BALTIMORE — At 14-years-old, Ka’Liyah Craig had been making progress raising her grades at Aberdeen High School, then on Monday, February 2, she asked her aunt to pick her up from an afterschool program and disappeared.
“She came out and said, ‘Auntie, you’re really early. I said, ‘Okay, I’ll be over here waiting 15 more minutes so come out when you’re done,’” recalled Cheryl Brown, “and then when she didn’t come out after another 15 minutes, I went into the school and I asked students if they had seen her.”
Family appeals for missing girls' return
Neither her classmates, nor school administrators had seen her, and when Brown asked them to check the school’s surveillance cameras, they saw her slipping out the back of the building and getting into a car, which then drove away.
Craig’s family reported her missing to police, and a short time later, her friend, 15-year-old Ariana Langley was reported missing as well.
“Our investigators were able to determine that Ka’Liyah was in the company of Ariana,” said Aberdeen Police Capt. C. William Reiber, “Both were picked up by a rideshare and they ultimately traveled to a destination in Joppatowne.”
Since the teens initially made that trip to Joppatowne, investigators have now developed leads, which suggest they may be somewhere in Baltimore.
More than two weeks and counting, and while it appears the young girls left on their own and there’s no indication of foul play, their safety is far from guaranteed at this point.
“Each day it’s just worse,” Brown told us, “You know you just try to keep yourself busy and you can’t not think about it. It just pops in no matter what.”
It’s a deep-rooted concern for family members that may be too young to believe they could be at risk by those old enough to know otherwise.
“If she’s watching, I just want her to come home,” said Brown, “Ka’Liyah come home. You know we love you. We have your best interest at heart. She was doing well in school. We just want her to come home. I don’t want to get anybody in trouble. I just want them to send her home.”
