several of the child abductions, providing explicit details of the subsequent sexual assaults. They sent it off for continued testing at the University of South Carolina, where a forensic anthropologist was able to tell investigators that the skull belonged "to a six-to-eight-year-old African American.". He'll be back on the street. Hours later, Robertsons next call was made near Egglestons home and investigators believe they were together at her apartment that afternoon. James, who suffered an ankle injury against Vanderbilt on Feb. 8, hit 4 of 7 3-pointers for the Volunteers (21-8, 10-6 Southeastern Conference). "As a result of interviews we are now looking for two men and two vehicles. Check out more on my resume below. Published: Feb. 26, 2023 at 12:26 PM PST | Updated: 20 hours ago. Baltimore Police continue to search for clues in her disappearance. MS. Theron Wallace, 20, went missing on Christmas morning while he was kayaking on Lake Carolina After nearly a week of searching, his family has hired a private investigator to assist the South. INV'S NEED INFORMATION FROM ANYONE WHO MAY HAVE KNOWLEDGE ON MS. JORDEN NEBLING'S DISAPPEARANCE TO CALL. It bothers me that we seem willing to accept this obvious crime against a child without a public uproar. We split up into four groups and walked through the woods, through trash, through dirt, Wilson explained. From hair trends to relationship advice, our daily newsletter has everything you need to sound like a person whos on TikTok, even if you arent. No closure. As an adult, he stood about five-feet-eight-inches tall, weighing it at only 132 pounds. They had no evidence that he had actually committed the crime, but they had his confession on-record, and at the very least, he had lied to investigators and caused them to waste valuable time by pursuing him as the suspect. You can find out more and change our default settings with Cookies Settings. BALTIMORE . He immediately provided voluntary consent for police to search his vehicle by signing a Waiver of Constitutional Rights to a Search Warrant - a provision he also signed for a search of his home. In his vehicle, police found many out-of-place items: things such as clothing, toilet paper, the marriage certificate of him and his ex-wife, etc. They haven't made any positive identification yet. ANDERSON, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - The Anderson County Sheriff's Office says a missing 10-year-old boy . The 22-year-old, who was eight months pregnant, was reported missing when she failed to show up at her own baby shower. Investigators allege that Akia Eggleston who was featured in a September 2021 PEOPLE cover feature on missing moms was misled by her boyfriend, Michael Robertson, into believing they were on the verge of moving in together. One of the most intriguing and promising leads in this investigation came on that Wednesday night, May 18th, when a composite sketch of a potential suspect was aired on the evening news. ", According to the probable cause statement: "Multiple searches for Eggleston's remains have been conducted in several areas of Baltimore with negative results. We're requesting anyone with information call our office.". Friends were celebrating the warm weather by swimming in the apartment pools, kids were playing outside among others their age, and families were barbecuing and picnicking in the community areas. He also had a blotchy, pockmarked face, made worse from poison ivy exposure the year prior. Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. That afternoon, Eggleston unsuccessfully attempted to withdraw cash twice from an ATM at a Wells Fargo location downtown. 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Within the year, the Malakia Z. Logan Reward Fund had topped $20,000, for any information that would lead to answers for the missing eight-year old. Hampton was known to spend a good amount of time on this farm, and it remained on the investigator's radar for a good amount of time after this initial confession. They had held out hope that someone had abducted her for ransom, or perhaps - just perhaps - she actually had run away. "We hope this arrest serves as a reminder that time does not deter law enforcement efforts and our persistence to find truth and justice.". She was last seen on May 3 when she was captured on . Authorities have arrested Michael Robertson and charged him with murder in the 2017 disappearance of Akia Eggleston, a woman with whom he was having a child who went missing just days before her . It wasn't until the third or fourth crime that police began to link the crimes together, when the suspect descriptions began to slowly align with one another. "We do believe that he did it, he made her disappear. BROWN HAIR , GREEN EYES. "The case is 19 years old; the family has been living with it for 19 years. Although the Baltimore police department declined to share details about the case with People for a September 2021 article because the investigation is still ongoing, a spokesperson for the department discussed the case in a June 2017 news conference. Four and a half years after a 22-year-old pregnant mother from Baltimore vanished before her baby shower, authorities say they know who's responsible for Akia Eggleston's sudden disappearance. Five years later, authorities arrested a suspect in the disappearance of a pregnant Baltimore woman. As the hunter walked along a pasture fence, he stumbled upon a small object resembling a human skull. That report, compiled by the team at . Newberry County Memorial Hospital forensic pathologist Dr. Keene Garvin reiterated this finding, stating - after preliminary testing had been conducted - that the skull was likely placed there are the body had decomposed. The family, to their credit, was steadfast in their conviction, wanting to to see Hampton in a court to face the charges levied against him. Wilkinson said he feels the pain every day. On June 22nd, 2007 - a Friday - the charges against Charles Wade Hampton were suddenly dropped. Georgetown has always been a family-type community. It was a crime where no sexual assault had taken place, but centered around the abduction of a seven-year old victim in 1995. About an hour later, Robertsons phone moved away from Egglestons apartment and headed toward downtown Baltimore as he texted the other 22-year-old woman he was dating, records show. Prosecutors there had been building a case against Hampton since the summer of 2000, but chose not to bring it forward because of an interstate agreement between Georgia and South Carolina. Eggleston vanished in May of 2017. Both of these generated more leads of possible sightings of Kia Logan and suspects bearing a resemblance of the composite of a man wanted for questioning. She could find no sign of her, but they would later find Kia's bike overturned just outside of the apartment office. This not being enough, the skull would later be sent to an FBI lab in 1998. "Every time I open up the evidence room door, I see the bike and it's haunted me. Akia Eggleston went missing in Baltimore, Maryland in May of 2017. Eggleston's family members who joined law enforcement officials at the news conference included her aunt, Sanobia Wilson. Hampton plead not guilty almost instantly. Just a couple of blocks from this airport are a number of apartment complexes - all of which are a few miles out from downtown Greenwood. It has affected so many relationships and we will continue to stand united as a family until the final judgment in this case has been rendered., 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, Ex-pol charged with murdering Vegas reporter Jeff German will rep himself at trial, Murdaugh family still buried in temporary graves almost 2 years after slayings, Cops seized accused Idaho murderer Bryan Kohbergers underwear, medical gloves from parents home, Video shows gunman nonchalantly shoot homeless man execution-style in broad daylight, according to a statement of probable cause, dont get the same media attention as their white counterparts. Let today serve as a reminder to the people of Baltimore City that your States Attorneys Office will never give up in our fight for justice, Mosby said in a statement. All of their friends in the apartment complex had since gone home, so Renee knew that Kia wasn't still out there. Dennis Beauford, the deputy who had originally responded, was a Sergeant at this point in time for the Greenwood County Sheriff's Office. He had been in police custody, and when questioned, he began confessing to the crimes. Eggleston, 22, was excited to move in with the father of her child, Robertson, who was in a relationship with another 22-year-old woman. / CBS Baltimore. Robertsons phone, meanwhile, was at his job when he received a phone call from Eggleston at 3:44 p.m. their last contact between them, according to a statement of probable cause. Without a public setting she failed to show up at her apartment that afternoon, unsuccessfully... 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