Hampton would plead guilty to his original felony Peeping Tom charge, meaning that he would be spending the next five years in state prison. Like I said, these crimes varied by location, with some taking place in Georgia and others in South Carolina. The exact date of Akia's disappearance is unknown, but it is believed to be May 3 rd , 2017. After this discovery, interrogators circled back around to Hampton. Police said at the time they had invested more than 1,000 man-hours into the case. On this Sunday afternoon, in the middle of May, all seemed to be well. Carolyn Kelley, the apartment/property manager that lived in the apartments with her daughter and granddaughter, had noticed a complete overhaul of the environment. Eggleston sent a friend an invite to her baby shower that evening the last known message sent by the pregnant woman to anyone, according to the probable cause statement. Just like the day of the week, the timing changed, as well: some victims were abducted as early as 12:45 in the afternoon, while others were abducted as the sun began to set: seven or eight o'clock at night. SHARIDA MILBOURNE WAS REPORTED MISSING IN MAY 2020. Greenwood is the type of town you imagine when you think of rural America: a downtown comprised of brick buildings, a railroad track that separates the storefronts from the industrial area, and a large suburban population. The DNA testing from the six sexual assaults linked them together, indicating that a single suspect was behind each of the crimes - however, none of those samples matched up with Hampton himself. Wilkinson's daughter, Akia, was eight months pregnant when she went missing in 2017. This meant that investigators now had half-a-decade to try and work out a case against him. We split up into four groups and walked through the woods, through trash, through dirt, Wilson explained. 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.". The message we should be sending far and wide is not one emphasizing our public apathy, but one which loudly reveals that the people of Greenwood County will not sit idly by while our children disappear! Between 1995 and 1996, the states of Georgia and South Carolina began investigating a series of sexual assaults that occurred along a specific interstate. It remains ongoing. MILWAUKEE - Milwaukee police are requesting the public's assistance in locating critical missing, Akia Hair. But in the years since the soon-to-be mother of two disappeared, no one has been able to find out what happened to her. Not only were Georgia and South Carolina preparing cases against him, but North Carolina and Florida were investigating him for similar child abductions and sexual assaults in their states. Through the rest of the year, police would remain relatively silent as to where their investigation stood. "Domestic violence is real and when it happens, we need to address it," Wilkinson said. 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. There were six victims in total, all of whom - save for one - were young black girls between the ages of five and nine. Updated: Feb. 21, 2019 at 10:34 AM PST. As an adult, he stood about five-feet-eight-inches tall, weighing it at only 132 pounds. He had been previously terminated due to unexcused absences and excessive tardiness, but that didn't stop him from getting into trouble. A 68-page report spells out everything investigators did from the moment Kimberly Lindsey was reported missing -- all the way up until her ex-husband, Albert Lambert, was found dead in Miami. I am probably one of the most down to earth people you will ever meet and I love the simple life that I live. He had been in police custody, and when questioned, he began confessing to the crimes. I think it's important to note this, not because I definitively believe him to be the person responsible for Kia Logan's abduction or murder. However, one of the most interesting notes of this sketch came from a description, which noted that the suspect had a pockmarked face. "I do have a small glimmer of hope that she could still be alive," said Wilson. Sheriff Foster continued: "We are reasonably sure, at this point, the skull was not dug from a grave." Nor am I criticizing those who have helped so far or those concerned citizens who have contributed to the present approximately $3000 reward. No tip is too small. Using a reverse image search, investigators determined the apartment picture Robertson had sent the day before was a completely different residence from the one he had named. This would come up later in the story, so please keep that in-mind. Then, when her family and former-sheriff Sam Riley got involved, they realized that the initial reward fund - which had been established for information - had remained untouched for around two decades. This is when police spoke to Hampton's ex-wife and girlfriend, who told them things about Charles that made them think he was a viable suspect. Hair . THE LAST TIME SHE MADE PHONE CONTACT WITH ANYONE SHE SAID SHE WAS IN GLENDALE, GEORGIA, THIS HAS NOT BEEN CONFIRMED. "Reading his statement, you'd think that only the person who did that would know those details. He was sentenced to eight years, with time already served. It wasn't until the sister returned to the apartment complex half-an-hour later that anyone realized this eight-year old was missing. But we can't prove it. "We're looking for a medium blue utility-type van with dark tinted windows. We had no help, no resources. However, it wasn't until 2002 that prosecutors began firing off the big guns at Hampton. Robertson then started staying with Eggleston in April 2017 after being evicted from the apartment he shared with Pomeroy, according to the statement of probable cause. Police noted that he had a snake tattoo on his upper arm, as well as his initials - C.H. 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 . Duck hunter Tyler Doyle has. In the afternoons you see small children running and playing, riding skateboards, that kind of thing. An individual charged is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at trial., At Thursdays press conference, Baltimore States Attorney Mosby said, I give a special thanks to the family of Akia Eggleston, for never giving up in their pursuit of justice for Akia and her unborn child., Supervisory Special Agent Shayne Buchwald with FBI-Baltimore also spoke. In late 2017, Robertson moved to Michigan, where he was apprehended by U.S. That's really bad for the family. If you have information on any of these missing children, call 911, the local agency or 1-800-THE-LOST. I am a model/model coach with experience in runway, Promotions/Brand Ambassador, Video, TV, Acting, Pageants, model and Fitness Instructor etc. February 3, 2022 / 11:30 PM Investigators need your help. ", First published on February 3, 2022 / 11:30 PM. 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. When I drove up, and looked at that bike in the parking lot, I had a gut feeling something wasn't right and I called Riley at home. If you know any information about this crime, you can contact the Greenwood County Sheriff's Department at (864) 942-8600. But that optimisim would be short-lived, as weeks began to bleed into months. Her picture appeared on ADVO cards in August and the story was recently on television. Newspaper reports indicate that she was born with two holes in her heart, but she would turn out to be stronger than she knew. On May 30th, over two weeks after Kia had disappeared, investigators were still optimistic. The FBI is also involved and is offering a $25,000 reward for information about the case. ", According to the probable cause statement: "Multiple searches for Eggleston's remains have been conducted in several areas of Baltimore with negative results. Dennis Beauford, the responding deputy, ended up staying the night on the couch of the Logan family, waiting for there to be any ransom calls or communication from Kia herself. Greenwood County Sheriff Giles Daniel stated that calls were still pouring in about Kia, either potential sightings or people that may know something. 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.". The searches and canvass of the apartment complex continued on into Tuesday, but police wouldn't release another public statement until May 18th - Wednesday. He later moved to Michigan after being interviewed by cops at the time. We began checking missing children cases and conducted three weeks of intensive searches for additional remains, but we didn't find anything.". But, let a Carolina or a Clemson sports event take the forefront and emotions bubble over throughout the community. They're no closer today than they were back in 1988 when Kia was snatched up. On Thursday the states attorneys office released the full statement of probable cause in Akias case. She was last seen around 8:30 p.m. on Aug. 16 near Roosevelt Drive and Teutonia Avenue . So, he'll be back on the street. Speaking Thursday, Wilkinson thanks local and federal law enforcement agencies and made a plea to address domestic violence. Few details are available. At around the time these sexual assaults came to an end, in the summer of 1996, police began to eye a specific sexual deviant as a potential suspect. She was eight months pregnant at the time of her disappearance. Charles Hampton agreed to give up blood and hair samples to investigators. He included details, some of which convinced police that he had involvement, but others they viewed skeptically. TV show Missing Word Star (year) One Tree ____ James Lafferty (2003) NC _____ Banks: Chase Stokes (2020) NC _____ R.F.D. Theron Wallace's family said he is a student at USC Aiken and was . On May 15th, 1988, all seemed to be well in the world. Charles Wade Hampton was born on September 21st, 1952. MS. NEBLING IS KNOWN TO FREQUENT THE TRAVELERS REST AND MARIETA COMMUNITES. LAW ENFORCEMENT HAS BEEN SEARCHING FOR HER FOR OVER A YEAR. Hours later, Robertsons next call was made near Egglestons home and investigators believe they were together at her apartment that afternoon. Akia Eggleston went missing in Baltimore, Maryland in May of 2017. 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. That report, compiled by the team at . First published on May 4, 2021 / 10:50 PM. The father of Akia's unborn child never showed up to the baby shower, placing him under suspicion of the family, yet he was never labeled as a person of interested or investigated to this day. When Hampton stopped cooperating with police and withdrew his previous statements taking credit for the 1995 and 1996 sexual assaults, police realized that they needed to build a case around evidence, not just his comments. ", "People are definitely keeping small children in. We do not give up on the victims of crime in Baltimore City. Robertson was the father of Akias unborn child. If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. He openly confessed to committing several of the child abductions, providing explicit details of the subsequent sexual assaults. So when family and friends wanted to celebrate her . Her granddaughter, Ashley, had been friends with both Kia and Renee Logan, and had actually been playing with the two on the basketball court shortly before Kia disappeared. Eggleston, who was eight months pregnant with her son, disappeared just days before her. INVESTIGATORS NEED HELP FROM ANYONE WHO MAY HAVE INFORMATION REGARDING MR. GAMBLES DISAPPEARANCE. Police had continued to interview people within the apartment complex, hoping to learn more about these two mysterious men and any ties they had to the tenants. When asked about the rash of sexual assaults against children, he suspiciously stated that the person responsible "would know how not to get caught," at least this time. When it was finally time for Hampton to be released, he was immediately re-arrested for a warrant investigators had planned. In 2009, the Malakia Logan Memorial Scholarship was established at her hometown's Lander University. At the time of his arrest, he was forty-four years old, and was driving a white 1986 Dodge 600. It was this apartment complex where, on a Sunday evening in the middle of May, everything seemed right with the world. VON CANNON IS A TRANSIT AND COULD BE ANYWHERE. In-between her 1988 disappearance and the 1998 confirmation that the skull belonged to her, they had prepared for the worst but anticipated Kia returning home. HBOs new documentary series Black and Missing follows Derrica and Natalie Wilson, two sisters-in-law who started the Black and Missing Foundation in order to bring awareness to the countless cases of missing Black people forgotten by law enforcement and overlooked in news coverage. 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. She withdrew money for a down payment from a Baltimore Inner Harbor bank on May 3, 2017. In July 2017, a police spokesman said investigators had come to believe that foul play may have been involved. The expecting mom was last seen on May 3 on surveillance camera at a bank where she deposited $572 before making a cash withdrawal, Mosby said. For almost five years, Akia Eggleston's family has anxiously waited for authorities to figure out what happened to the pregnant 22-year-old Baltimore mother who vanished just days before her baby. 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. When they continued their rounds of questioning, Hampton was eager to talk. THEY BELIEVE SHE WAS HAS UNDIAGNOSED MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES BUT THOSE HAVE NOT BEEN CONFIRMED. Set in the middle of Greenwood itself, the reward fund started with a $2000 donation in her name. However, with DNA testing being in its infancy, it would be years before they could definitively test the skull for forensic proof. He'll be back on the street. Remember, this is before the trial of OJ Simpson, so DNA testing was very much in its infancy. Akias case was featured in Datelines Missing in America series in September of that year. The sunny atmosphere from just a few days prior had evaporated. It's a reminder of unfinished business.". The wooded area he was in, just off of Mount Pleasant Road - also known as S.C. 34 - is about four miles northeast of Newberry and thirty-five miles east of Greenwood, where Kia Logan had disappeared from. She said investigators used interviews, financial records, telephone records and social media messages to construct a timeline of the case. According to the statement of probable cause, Eggleston told a bank employee, whom she knew from high school, she had to cash the orders because the property manager "only only takes cash.". She had one sister, named Renee, and the three lived in an apartment complex just north of Greenwood, South Carolina. I'm thinking in terms of fifty or a hundred thousand dollars for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible a reward made up of contributions from those who really care, in amounts affordable to them parents, concerned citizens and businesses. We are also following up on similar situations that occur in this area and nationwide.". You can also contact the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division at (803) 737-9000. BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- It has been four years since Akia Eggleston was last seen in Baltimore on May 3, 2017. I knew something was wrong then.. ", Newberry County Sheriff Lee Foster also shared his thoughts, referring to the active state of the investigation or rather, the lack of one: "I can't think of anything worse than losing a child to an act of violence, then on top of that losing a child which you really don't know what happened.". "I am missing a daughter and you know where your loved ones are," he said. As Hampton prepared for his five-year sentence, he was facing investigations and charges from four separate states. This case has been open for nearly five long years leaving this family to search nonstop for their missing daughter.. When the police did eventually investigate, they discovered that Eggleston was last seen three days prior to her shower on May 3, 2017, when she was spotted on a surveillance camera withdrawing $572 from a bank in downtown Baltimore. 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Soon, the one-year anniversary of Kia's disappearance had come-and-gone. Further, the few statements Robertson has provided to law enforcement have been contradictory and deceptive, according to the statement of probable cause. On Thursday, February 3, 2022, Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby held a press conference to announce the arrest of a suspect in the case of missing Maryland woman, Akia Eggleston. Check out more on my resume below. They searched pretty exhaustively for around three weeks, unable to locate any more remains other than the skull. 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. This was a random act, which seems to be his technique.". Let's send the message forth: "Greenwood County folks get right upset when one of their children is criminally abused. His hair was dark blonde, which could vary anywhere between blonde and dark brown. However, because of its size, they were able to determine that the victim had been thirteen years of age or younger. Eggleston's stepfather, Shawn Wilkinson, welcomed news of the arrest. Moments later, Eggleston messaged Robertson on Facebook, "I called u I got the money order.". Major Sam Riley was stated: "Our department, as well as SLED and FBI personnel, are still actively investigating. Police first thought this was a clue that she walked off on her own. 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. for weeks or months at a time between interviews," according to the statement of probable cause. They were both prepared to pursue the death penalty in the upcoming criminal trial, which they were allowed to for any kidnapping or sexual assault charges when the victim was eleven years old or younger. But there were also nude photographs of women - including images of his then-girlfriend - and a pornographic magazine named "Stroke Off Tales.". But they never gave up, and neither did we. Buchenwald added that while Akias body still hasnt been found, we hope this arrest brings a level of comfort and closure to Akias family., Members of Akias family also addressed the media Thursday. Does it not bother you, as it does me, that our community, with a few exceptions, seems to be showing little aggressive concern over the mysterious disappearance of one of our children, Kia Logan? Robertson also did not show up to her baby shower and was instead at a hotel with his other 22-year-old girlfriend, identified as Hali Pomeroy, investigators said. Prosecutors, once-confident that the case against him was looking rock-solid, were now worried about not having enough evidence against him. Despite that, police wouldn't have any real leads to follow up on until October of the next year, 1990. Akia Eggleston . However, the criminal trial would never come to be. Specifically, the docuseries examines how systemic racism affects the attention and resources dedicated to solving cases of missing Black people which remain unresolved four times longer than those of white people. ON OCTOBER 20th 2020 JORDEN SHYANN NEBLING AGE 20 WAS REPORTED MISSING TO THE GREENVILLE COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE . They reconnected in 2016 and began dating. 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. While living in a maximum security prison in South Carolina, Smith, a survivor of sexual assault, continues to assert that it was past trauma that led her to murder her own children. Baltimore Police continue to search for clues in her disappearance. In 1993, the skull was sent off to the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC for DNA testing. But its been four years since Eggleston went missing, and Wilson wishes law enforcement had done more from the start. Before I even got there, people were calling me, telling me 'she wasn't here.' 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. Hampton plead not guilty almost instantly. Charles Wade Hampton later plead guilty to obstruction of justice charges, which stemmed from him lying to investigators. Two months into the investigation, at least one thing was crystal clear: Kia Logan may have been missing, but she most certainly wasn't going to be forgotten. ON OR ABOUT MAY 16, 2020 STEPHANIE HOPE VON CANNON WAS LAST SEEN BY A FAMILY MEMBER AT A RESIDENCE IN GREENVILLE COUNTY SOUTH CAROLINA.