"So I took that as the hint.". Needless to say, Charles Hampton was now on their radar. Eggleston's stepfather, Shawn Wilkinson, welcomed news of the arrest. She was a small girl, who had been wearing yellow shorts, a yellow-and-white polka-dot shirt, and slip-on shoes on the evening she disappeared. / CBS Baltimore. 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. They had held out hope that someone had abducted her for ransom, or perhaps - just perhaps - she actually had run away. 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. "Every time I open up the evidence room door, I see the bike and it's haunted me. This means that, between the time of his plea and now, Charles Wade Hampton has likely served his time and since been released. But, rather, because he has said some very damning things about himself and committed some criminal acts, none of which would paint him as a flattering neighbor. It had been nearly five years since the original indictment was filed, accusing him of the abduction and murder of Kia Logan. While police began a search of his home and his vehicle, he openly admitted to several things. On the northern outskirts of the town is the small country airport, which consists of a single elongated runway. Speaking Thursday, Wilkinson thanks local and federal law enforcement agencies and made a plea to address domestic violence. As of this episode's recording, the abduction and murder of Malakia Zali Logan remains unresolved. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages. Sam Riley, who had been a Major in the Greenwood County Sheriff's Office, had recently been elected Sheriff. He was more than willing to continue talking, even answering questions about his prior sexual assault conviction from 1981. The case continues to generate national media coverage, but there are still no answers as to what happened to the 22-year-old mom. He did not live here. Thank you to everyone for their thoughts and their prayers, Akias aunt, Sanobia Wilson, said. The investigation to find her had still gone nowhere truly productive, with police beginning to expand their search out of the area according to some in the police department, even out of the state. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Hampton had been sitting in a Georgia prison at the time, and if South Carolina prosecutors tried the case at that time, they would be forced to bring Hampton to trial within 180 days. They're no closer today than they were back in 1988 when Kia was snatched up. Hi, my name is Akia and thanks for visiting my page. 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.". But when they first went to the Baltimore Police Department station in Cherry Hill to report her as missing, Wilson said that their pleas for help werent taken seriously. However, the criminal trial would never come to be. How can we send such a message? The family seeks justice in Akias case. The sun was beginning to set, and this eight-year old climbed onto her bike to head back home. A random child abduction that went "sour" - usually a byproduct of a victim choosing to fight back, or attempting to run away. 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. She hopped on her bike and began riding back to her mother's apartment - a distance no greater than three-hundred yards. 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. She had one sister, named Renee, and the three lived in an apartment complex just north of Greenwood, South Carolina. Early on in questioning, Charles admitted that he often changed his hair color. They reconnected in 2016 and began dating. In all of the sexual assaults, the victim profile remained largely the same. Akia's father, Shawn Wilkinson, and the co-founders of the Black and Missing Foundation, Derrica Wilson and Natalie Wilson, joined "The View" on Wednesday to shine a spotlight on her disappearance . He was described as being between thirty-five and forty years old, with slender ad pointed facial features. 11 Tennessee to an 85-45 victory over South Carolina on Saturday night. It was only about 14 of us. ", According to the probable cause statement: "Multiple searches for Eggleston's remains have been conducted in several areas of Baltimore with negative results. Upon further investigation, it was determined that the last time anyone saw. The felony, which carried a potential ten year sentence, was handed down shortly after his plea. We do not give up on the victims of crime in Baltimore City. "The family seeks justice in Akia's case. 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. They were still investigating new avenues, but none of them led anywhere. "Let me also say this to the people of Baltimore City: Our pursuit of justice is unyielding. 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. This week her family placed a missing person flier, flower and ribbon outside the home where Akia once lived, on Cherrycrest Road in south Baltimore's Cherry Hill neighborhood. He is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the killing of Eggleston and her unborn child. We're scraping the bottom right now.". VON CANNON IS A TRANSIT AND COULD BE ANYWHERE. This was when he was transferred to a jail in Greenwood county - the same county where Kia Logan had disappeared from in 1988. 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. 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. You see, despite being let go, he was arrested in 1996 after drilling some holes in the wall of the women's bathroom. In 1996, the testing of mitochondrial DNA was performed at a genetics lab in North Carolina. The 22-year-olds case is featured in HBOs new docuseries Black and Missing. Kia was dead. In particular, they went after him for comments he had made between his 2000 release from prison and his 2002 re-arrest, in which he had confessed to the 1995 abduction of a five-year old girl from Richland County and the subsequent sexual assault. Eggleston vanished in May of 2017. However, it wasn't until 2002 that prosecutors began firing off the big guns at Hampton. "It is not the answer and there's always an alternative. 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. 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. Akia Eggleston. 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. Major Sam Riley was quoted as saying: "These leads have carried the investigation outside of the Greenwood area.". "Domestic violence is real and when it happens, we need to address it," Wilkinson said. "We hope this arrest serves as a reminder that time does not deter law enforcement efforts and our persistence to find truth and justice.". "The murder kidnapping and criminal sexual misconduct charges have been dropped. THEY BELIEVE SHE WAS HAS UNDIAGNOSED MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES BUT THOSE HAVE NOT BEEN CONFIRMED. Instead, they decided to look for Eggleston themselves. The sunny atmosphere from just a few days prior had evaporated. "The family seeks justice in Akia's case. His ex-wife and girlfriend agreed on that - they often helped him dye it, during time periods that turned out to correlate with the 1995 and 1996 sexual assaults. However, police and investigators have yet to find any more of Kia Logan's remains, and remain hopeful that those will turn up some day, allowing them to fully pursue a suspect or person-of-interest in the crimes. This year my daughter Renee will go, but I will stay here to answer the phone, just in case. 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. Calls to . Dennis Beauford, the deputy who had responded to the incident and originally stayed the night, continued to feel a personal connection to the story. However, one of the most interesting notes of this sketch came from a description, which noted that the suspect had a pockmarked face. They all lived in housing close to the highway in-question, and they were all abducted from one location and led to another. A little after nine o'clock that evening, Kia was reported missing to the Greenwood County Sheriff's Department. ", Riley, of course, was Major Sam Riley of the Greenwood County Sheriff's Office. Speaking about the indictment, longtime Greenwood County Sheriff Sam Riley stated: "There was no relationship between him and Kia. This indictment was signed by 8th Circuit Solicitor William Townes Jones - the same William Townes Jones whose daughter, Townes, was given international popularity in the Harry Styles' song "Carolina.". Investigators need your help. Akia Shawnta Eggleston was last seen May 3, 2017. pic.twitter.com/KgrjYz2OMd. Ever.". The author of the newspaper article noted that as she spoke about her daughter, Bernetta was clutching a photo of Kia. Unfortunately, none came, and the next day, they had to begin investigating Kia's disappearance in earnest. BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- It has been four years since Akia Eggleston was last seen in Baltimore on May 3, 2017. She could find no sign of her, but they would later find Kia's bike overturned just outside of the apartment office. That evening, Eggleston had shared a sonogram picture on Facebook. Despite that, police wouldn't have any real leads to follow up on until October of the next year, 1990. We did also search the park. But its been four years since Eggleston went missing, and Wilson wishes law enforcement had done more from the start. The FBI is also involved and is offering a $25,000 reward for information about the case. Investigators said they believe Robertson killed Eggleston, whose phone has never been recovered. Browse all missing children from South Carolina Missing: Joshua Cuddy (SC) 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. They all decided to put the money to good use, allowing education or nursing majors to receive the scholarship in times of hardship. Akias case was featured in Datelines Missing in America series in September of that year. Despite this overwhelming sadness experienced by Bernetta and her family at this moment in time, the article had a profound effect on the community. UPDATE: Arrest Made In Disappearance Of Pregnant Mom Akia Eggleston; Missing Since 2017. 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. MILWAUKEE - Milwaukee police are requesting the public's assistance in locating critical missing, Akia Hair. BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- It has been four years since Akia Eggleston was last seen in Baltimore on May 3, 2017. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Thanks for contacting us. 2023 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. for weeks or months at a time between interviews," according to the statement of probable cause. Eggleston, who was eight months pregnant with her son, disappeared just days before her baby shower. Her father, Richard Logan, was the mayor of a small South Carolina town named Saluda. By this point, her family had begun to fear the worst. Eggleston, a single mom with a three-year-old daughter, was eight months pregnant at the time of her disappearance; she was expected to attend her baby shower on May 6, 2017 but never arrived. "We do believe that he did it, he made her disappear. ", The statement added: "Investigation revealed the only person with the motive, means, and opportunity to murder Eggleston was the purported father of her unborn child, Michael Robertson.". SHE HAS A TATTOO ON HER LEFT FOREARM THAT SAYS "LIVE FREE". The prosecutors consulted Kia's family throughout this process, taking their feelings into consideration. Scary. It was a Sunday in Greenwood, South Carolina - a small town roughly an hour north of Augusta, Georgia and about an hour-and-a-half west of Columbia, South Carolina. 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. 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.". "I am missing a daughter and you know where your loved ones are," he said. I had dreams that maybe she's been in California or somewhere all this time.". KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Josiah-Jordan James came back from missing four games with an injury to score 18 points to lead No. 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. This was a random act, which seems to be his technique.". Wilkinson said. Mom Ana Walshe, Charged with Murder. Crime Stoppers encourages anyone with information about the cases featured below to submit a webtip. Based on her pattern of life, the time passed, extensive publicity, multiple searches, and monetary reward for information in this case, the fact that Eggleston has not returned to her family or been electronically or physically located overwhelmingly indicates that she is in fact, deceased. Upon his arrest, he proved very cooperative with law enforcement. "He'll get credit for time served and good behavior. About 1:24 p.m., Eggleston purchased two money orders totaling $450 after making several ATM withdrawals from her savings account, Mosby said. Major Sam Riley was stated: "Our department, as well as SLED and FBI personnel, are still actively investigating. The lone exception was a five-year old girl with tan, olive-colored skin who had dark feaures. That afternoon, Eggleston unsuccessfully attempted to withdraw cash twice from an ATM at a Wells Fargo location downtown. Charles Hampton agreed to give up blood and hair samples to investigators. We would have found some clues, but we were not given those resources, because Akia is an African-American, young, single, mother of two. He told lawmakers that law enforcement only took the case seriously when no baby was reported being born in a nearby hospital a month later. That's all we've got. Five years later, authorities arrested a suspect in the disappearance of a pregnant Baltimore woman. However, three - which took place in the middle of this crime spree - took place on a Thursday. On the day of Eggleston's shower, family members said they found her apartment nearly cleaned out. 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. 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! 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. "I do have a small glimmer of hope that she could still be alive," said Wilson. BALTIMORE . 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. And in that time, more terrifying and intriguing mysteries would present themselves. 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