Our Black Girls

07/14/2026

This case was submitted to me by Cold Case Det. Garcia in Loudoun County, Virginia. It centers on a Jane Doe who has gone unidentified since 1973, after being located on May 28.

According to the report, the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office was alerted that human remains were located at a local farm on Rt. 723 in Lincoln, VA. Farm workers were checking on the cattle when the body was discovered.

The Medical Examiner ruled Jane Doe’s death as a homicide after learning she had been shot. However, how long her remains had been at the farm couldn’t be accurately determined, but it was estimated that she died around two days prior, May 26, 1973.

This case went untouched until 2018, when a detective assigned to cold cases came across a folder titled “Historical Homicides.” Inside, the detective located a lab form describing 1973 Virginia Jane Doe’s case, and while additional forms were in the file, no reports or crime scene photos have ever been found.

Additionally, the whereabouts of the victim’s remains were also unknown, and she was listed as a Jane Doe. That changed on January 10, 2023, when the investigation uncovered Doe’s remains, and they were exhumed. Extensive genetic genealogy work has been conducted, but the identity of Jane Doe is still unknown.

Read more about 1973 Virginia Jane Doe at: https://www.ourblackgirls.com/p/1973-virginia-jane-doe-lincoln-loudoun

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07/12/2026

While we were doing our best to stay cool during the summer of July 2022, a family grew concerned after they couldn’t find Ruth Jenkins. The 76-year-old beloved mother lived in Pineville, South Carolina, and for years, her loved ones and concerned citizens have been pleading for help with this case.

Pineville, a small, wooded community in Berkeley County, has gathered together several times to help search for Ms. Ruth. Claudette Milligan, described by ABC 4 News as a family friend, spoke fondly of the missing woman.

“She was my high school teacher, so we go way back,” said Claudette. “She is a beautiful person from then and now, and she’s truly missed.”

Loved ones described Ruth Jenkins as a loving woman who once taught math in the Berkeley County School District. Ruth enjoyed attending the Beulah Tabernacle Church in St. Stephens and was said to have been an active member of the congregation.

On July 16, 2022, Ms. Ruth was last captured on her neighbor’s Ring doorbell security camera. Police stated she was seen walking in the 1800 block of S.C. Highway 45. Ruth has dementia and was reportedly known to “wander around,” but she has never outright disappeared.

Further, a Where is Ruth Jenkins? page community group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/482982520306611/) has been launched to continue discussions about her disappearance.

Read more at: https://www.ourblackgirls.com/p/ruth-jenkins-missing-pineville-south-carolina

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07/10/2026

For decades, the missing person case involving Mary Ann Johnson has remained unsolved. According to The Charley Project, the 54-year-old may have run into trouble, but the details remain a mystery. It’s said that just a few days before Christmas in 1994, she was threatened by men hired to break her legs.

Those men told Mary Ann they were paid $800 to harm her. However, they decided to pocket the money and instead warned her of the potential danger. Although they spared her the injuries, the men did not reveal who hired them for the would-be assault. They also didn’t tell Mary Ann why the unidentified person went to such lengths to hurt her.

On January 19, 1994, Mary Ann Johnson went to work at the Robinson’s May Department Store in Los Angeles, California, as an account representative. Mary Ann was last seen leaving her job after telling her co-workers she was meeting her estranged husband, Andrew Johnson, the next day.

Johnson told police that he did, indeed, speak with his wife the day she vanished. Yet, he claimed they were not scheduled to meet the following day. He admitted they were reconciling, and while they were separated in 1993, neither party filed for divorce. The pair also owned a restaurant in Van Nuys, California, called Louisiana West. It went out of business before Mary Ann went missing.

On January 26, Mary Ann Johnson’s vehicle was located at the eatery’s parking lot. The restaurant was locked, and Mary Ann’s keys were found inside her car. It is unclear if any evidence was recovered from the vehicle or the establishment. Updates about this case are scarce, but Mary Ann is listed as an endangered missing person. It is unclear if the authorities have named a person of interest.

Read more at: https://www.ourblackgirls.com/p/mary-ann-johnson-missing

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07/10/2026

For decades, the missing person case involving Mary Ann Johnson has remained unsolved. According to The Charley Project, the 54-year-old may have run into trouble, but the details remain a mystery. It's said that just a few days before Christmas in 1994, she was threatened by men hired to break her legs.

Those men told Mary Ann they were paid $800 to harm her. However, they decided to pocket the money and instead warned her of the potential danger. Although they spared her the injuries, the men did not reveal who hired them for the would-be assault. They also didn’t tell Mary Ann why the unidentified person went to such lengths to hurt her.

On January 19, 1994, Mary Ann Johnson went to work at the Robinson’s May Department Store in Los Angeles, California, as an account representative. Mary Ann was last seen leaving her job after telling her co-workers she was meeting her estranged husband, Andrew Johnson, the next day.

Johnson told police that he did, indeed, speak with his wife the day she vanished. Yet, he claimed they were not scheduled to meet the following day. He admitted they were reconciling, and while they were separated in 1993, neither party filed for divorce. The pair also owned a restaurant in Van Nuys, California, called Louisiana West. It went out of business before Mary Ann went missing.

On January 26, Mary Ann Johnson’s vehicle was located at the eatery’s parking lot. The restaurant was locked, and Mary Ann’s keys were found inside her car. It is unclear if any evidence was recovered from the vehicle or the establishment. Updates about this case are scarce, but Mary Ann is listed as an endangered missing person. It is unclear if the authorities have named a person of interest.

Read more at: https://www.ourblackgirls.com/p/mary-ann-johnson-missing

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In 1994, Mary Ann Johnson left her job at a department store and vanished. What happened to the 54-year-old is a mystery.

07/08/2026

Many may recall the summer of 1977 as a time of bell-bottoms, afros, and unforgettable music. However, in Dallas, Texas, Barbara Peterson would vanish, and all these decades later, the most anyone has said about her is just one sentence.

Barbara was last seen in the city on July 16. What the 18-year-old was doing at the time remains a mystery. Almost nothing is known about the case, nor have details about Barbara’s life been provided.

It is unclear whether she was still in high school or a graduate; reports don’t state whether she was working. Where she lived is also difficult to learn, but it is assumed that she was from Dallas.

Read more at: https://www.ourblackgirls.com/p/barbara-peterson-missing

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Sadly, very little is known about the teen.

07/03/2026

It would take 20 years before someone would confess to the tragic murder of Kelly Harris. The 13-year-old went missing from Jackson, Michigan, and for decades, there were questions about what could have occurred to the bright teen.

Initially, Kelly grew up in Maryland with her father. Still, she traveled to Michigan in 1984 to spend the summer with her mother, Carol Hugall, and stepfather, Leonard Hugall. Following the visit, Kelly was slated to move to California to reside with her great-aunt, but unfortunately, she vanished on August 10.

Kelly Harris was miffed at her mother and stepfather the day she disappeared because they wouldn’t allow her to attend a local county fair. When Carol left for work that day, she noticed Kelly left her bicycle in front of the house. Carol told her daughter to place it in the backyard, and Kelly told her mother, “I love you, Mom. Have a good day.” When Carol returned home around 2:00 p.m., she was confused to find Kelly missing. Then, the worry set in.

“I remember going to my mom’s house crying and acting like a wild woman, a panicked mother,” Carol told MLive in 2019.

Unfortunately, police initially treated this case as a runaway. On the day she vanished, Kelly’s bike was located at Ella Sharpe Park, about five minutes from where she lived. The Charley Project stated that authorities learned Kelly had bought herself a bus ticket to Detroit, just over an hour away from Jackson, and that a witness claimed to have seen the teen board a bus.

Hugall quickly became a person of interest after investigators finally began looking into the disappearance as foul play and not a runaway. Four years after Kelly went missing, Carol had a final confrontation with her husband and asked him directly if he had anything to do with her daughter’s case.

“I looked Len straight in the face and asked, ‘What did you do to her?’” she said. “All he did was bend down and tie his shoe. He got in the car and drove off like a bat out of hell.”

Read more at: https://www.ourblackgirls.com/p/kelly-harris-missing-murder

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The teen's stepfather is currently incarcerated for the 1993 murder & sexual assault of a mother & daughter. Kelly remains missing.

07/02/2026

Her life may have been unconventional, but the routine seemed to have worked for Beatrice Green. The 38-year-old has been described as a drifter, often falling out of contact with her family for weeks at a time.

However, Beatrice would eventually contact someone to let them know she was safe, and each month she was known to visit her sister's home. Beatrice's welfare checks were sent there monthly, so she would stop by and pick up her mail.

The last time anyone saw Beatrice Green was reportedly on March 12, 1994, at a home she was staying at on Bailey Avenue in Chattanooga, Tennessee. At the time, she was living with and dating a man who hadn’t been identified in reports, but because of Beatrice’s drifter lifestyle, she was known to frequent areas in North Georgia at the time.

When Beatrice didn’t arrive to pick up her welfare check in March, her loved ones grew concerned. It is reported that investigators suspect she is no longer alive. Details regarding her family or personal life remain a mystery, as there isn’t much information about the case.

In 2026, Local 3 News reported: “Investigators interviewed one of Green’s friends who lived on Sand Mountain about her disappearance. He denied any involvement and has since died.”

Read more at: https://www.ourblackgirls.com/p/beatrice-green-tennessee-missing

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When she didn't show up at her sister's home, her loved ones grew concerned.

07/02/2026

News reports about Nicole Gray and her 1999 disappearance are few, and of what can be found, it seems that she went out to purchase Christmas presents before going missing from St. Ann, Missouri.

Nicole was seen leaving her St. Ann residence on December 17, 1999. She reportedly had four small children when she vanished, and she planned to run a quick errand before attending a Christmas party at one of her kids’ schools.

In 2025, Kendra Young, Nicole’s daughter, spoke with NewsNation about her mother’s case.

“It’s hard, just being a mother, not knowing if you’re doing it right because you didn’t have a mother,” she said. “My kids didn’t get to meet their grandmother. I don’t get to grow old with my mom.”

“She wore a lot of jewelry, she was light-complected, she always had her hair done. [She was] kind of loud, she dressed to impress, but to know her was to love her. When she was in a room, you knew.” Kendra added, “It’s been too long. Before I leave this Earth, I want to know what happened to my mother. She was a mother of four, she had nieces, nephews, siblings.”

Read more at: https://www.ourblackgirls.com/p/nicole-gray-missing

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She left her Missouri home to buy Christmas presents for a holiday party and vanished.

06/30/2026

It was around 6:00 a.m. on May 5, 1988, when three young sisters woke up at the Silver Leaf Apartments in Haskell, Oklahoma. They attempted to locate their 33-year-old mother, Kassaundra Williams Patterson, but she wasn't home. Her personal belongings, including her purse, were still at the residence—something the mother of three wasn't accustomed to doing.

Reports state that Kassaundra always took her purse with her when leaving her home, so its being left behind gave concern. What happened to Kassaundra has been a mystery that has dragged on for decades, and her loved ones continue to search for answers.

“I want to see my child — I’m getting older,” Nathella Williams, Kassaundra’s mother, told reporters back in 2010. “Nobody just vanishes off the face of the earth. Somebody knows something.”

Even with the few news articles available about Kassaundra’s case, little is known about her personal life. There hasn’t been any information shared about whether she was dating at the time or had any tension among her exes. Where she worked and what she did the day before going missing also remain unknown. What the police uncovered during their investigation is undisclosed.

Read more at: https://www.ourblackgirls.com/p/kassaundra-williams-patterson-missing

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06/29/2026

A haunting case was resolved thanks to DNA and genealogy technology. It was on June 7, 1995, when Nacole Smith was making her way to school with her sister in northeast Atlanta. During their journey, Nacole realized she needed to return home because she had forgotten a class assignment.

She reportedly took a popular shortcut through some nearby woods, but while there, she was "confronted by a man" who not only r***d her but shot her twice in the face.

Security guards working nearby heard the shots, and when they ran toward the sounds of gunfire, they found young Nacole. She was quickly identified by the items in her book bag.

Her mother, Acquanellia Smith, confirmed her daughter’s identity at the funeral home. She told reporters that when she looked at Nacole’s face, she could see the teen had been crying, as there were dried tears.

Later, Acquanellia admitted that she heard those gunshots as well, as Nacole wasn’t far from home when she was murdered. For decades, the crime went unsolved, but in 2021, a DNA test identified the perpetrator.

Read more at: https://www.ourblackgirls.com/p/nacole-smith-murder

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