All language subtitles for Beyond The Headlines Black Girl Missing 2023_track3_[eng]

- 40% of the missing
population

are people of color,
primarily African Americans.

- It was a surreal moment,
and I kept saying,

"Okay, what do you mean
that she's missing?"

He said, "I cannot find her."

- She's gone.
- She wasn't in her room.

I checked the whole building.
She wasn't there.

I'm sorry. I'm getting sick
just talking about this.

- You can see a white Subaru

- You can see a white Subaru
come into frame very slowly.

come into frame very slowly.

- They assume that they can
more easily and readily access

a child of color
versus a white child.

- She left her iPad.
It was some bad stuff.

- That could be your daughter,

and you would want
someone to care.

- We were told that
an AMBER alert

was not possible.
- They were unwilling to

broadcast anything
on their news stations.

- I just can't believe
that this is even happening.

- We can't do this work alone.

The media needs
to get involved.

Law enforcement.
- The police didn't come

to my house until several days
after I reported her missing.

- We had been warned that
the possibility of her

coming home alive had been
diminished quite a bit.

- He goes, "Well, she's not
a child. She's a teenager."

I said, "Well, she's my child."

- We need to provide exposure
to these cases.

- The phone call said
"We, um, we found her."

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- I'm Garcelle Beauvais,
star and executive producer

of the Lifetime film
"Black Girl Missing."

As a mom, the topic
of missing children of color

is very close to my heart,

and I believe this epidemic
deserves more attention.

You're about to see
a documentary

that chronicles two terrifying

real-life cases
of missing teens,

each with a different outcome.

♪ ♪

Can you tell me
a little bit more

about the person
missing in Florida?

- The Black and Missing
Foundation

is at the forefront
of advocating for change

when it comes to the search

for missing people of color.

- We received a call
from a mother in Georgia

who was desperately searching
for her missing daughter,

14-year-old Kyla Flagg.

- We learned
about Joniah Walker

from one
of our vigilant followers.

They alerted us to her case.

Both of these teenage girls
were classified as runaways.

They're not runaways.
They're missing,

and we need to find them.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪
- Kyla is a smart young lady.

- Kyla is a smart young lady.

She loves gardening,
she's in orchestra,

and she's very observant.

She's kind of an introvert
somewhat,

but once you get to know her,

she will definitely
open up to you.

She's a very sweet,
a very good friend to others,

and I just love
her personality.

I love her smile.

- She's my youngest.
She is my baby.

Um, she loves to dance.
She loves to sing.

Um, she loves music, so um,
we have a lot in common.

If I had to sum it up,
she's a daddy's girl,

full of life, vibrant,
and a jewel.

- I call her my geeky child.

So she's always loved
to read books.

She loves to write,

and a lot of her words
would be beyond her years.

♪ ♪

- The day that Kyla
went missing

was a pretty typical Saturday.

I picked Kyla up, and we went
to IHOP for breakfast.

And then, from there,
we went home

for what would just be
a normal Saturday.

- In 2021,
Stacy and Wayne Flagg

are divorced and share custody
of daughter Kyla.

- I went upstairs, um,
after spending some time

with Kyla downstairs
and started watching TV.

And Kyla went to her room to do
what teenage girls do:

And Kyla went to her room to do
what teenage girls do:
playing games,
things like that.

playing games,
things like that.

- Not only does Kyla
like gaming,

but with the gaming,
she was also able

to, uh, chat with others.

- Kyla has been in her room
at her father's house

for about an hour
when she goes upstairs.

for about an hour
when she goes upstairs.
- She stuck her head
into my room,

- She stuck her head
into my room,

and I noticed that she had
changed her hair.

and I noticed that she had
changed her hair.
And she asked me,
she was like,

And she asked me,
she was like,

"Do you like my hair?"

And, um, anybody who saw
pictures of her,

they know that two big puffs

was her signature style
at the time,

so absolutely.
It's beautiful.

So she gave me the thumbs-up

and, you know,
walked out of the room,

and, you know,
walked out of the room,
went back to her room,

went back to her room,

and I dozed off for about
maybe 30 to 45 minutes.

She came back to the room,
stuck her head in,

and she said, "I love you."
And I said, "I love you too,"

and she said, "I love you."
And I said, "I love you too,"
didn't think anything of it.

didn't think anything of it.

didn't think anything of it.
Maybe about an hour
or so later,

Maybe about an hour
or so later,

it was starting to get late,

so I was thinking
about dinner.

And I couldn't find her
in her room,

so, um, I searched, um,
both of our guest rooms,

downstairs, the backyard,
and couldn't find her.

So then I thought maybe she
was playing a game with me,

so checked the closets,
checked under beds,

checked her brother's room,
um, could not find her.

- Kyla does not have
a cell phone.

- Kyla does not have
a cell phone.
- I decided to go outside.

- I decided to go outside.

I thought that maybe
she had taken a walk,

as we live in a pretty safe
neighborhood

and it's not uncommon for her
to go on walks.

When I didn't see her
on our immediate block,

I, um, got into my car

and went driving
around the neighborhood.

[sighs]

When I couldn't find her, um,
I called DeKalb County

and told them that
my daughter was missing.

And then I called Stacy
immediately,

and I said, um, "Stacy, uh,
I can't find Kyla."

- I kept saying,
"Okay, what--

- I kept saying,
"Okay, what--
"what are you talking about?

"what are you talking about?

What do you mean
that she's missing?"

And he said,
"I cannot find her."

And he said,
"I cannot find her."
- Wayne and Stacy immediately

- Wayne and Stacy immediately

start looking for clues
as to what happened.

- My first thought was to see

if she went out
the front door.

So we did have a Ring camera
on the front of the house,

and so, when I went
through the Ring footage,

um, you can see
a white Subaru.

You see it come into frame
very slowly,

and it kind of stops right
on the edge of the frame.

and it kind of stops right
on the edge of the frame.
And then it kind of,
um, speeds up

And then it kind of,
um, speeds up

and takes off,
and it goes off frame.

So we could not see Kyla
get into the vehicle,

and we could never see
the license plates.

- Wayne will later share
the video

with DeKalb County
authorities.

- We started in her room,
of course,

looking for her things
and through her things.

Um, immediately, we tried
to get into the laptop.

Because I purchased it and had
set up the passwords on it,

Because I purchased it and had
set up the passwords on it,
I knew how to get into it,

I knew how to get into it,

but when I went to use
my password, it did not work.

And then, when I tried
to reset the password,

the reset for the password
was asking

for 24-bit encryption
from Microsoft,

which was something that I had
not placed on the laptop,

didn't know anything about.

It was a very tedious process
for us

because we were still trying
to wrap our mind

because we were still trying
to wrap our mind
around the fact
that she was gone.

around the fact
that she was gone.

- Nothing prepares you
for that.

- Nothing prepares you
for that.
It's kind of like death.

It's kind of like death.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪
- Her smile is so pretty.

- Her smile is so pretty.

She has
a very beautiful smile.

Um, I just love her softness.
her quiet,

and, you know,

just very, like, mature.

just very, like, mature.
- In a haunting coincidence,

- In a haunting coincidence,

Joniah Alexis Walker
is named after a missing child

in the family's hometown
of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

- The middle name, Alexis--

it reminded me
of a little girl

that went missing in May
some years ago.

That family never seen
that little girl again,

and so I know it hurt
a lot of people here.

We all wanna know what
happened to Alexis Patterson.

And so yeah.

That was the connection
with that name.

She was very clingy to me.

And so I would say stuff like,

"Girl, you must've been
kidnapped in your past life."

I used to always say that
to her,

when she was very small, like,

"'Cause you act like you
never gonna see me again,"

and that used to freak me out
that she would act like that.

When she was real--like
4 years old...

'cause I'm diabetic, right?

And so she goes, "Mom,
I'm gonna make you a salad."

She'll run in the kitchen,
and she'll make me a salad.

But then she'll come back
and it was, like, cabbage.

And I would eat it
'cause she made it for me.

She was so--she done chopped
up a whole cabbage,

She was so--she done chopped
up a whole cabbage,
carrots, and all this stuff.

carrots, and all this stuff.

And I'm telling you,
she was so small.

And she goes, "I hope it makes
you feel better."

- Joniah is a bright
and outgoing child

until a traumatic event
takes place at the age of 11

that affects her profoundly
into her teen years.

- Joniah, she was dealing
with PTSD, anxiety,

and depression.

She was seeing a therapist
every week for about...

two years at this point.

And it all stemmed from

a sexual assault
that happened to her.

- The assault is from an adult
in her life.

- She was dealing with issues,
and I wasn't happy about it.

And I knew it was
something off.

♪ ♪

- [sighs]

Okay, so I remember that day,
June 23rd.

It was the summertime,

so of course,
she's sleeping in late.

I had to be at work at 8:00,
so I went in her room--

it was, like, 7:40--to tell
her I love her and stuff.

And I tried to hug her,
and she kind of like...

And I thought that was
kind of weird.

And I was like, "Okay, girl,
have a good day."

And I was like, "Okay, girl,
have a good day."
You know, "I love you."

You know, "I love you."

She called me on the phone.
I was at work.

And she goes, "Mom,
why didn't you give me

my package that came
in the mail yesterday?"

And I was like, "What package?
I didn't get a package."

And she was like, "Oh,"

and that was the last
conversation I had with her.

That day, she was supposed
to go with her father

That day, she was supposed
to go with her father
to get her work permit

to get her work permit

to continue working
at the Pizza Shuttle.

- But Joniah's father has been
unable to get a hold

of his daughter,
so he calls Tanesha,

who also reaches out to her.

- Her phone went
to the voicemail, so I'm like,

"Okay, that's not normal."

And I left work.

I got home
a little bit after 4:00,

and she wasn't in her room.
I check the whole building

'cause I know sometimes
she'll go downstairs

into the aerobics room
and she'll work out.

She wasn't there.

I'm sorry. I'm getting sick
just talking about this.

Um...

her dog was there.
Her bike was there.

So, like, where could she be?

So I just thought
somebody stole her.

- Tanesha contacts
her other children,

Joniah's friends,

even the pizza place
where she works.

No one has seen her.

- I immediately knew
something was wrong.

[dramatic music]

- 14-year-old Kyla Flagg
has vanished

from her father's home
in Snellville, Georgia.

She's been missing
for approximately three hours.

- That night,
we put together the fliers.

The detective that was on call
did not respond to us

immediately,
and so we didn't have

any other contact information
to list.

So we listed
our contact information.

- Later on that evening,
reality started to kick in.

Didn't care about my job
or anything.

My sole purpose at that moment
was to find my daughter.

- The next day, we had family
and friends,

I had colleagues and employees
all at my house,

collecting fliers.

- They agreed
to pass out fliers.

However, a lot
of the businesses

would not allow us
to post them.

A lot of times, they believe
that girls are just runaways,

especially our Black
and brown girls.

- I inquired if, you know,
there could be an AMBER alert

because our daughter
was missing.

- But under current national
AMBER alert guidelines,

Kyla's disappearance
doesn't meet

the necessary criteria.

- We were told
that because it appeared

that she had walked away

and no one
had forcefully entered

into my residence
and taken her,

that, you know, an AMBER alert
was not possible.

- When a child is classified
as a runaway,

one, they don't get
the AMBER alert.

They don't get
any media coverage.

And law enforcement does not
add the resources needed.

And law enforcement does not
add the resources needed.
- Due to COVID
and the policies

- Due to COVID
and the policies

that were put in place,
we were unable to go

to the police department,
so a lot of the communication

was done either over the phone
or via email.

The only thing that played
in my head was

her last facial expression,

just the look on her face
as her dad drove off.

That was my last image.

- Wayne believes answers
may lie

within Kyla's conspicuously
encrypted laptop.

- We knew that if we could get
into the laptop,

that it would give us maybe
some additional information

that we needed
to try to find her.

My best friend had a colleague
whose husband works in IT,

My best friend had a colleague
whose husband works in IT,
and he asked for the laptop

and he asked for the laptop

to see if he could break
the code.

He spent about a day with it,

and he gave it back to us
immediately

and said that the encryption
on the laptop

was something that he had never
seen for a child.

He suggested that the person

who placed it on there
was not Kyla.

- It had to be someone that was
familiar with the tech world.

- How can someone get
into your home

- How can someone get
into your home
without coming
through the front doors?

without coming
through the front doors?

Through your computer,
through your devices,

and any app
that has a chat feature,

you know,
someone could reach our kids.

- It wasn't really
until later that week,

the detective really started
to put things in place

as far as looking
for my daughter.

The weird thing was, not once
did they ask for any computer.

The weird thing was, not once
did they ask for any computer.
- We reached out

- We reached out

to the DeKalb County Police
for comment,

and they stated that they
actively investigated the case

with all available resources.

Kyla has been missing
for ten days.

Frustrated
with DeKalb County's progress,

Wayne and Stacy hire
a private investigator.

- The PI that we hired
sent out the laptop

to one of the best forensic IT
specialists in the country,

in Boston, and she was unable
to break the encryption.

- With the mystery
only deepening,

tips begin to pour in.

We were receiving
all kinds of information.

We had psychics calling us,
telling us that she was dead.

We had people
demanding ransoms.

We had sightings of her
in New Mexico

and then in Florida and then,
you know, in South Carolina

and Alabama, so it was hard
to stay focused.

But we were relentless.

- The private investigator
advises Wayne and Stacy

that Kyla may be a victim
of human trafficking.

- I just remember saying,

you know,
that couldn't be possible.

- There was research conducted
recently by the Urban Institute

where they interviewed
traffickers.

And the traffickers admitted to
targeting Black girls and women

because, they said, if they go
after a white woman,

they will get more jail time

than they would targeting
a Black girl or woman.

And they knew
they wouldn't be looked for

if a missing persons report
was filed.

- When we realized
that it could possibly be

a trafficking situation,

we started to go
to different run-down hotels.

We went
to an apartment building

because someone stated
that they saw her there,

walking with someone.

We put fliers on doors,

walked the complex
for two days.

One night, her dad sat outside
the gate of the complex

'til about 3:00
in the morning to make sure

he didn't see anyone walking
that looked like her.

Because our daughter
did not have a phone,

Because our daughter
did not have a phone,
we were unable to locate her.

we were unable to locate her.

- It's becoming more and more
evident to Stacy and Wayne

that they are essentially
on their own

in the hunt
to find their daughter.

- We did reach out to some
of the local news stations.

They were unwilling
to broadcast anything.

We only had two news channels

to put it on
their Facebook page.

to put it on
their Facebook page.
- If you take a look
at the media,

- If you take a look
at the media,

who is the decision maker?
Like, what is the policy?

How do you determine
which case gets coverage?

And who is determining that?
- The 14 year old...

We were able to go live
ourselves on Facebook.

We are asking that
you please share our story

to help bring
our baby girl home.

Natalie Wilson from
Black and Missing Foundation

was able to set up
an interview with us

was able to set up
an interview with us
with the Black News Channel.

with the Black News Channel.

That was a big relief to get
some type of news coverage

to get our story out there.

- So weeks had passed,
and we still hadn't received

- So weeks had passed,
and we still hadn't received
any clues or updates.

any clues or updates.

At this point, it was starting
to transition

from a--you know, a rescue
to maybe a recovery.

We had been warned that,
you know, at this point,

the possibility
of her coming home alive

had been diminished
quite a bit.

And so our position was that

we just wanted to bring
our baby home.

- Still, Wayne and Stacy
remain relentless

in the search efforts,
regardless of the outcome.

- One evening, I left work
and did my normal search.

I typically would leave
and try to search

I typically would leave
and try to search
until the Sun
started to go down.

until the Sun
started to go down.

And then, um,
I went to Stacy's house,

and she made
the statement to me.

She said, "Wayne,
we got to figure this out.

There's something
that we have to be missing."

So we sit down,
and we started going

through another laptop
that I had

that Kyla used to use
before she got her own.

- This older laptop reveals
an email account

that Kyla and Wayne
had shared in the past.

- Her and her dad
had an email address

that they shared once before.

So I thought maybe she was
using that email address

to communicate with others
or maybe with someone.

♪ ♪

We just start looking
through emails.

I, myself, start looking
through deleted emails.

And there was an email
that was deleted,

and it stated,
"Do you want to continue

and it stated,
"Do you want to continue
to set up your iPhone?"

to set up your iPhone?"

My daughter did not have
an iPhone,

My daughter did not have
an iPhone,
so that told me then that

so that told me then that

someone had purchased
the iPhone for her.

We provided the IP address
to the detectives

in DeKalb County.

in DeKalb County.
- We didn't fully know

- We didn't fully know

that it was the smoking gun,
if you would.

We just knew that we were
getting closer

and that we had made
more progress

in that, you know,
one to two hours

than we had made
in several weeks.

- Law enforcement authorities
immediately do a search

on the phone's IP address.

- The detectives did do
an IP search,

which led back to a home
in Lubbock, Texas.

♪ ♪

[dramatic music]

- 15-year-old Joniah Walker
has vanished

from her mother's home
in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

She's been missing
for approximately three hours.

- The police--the Milwaukee
Police Department,

um, when I initially went
to the...

the district
to file the report,

the district
to file the report,
I said, "My child is missing."

I said, "My child is missing."

He goes, "Well, how old
is your child?"

He goes, "Well, how old
is your child?"
I said, "She's 15."

I said, "She's 15."

And he goes, "Well, she's not
a child, she's a teenager.

Like that.
I said, "Well, she's my child."

You know, I told him
just like that.

"She's my child,
and I don't know where she is.

She's missing."
He's like,

"Well, she's a teenager,
and that's what teenagers do."

I was like, "Not my daughter."

I was like, "Listen, she
dealing with a lot right now."

I didn't know if she went
to hurt herself at that point.

I didn't know, and...

he just was not being
a nice person.

So we left.

- I think, um,

Black girls are classified
as runaways because it puts

the responsibility on the child
and it alleviates

law enforcement from taking
any responsibility.

law enforcement from taking
any responsibility.
These young people
are not capable

These young people
are not capable

of making adult decisions
in children's bodies.

- Tanesha and Joniah's father
meet

with the apartment manager
to ask

with the apartment manager
to ask
to see
security camera footage.

to see
security camera footage.

Sure enough, it captures
Joniah leaving.

- We saw her.
She left out the building.

- We saw her.
She left out the building.
It was, like, 2:35,

It was, like, 2:35,

and she changed her clothes,
like, she had on boy stuff.

It was just alarming.
I'm like...

And then we seen the book bag.

- The large backpack had
arrived in an Amazon package

- The large backpack had
arrived in an Amazon package
prior to Joniah vanishing.

prior to Joniah vanishing.

- And that's when we knew.
We was like, "She ran away."

- We need to eliminate
the classification "runaway."

These are children, and really,
there's no sense of urgency

in finding our missing when
they're labeled as a runaway.

- Okay, so here is
the side door

that Joniah came out
of our building

when she left home.

And it was caught here
on this camera right here.

So my neighbor
across the street,

he was the last person to see
my daughter, Joniah,

when she was running
down the street right here

when she was running
down the street right here
after she came out the house.

after she came out the house.

She headed south here,
going down Buffum,

She headed south here,
going down Buffum,
and she went towards Reservoir,

and she went towards Reservoir,

and she made a right
on Reservoir down the street.

- Knowing that Joniah
had a cell phone

she wasn't answering,
the couple returned

to the police station in hopes
of having the phone tracked.

- He said, "You got to have

a warrant to do something
like that."

And then her dad
explained to him, like,

"My baby is missing,
and I'm telling you,"

he said, "I'm the owner
of the phone,

"and I'm giving you permission
to talk to the people

"at the phone company so they
can give you the information

that we need
to try to track her."

He was asking
to ping her phone.

They was like,
"It don't work like that"

and you know,
but he finally, like, did it.

- Police are able to determine
Joniah's last phone call.

It is to her therapist.

Then the phone
is switched off.

- The first 24 hours,

I was in between talking
to the cops,

actually going out searching
for her on the street,

calling people,

going over video footage
with the apartment manager.

So there's so much going on
in my head,

I'm getting chills
just thinking about it

because I didn't know
where she was.

I just thought
that she literally ran away

and was, like, going
in the woods

and was, like, going
in the woods
to live somewhere.

to live somewhere.

I wanted Joniah to be
classified as critical missing

because of her history
of PTSD, depression,

because of her history
of PTSD, depression,
past history of suicidal,
you know, thoughts and stuff.

past history of suicidal,
you know, thoughts and stuff.

past history of suicidal,
you know, thoughts and stuff.
Being critical meant

Being critical meant

they would've been searching
for her,

they would've been searching
for her,
they would've put her

they would've put her

on the news right away,

that they was helping me
look for her,

and they didn't.

- We reached out to the
Milwaukee Police Department,

and they said they could not
comment on an open case.

Tanesha turns
to daughter Mackenzie for help

in examining Joniah's iPad
for clues.

- She left her iPad there,
but she deleted stuff.

Mackenzie was able
to kind of recover

some of the materials
that was deleted.

And it was, um--

it was some bad stuff.

it was some bad stuff.
And...
[sighs]

And...
[sighs]

It was videos.

That's all I want...that's
all I wanna say.

♪ ♪

- This frightening revelation
changes everything.

- I believe
that she definitely trusted

- I believe
that she definitely trusted
someone online,

someone online,

um, if not even a group
of people, you know?

- But Tanesha feels
her daughter's fate

is not a priority
with the police.

- The police didn't come
to my house

until several days
after I reported her missing.

They never came in my house

to investigate her room.

It--they just sent one cop.

It--they just sent one cop.
- Tanesha contacts the FBI.

- Tanesha contacts the FBI.

- Tanesha contacts the FBI.
- When I contact them,

- When I contact them,

- When I contact them,
they came very, very fast.

they came very, very fast.

- They confirm that Joniah's
phone was turned off

within 24 hours
of her disappearance,

making it impossible to trace
her movements.

When recalling the FBI's
investigation into the case,

something dawns on Tanesha

during the course
of this interview.

- The FBI, when they came
to my house the second time,

they was like, "You know,
we went through her accounts,"

and they didn't get a purchase
for a backpack.

They said, "Did you ever get
the receipt for the book bag?"

And I was like, "No. I never
got a receipt or anything."

So it just dawned on me that
maybe someone did purchase

that backpack for her
and sent it to her and...

Somebody bought the backpack
for her.

That just dawned on me
right now.

- This confirms to Tanesha
that the backpack

was part of someone's plan
to lure her away.

♪ ♪

More than two months go by
with no word

on what may have happened
to her daughter.

Then out of the blue,
a surprise.

- Joniah, um,
reached out to me via email.

- Joniah, um,
reached out to me via email.
The title was like,
"Hey, Mom."

The title was like,
"Hey, Mom."

And I was like, "Whoa,"
so I opened it up,

and it was her.

She was just telling me
she missed me.

She goes, "The only reason
why I reached out to you

"'cause I know you.
You'll worry

yourself to death
worried about me."

She said, "Mom, I'm okay."

You know, she just basically
telling me she's safe.

Don't look for her.

- But are the emails
really from Joniah,

or someone pretending
to be her?

- She speaks about things
that was real in our life.

Like, no one knew those things.
I knew it was her.

So I immediately took that
to the police

to tell them, like, "Hey,
I know this is my daughter.

Can you track the device
that this came from?"

Can you track the device
that this came from?"
No. They did not help me.

No. They did not help me.

- The email account is
quickly deleted by the user,

ending Tanesha's
only communication

ending Tanesha's
only communication
with her daughter.

with her daughter.

[dramatic music]

- Thanks to information
her parents found

on an old computer,

Kyla Flagg's
potential location

has been tracked

to an address
in Lubbock, Texas.

to an address
in Lubbock, Texas.
- I was in shock.

- I was in shock.

- We kept saying,
"Well, you know,

who does she know in Texas?"

How did she get in contact
with someone in Texas?

So we had all
of these questions

'cause we didn't know.

- More than five weeks
after Kyla disappeared,

law enforcement authorities

converge on the Lubbock,
Texas, address,

which belongs to a 33-year-old
male named Robert Fyke.

But when they arrive,
there is no sign of Fyke

or, more ominously,
of Kyla Flagg.

Police visit Fyke's place
of work, where they find him.

He denies knowing who Kyla is,

but they find the white Subaru

seen in the Flaggs'
Ring camera on site.

Police will later learn
the car was used

to pick up Kyla out of view
of the camera.

Police ask to search
Fyke's phone, and he consents.

On the phone,
investigators find

pornographic images of Kyla.

♪ ♪

He is charged with
sexual assault of a child,

interference with custody,

interference with custody,
and a federal crime

and a federal crime

of possessing
child pornography.

Kyla's fate remains unknown.

- So we were advised that
the person had been arrested

that took my daughter
in Texas.

However, my daughter was
nowhere to be found.

Through my faith in God, I just
knew that he was with her,

Through my faith in God, I just
knew that he was with her,
that she wasn't by herself.

that she wasn't by herself.

That's the thing
that kept me going

was the fact that
I had faith in God

and I, you know, trusted
and believed

that we would find her.

- Under questioning,
Fyke tells investigators

that Kyla was taken from Texas

to another state
by yet another man.

- We were made aware that
this person purchased a phone

for her and the detectives
and the marshals, I believe,

in Texas were able to ping
her phone

to see where she was located.

- The phone pings
to an address

- The phone pings
to an address
in Danbury, Connecticut,

in Danbury, Connecticut,

1,870 miles
from Lubbock, Texas.

48 hours pass before
Wayne and Stacy hear back

from the law enforcement
authorities.

- I received a phone call,

and the phone call said,

"Mr. Flagg,
we, um, we found her."

♪ ♪

My heart sank because
they didn't say initially

how they found her,
so I thought that maybe

they found her body

they found her body
versus finding her.

versus finding her.

And so then they said,
"And she's alive."

And so then they said,
"And she's alive."
I couldn't really believe

I couldn't really believe

that, um, we were having
this moment.

I gathered my things
and called Stacy.

And I said, "Just got a call.
They found her.

She's alive.
We have to go to Connecticut."

- The detective stated
that they did find

- The detective stated
that they did find
our daughter in Connecticut.

our daughter in Connecticut.

My question, you know,
even though she had been found:

was she okay?

- I got another call,
from Danbury Hospital,

- I got another call,
from Danbury Hospital,
and when I answered the phone,

and when I answered the phone,

the voice that I heard
was Kyla.

♪ ♪

And she said,

"Hey, Dad."

And I lost it.
I'm about to lose it.

And I lost it.
I'm about to lose it.
About to lose it now, you know?

About to lose it now, you know?

Because I think that
that was the moment

Because I think that
that was the moment
that it really became real--

that it really became real--

was when I was able to hear
her voice

and to know that,
whatever had transpired,

she was okay.

- Police had found Kyla
in the possession

of a 32-year-old Danbury
resident named Wayne Marcell.

They also recover
videotape evidence

that she had been
sexually assaulted by him.

Incredibly, Kyla
has fallen victim to not one,

but two different predators.

♪ ♪

- We flew into Connecticut
later that evening,

and we headed to the hospital

to be reunited
with our daughter.

- The Flaggs are warned
that Kyla's abductors

- The Flaggs are warned
that Kyla's abductors
have altered her appearance

have altered her appearance

and that she might look
quite different.

- Mentally, I thought I was
prepared, but I wasn't.

[dramatic music]

- It's been more than a month

since 15-year-old
Joniah Walker

since 15-year-old
Joniah Walker
has gone missing,

has gone missing,

and any clues
to her whereabouts

have vanished.

But her mother refuses
to believe

that she is out of options.

- I called 1-800-TheLost,

and they took it
very seriously,

and they connected me with

the National Missing
Exploited Children,

got me connected
with a case manager.

He was awesome.
He will communicate

with the police for me
'cause he saw,

like, right through the police,

like, right through the police,
that they were not helping me,

that they were not helping me,

and he didn't understand why.

and he didn't understand why.
- Not just police,

- Not just police,

but news media seems unwilling
to cover the story

in a way that could be
helpful to finding Joniah.

in a way that could be
helpful to finding Joniah.
- Often in the U.S.,

- Often in the U.S.,

we see an extraordinary amount
of media coverage

when a white girl,
in particular,

or a white woman goes missing.

There's 24-hour news coverage,
updates, social media.

There's so many responses
to that

and this sense of an all-in

in terms of finding out
what happened to this person.

- You hear
about Natalee Holloway,

- You hear
about Natalee Holloway,
you hear about Gabby Petito,

you hear about Gabby Petito,

but you don't hear
about Black girls

and Black women.

And all the stories
are important,

but so are Black girls
and Black women.

- Laci Peterson, Chandra Levy,
Caylee Anthony.

All of those names
roll off my tongue.

No one out there can name
one missing Black woman

that has garnered
mainstream media.

- "Missing white woman
syndrome" is a term

that has become
more popularized

in the last couple of years

in the mainstream,
but it's been talked about

in terms of what kind
of attention

in terms of what kind
of attention
is given to those
who go missing.

is given to those
who go missing.

We often don't see
the same kind

of mainstream coverage

despite Black women and girls
constituting

a disproportionate number

of missing girls and women
in the United States.

- Media coverage
for missing persons cases

is crucial.

My station had already covered
Joniah's disappearance,

and I believe we did
a few stories on it,

but we didn't hear
about her returning home.

So I just tried to think
of a different way

to push the story forward.

- Kristin Pierce,
from channel WISN, channel 12,

came out and interviewed me,
and I didn't have a clue

that she was gonna connect
my story

with a resource as big

as the Black
and Missing Foundation.

And I was like, "Oh, wow,
you know,

And I was like, "Oh, wow,
you know,
she's getting this big."

she's getting this big."

- The Black
and Missing Foundation

- The Black
and Missing Foundation
wanted to talk
to Tanesha to try to get

wanted to talk
to Tanesha to try to get

Joniah on a national platform
to have more people

learn about Joniah's case
so that they can search for her

and find her
and bring her back home.

- Social media can also be
a powerful tool

in locating the missing,

in locating the missing,
and Joniah's case
is no exception.

and Joniah's case
is no exception.

- For a 15-year-old young lady
to be going missing,

and her parents and her family,
loved ones, friends,

don't have a clue?
That's not normal.

don't have a clue?
That's not normal.
She's untraceable.

She's untraceable.

That means
somebody's been grooming her.

♪ ♪

- After nearly 40 days,

- After nearly 40 days,
the Flaggs are reunited
with Kyla.

the Flaggs are reunited
with Kyla.

- The moment that
she walked around that corner,

um...

it's a day that
I'll never forget.

it's a day that
I'll never forget.
I remember exactly
what she had on,

I remember exactly
what she had on,

I remember exactly
what she had on,
exactly how she looked.

exactly how she looked.

- She did look different.

Her hair had been cut,
and, um...

The fact that I was able
to put my arms around her

and physically hug her again--

that was one
of those surreal moments.

- She was crying.
We were crying.

We embraced and began
this journey to healing.

- On July 23, 2021,
Wayne Marcell is charged

- On July 23, 2021,
Wayne Marcell is charged
with multiple state
and federal

with multiple state
and federal

with multiple state
and federal
child exploitation offenses.

child exploitation offenses.

So many questions remain.

What happened during
the more than five weeks

that Kyla went missing?

How was she lured
from Georgia to Texas?

How was she lured
from Georgia to Texas?
How did she then end up

How did she then end up

with another abductor
in Connecticut?

We reached out to
the Lubbock Police Department

for answers, but they were
unable to comment on the case

due to pending litigation
and appeals.

due to pending litigation
and appeals.
Robert Fyke pleaded guilty

Robert Fyke pleaded guilty

to possession
of child pornography

and was sentenced
to 30 years in federal prison.

and was sentenced
to 30 years in federal prison.
Wayne Marcell pleaded guilty

Wayne Marcell pleaded guilty

to sexual exploitation
of a child

and was sentenced
to 22 years in federal prison.

Nearly two years
after the relentless efforts

of her parents delivered her
from the hands

of an online predator,
Kyla Flagg remains reticent

about discussing the details
of her experience,

about discussing the details
of her experience,
even to her parents.

even to her parents.

- Even though Kyla
hasn't been very vocal

about the things that had
happened and her story,

I do know that she's grateful.

She knows that her dad and I
love her unconditionally,

and being around her friends,
you know,

having new friends,
just those new experiences,

I do know that she's grateful.
Um, yeah.

'Cause everybody doesn't get
that chance.

She's definitely a fighter,
and she's a survivor.

- She's made amazing progress.

- She's made amazing progress.
She's on the honor roll.

She's on the honor roll.

This last semester,
she finished with all A's.

She's second chair
in the orchestra.

She's the president
of the garden club.

All in all,
her future's bright.

You know, we're already
planning our college visits

for next year
and really looking forward

to a life with all of this
in the rearview mirror.

♪ ♪

[dramatic music]

- Before disappearing,
15-year-old Joniah Walker

stripped her bedroom walls
of all décor,

leaving only a map
of the United States

and a cryptic drawing
of a cross and a dove

set against a sun and a storm.

- It just dawned on me, like,

she purposefully left
that there

to let me know
she could be anywhere

and just to--just to pray
for her wherever she's at

or that God is with her

or, you know,
something to that effect.

And--and it--oh...

- Joniah wasn't
without close friends

like her bestie Ashanti,

making it all
the more inexplicable

making it all
the more inexplicable
that no one has heard
from her.

that no one has heard
from her.

that no one has heard
from her.
- It's very difficult
for Shanti.

- It's very difficult
for Shanti.

She's, um, not handling it well

because we don't know anything.

She wouldn't just stay away
like this.

She would contact us
and say something.

- Every single day,

there are 500,000
active predators online,

according to the FBI,

attempting to lure
these children

on these social media platforms
and in these chat features.

on these social media platforms
and in these chat features.
And that's every single day.

And that's every single day.

- Of the more
than 350,000 children

who went missing in 2021,

who went missing in 2021,
more than 70,000
were Black girls.

more than 70,000
were Black girls.

- When we go missing,

it is a, like,
a clear, demonstratable example

of how we don't matter.

- The criminal legal system
when searching for white girls

is also about the erasure
and invisibility

of Black girls and women
as people who are missing.

- These families, many times,
don't know what to do.

They're at their wits' end.

"I'm tired. I'm frustrated."

But we come alongside them

to let them know that we're
in this fight with them.

to let them know that we're
in this fight with them.
We look like them.

We look like them.

We understand
what they're going through.

It's an uphill battle,
but they can't give up

because we're not giving up.

- Tanesha believes
there may yet be clues

to her daughter's whereabouts

in the Amazon packaging
that contained the backpack.

in the Amazon packaging
that contained the backpack.
- This stuff was just
all in the box,

- This stuff was just
all in the box,

so I just never threw
the box away.

so I just never threw
the box away.
'Cause, you know,

'Cause, you know,

every little clue
will be helpful.

Like with the barcodes
if they decided to--

I don't know
how they investigate.

I don't know.

- Tanesha is desperate to know
if her daughter is safe,

especially given the trauma

of sexual assault
she suffered as a child.

- I hurted for her because
of what happened to her.

I can tell that it sent her
to a dark place.

Um, I'm sorry.
She just...

she just wasn't happy.

She wasn't happy.

I can tell she was suffering
on the inside,

but she didn't talk about it.

I was just worried about her

being happy for the moment,
you know?

being happy for the moment,
you know?
Just getting day by day.

Just getting day by day.

- It's hard because

we don't know
what's going on with her

and we miss her.

But I do know...

I just feel deep in my heart
that she's, you know, alive.

I just feel deep in my heart
that she's, you know, alive.
We just--we can't get to her.

We just--we can't get to her.

We just want her back.

- She probably feeling like,

"I'ma just go talk to somebody
that's not my family.

Maybe I don't feel protected
by my family."

Maybe I don't feel protected
by my family."
You know what I'm saying?

You know what I'm saying?

And I don't understand
why she would feel that way

And I don't understand
why she would feel that way
'cause I would do whatever
for her.

'cause I would do whatever
for her.

You know what I'm saying?
That's my little sister.

- It's been more
than six months,

and Joniah's sisters refuse
to give up on her.

- Today we're actually
gonna hang up fliers

around Milwaukee,

the stores, corner stores,
gas stations, banks,

the restaurants,
McDonald's, Culvers.

We gonna hang up every flier
that I got.

- If you hold up a flier
and one says "missing,"

the other says "runaway,"

the messaging
isn't created equal.

They're missing.
They're children.

They're missing.
They're children.
And we need all the resources

And we need all the resources

available to find her.

- This is sad, but...

I don't know.

But I have hope
I'm gonna see her.

♪ ♪

- As of the date
of this production,

Joniah Walker remains missing.

♪ ♪