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Sad news for the family of North Carolina high school student Phylicia Barnes, who went missing from her sister's home in Maryland during Christmas vacation. It has been confirmed that the body of a young woman found in the Susquehanna River yesterday is the girl police have been searching for.
The desperate search for missing honors student Phylicia Barnes came to a heartbreaking end Thursday, after an autopsy determined that a body pulled from the Susquehanna River Wednesday was that of the North Carolina teen who vanished from Baltimore in December.
Two law enforcement sources said the autopsy had found that the body was identified as Barnes; state police later confirmed the finding and said a press conference has been scheduled for 8 p.m.
Earlier Thursday, The Sun reported that Baltimore police had provided Barnes' dental records to the state medical examiner's office for comparison to a body found in the river, one of two found Wednesday in the waterway that splits Harford and Cecil counties about 40 miles northeast of Baltimore.
An apparent tattoo on the body appeared to match a tattoo of a rose that Barnes had on her lower right leg, increasing speculation that the 17-year-old's body had been discovered after months of fruitless searching.
Barnes disappeared on Dec. 28 from her half-sister's Northwest Baltimore apartment, touching off the Baltimore Police Department's most extensive and elusive missing person investigation in years. With the discovery of her body in state waters, state police will now assume control of the investigation, officials say.
Authorities had not ruled out that Barnes was the victim of a random abduction. Detectives have been perplexed by a stunning lack of physical evidence, with not a single person coming forward with a credible tip or sighting.
Police said they found nothing in her background to indicate that she would run away or become a victim of a domestic dispute. They said she had no psychological or legal troubles.
The case initially did not garner much media attention, with many – including the Police Department's chief spokesman – questioning whether the missing girl's race played factor in a lack of coverage in what otherwise seemed like a made-for-TV story.
Police said crews working on the dam Wednesday morning reported seeing what appeared to be a body floating in the river north of the dam at about 7:30 a.m., and Natural Resources police later recovered the body of a female from the water.
In the afternoon, boaters in the river south of the dam also found the body of a man.
Deena Barnes has said that on Dec. 28, she left for work but texted and talked with Phylicia several times during the morning. Another sister, Kelly, had planned to pick Phylicia up in the afternoon. Deena Barnes also has said she spoke to her ex-boyfriend, who told her Phylicia was asleep on the couch when he left. Kelly tried to contact Phylicia between 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. but got no response.
At about 6 p.m. that day, Deena Barnes returned to the apartment and found her sister missing. She called Kelly, thinking they were together, and then called police.
The missing girl's mother, Sallis, has publicly denounced Deena Barnes, accusing her of condoning alcohol use and allowing men to come and go from the Baltimore apartment. Meanwhile, Phylicia's father, Russell Barnes, has criticized his estranged wife for speaking out, saying that exposing the family rift undercuts attempts to attract attention for the search.
This is so sad, and it has obviously already ripped her family apart. We hope the police will be able to solve the mystery of her disappearance and death, but it seems unlikely considering their difficulties thus far.
We wonder if the body of the man also discovered has anything to do with Barnes?
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family.
R.I.P. Phylicia
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