FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – An 11-year-old girl missing from Fort Wayne has been found safe after two days, Fort Wayne Police said Wednesday.
A public safety alert was issued Tuesday morning for LaMonica Williams, who was missing from the 3000 block of Schele Avenue. Fort Wayne Police said in a release she had been missing since 1 a.m. Monday.
“LaMonica Williams has been recovered safely,” police announced around 11:45 a.m. Wednesday. “Our thanks for all the tips that came in to help us locate her.”
LaMonica’s mother, Michelle Washington, and older sister, Sierra Brown, spoke with WANE 15 Tuesday afternoon when the girl was still missing.
Washington said she last saw her daughter at about 12:30 Monday morning when LaMonica came to give her a kiss and say goodnight.
According to Washington, she got up at 6 a.m. to wake LaMonica up for school. She said her window in her room was wide open and she was nowhere to be found.
Washington then went knocking on all the neighbors’ doors, but none of them had seen her.
Both Washington and Brown said being gone this long was unusual behavior for the girl.
“She’s never really done this before. All kids, they say ‘I hate this house,’ or ‘I’m ready to go,’ you know what I mean?,” Brown said.
They said LaMonica doesn’t have a cell phone but may have had her tablet from school with her, which she has used to communicate with others before.
Washington said she was worried her daughter may have been held against her will somewhere, but she couldn’t confirm that.
Washington had one message for her missing daughter:
“Come home ‘Ma,” Washington said as tears began to flow from her face. “Come home. I miss you.”
They asked the public for help locating LaMonica.
“If you see her, if you know her, anybody that knows me, anyone I associate with, if you don’t feel comfortable talking to me, call the police first, call me second,” Brown said. “Just try to keep a lookout. I’ve knocked on neighbors’ doors. I’ve been all around where they suspected she may be. Still no come up of her, so we are really just asking the public, like everybody, please, and if you know me, you know how I’m feeling about my sister. Please, please just give us a call.”
Brown, the oldest sibling in the family, added that she’s already lost a brother in 2019 due to gun violence and she can’t lose her little sister as well.
