Tennessee Parents Searching for Teen Daughter Who Vanished While Walking Dogs

Zachary Stieber
By Zachary Stieber
December 6, 2018US News
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Tennessee Parents Searching for Teen Daughter Who Vanished While Walking Dogs
Johniah Frazier, 16, went missing from Bartlett, Tenn., on Nov. 25, 2018. She remains missing as of Dec. 6, 2018. (Shelby County Sheriff's Office)

A teenager in Tennessee vanished while walking the family’s dogs in the front yard and has been missing for over a week, prompting her parents to issue a call for help.

Johniah Frazier, 16, took the dogs outside her Bartlett home on Nov. 25, but when they were seen next she wasn’t with them. Her family hasn’t seen her since.

Johniah’s parents John and Shemickco Frazier said that Johniah, the youngest of nine children, is an outgoing teenager who loves her dogs.

The parents, both truck drivers, were on their way home when Johniah vanished around 8 p.m. The parents told Local Memphis that the teen would never run away from home and that she does not have a boyfriend.

As far as they know, she also doesn’t have any suspicious online connections, but by now they’re fearing the worst.

“I’m going to all these hotel stops any area that looks bad I’m running through. Also, the worst fear checking behind garbage cans and make sure there’s nothing,” John Frazier said. “Grown folks know how to get in your mind. And they’re sick and they’ll find your interests cause again they’re good at what they do on the computer.”

Shemickco Frazier said that cars sometimes go through the area and stop for hours at a time.

“I’m lost, I have no lead—this never happened to me before,” Shemickco Frazier told Fox 13. “I don’t know what to feel, I feel cold. I just wish my baby would come back.”

“Johniah, if you see this, know that your momma love you. Your daddy love you. We just want you back,” Shemickco Frazier added.

Johnia’s family has been putting up “missing” posters around the community and asked for help in finding her.

The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office said that Johniah was last seen on Nov. 26 and that she may be in the Memphis area.

Recently, two other teen girls went missing in the same area as Johniah but one has been found, officials said. Zakia Humphrey, 16, was found in Memphis on Dec. 5 after going missing on Nov. 25.

Anyone with information regarding Johniah’s whereabouts was asked to call the sheriff’s office at 901-222-5600 or 901-379-7625.

Please repost!!! My youngset daughter Johniah Frazier missing since sunday. Im asking family.. Friends an fb who can…

تم النشر بواسطة ‏‎John Frazier‎‏ في الأربعاء، ٢٨ نوفمبر ٢٠١٨

Missing Children

There were 464,324 missing children reported in the FBI’s National Crime Information Center (NCIC) in 2017, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Under federal law, when children are reported missing to law enforcement they must be entered into the database.

In 2016, there were 465,676 entries.

“This number represents reports of missing children. That means if a child runs away multiple times in a year, each instance would be entered into NCIC separately and counted in the yearly total. Likewise, if an entry is withdrawn and amended or updated, that would also be reflected in the total,” the center noted.

In 2017, the center said it assisted officers and families with the cases of more than 27,000 missing children.

In those cases, 91 percent were endangered runaways, and 5 percent were family abductions.

About one in seven children reported missing to the center in 2017 were likely victims of child sex trafficking.

Nancy McBride, the executive director of Florida Outreach at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, said that most of the runaways involve technology.

“(Technology) has great benefits and some potential risks,” McBride told USA Today in 2017. “It’s important to stay plugged into their lives.” Tech is utilized by online predators, McBride said, who exploit gaps when the child’s relationship with their parents isn’t strong.

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