Janice D. Webb

CLEVELAND - Janice D. Webb, 48 was reported missing to Cleveland police on Aug. 2, 2009.

She was last seen on June 3, 2009 and had most recently been living in Lakewood. In an interrogation video from the day following Anthony Sowell’s arrest, he said he remembered that one of the women was from Lakewood.

Cleveland police checked with friends and relatives, and area hospitals and shelters, following her disappearance, but were unable to find any information on her whereabouts.

Janice Webb’s only child, Lemaar Webb, said after about two weeks of not having contact with is mother, he spoke to his aunts and his great grandmother, but no one had heard from her either. After the discovery of the bodies on Imperial Avenue, he received word his mother was a victim. Webb’s remains were identified on Nov. 9, 2009.

"She had never been gone like this before… When I heard about it, I just figured she was there," Lemaar Webb said.

"I talked to her everyday, but I actually seen her three times a week," Audrey Webb said about her younger sister, Janice.

Giving stern and direct answers during the trial, Joanne Moore talked about her younger sister, who she called “JJ.” Moore said Janice developed a drug problem when she was 19 or 20 years old. But Webb was always trying to keep the family close, even in her drug use, Moore said. Webb was always cracking jokes and dancing with the children at family get togethers. Moore said the family went back and forth between Lakewood and Cleveland police.

"If I was not mistaken, it was Aug. 2, 2009," Moore said. That's when the family was finally able to make a missing persons report with police. "I actually moved onto East 123rd, so I was a few houses away from Imperial. I was actually there when everything started going on… So I didn't actually have to see the news to know what's going on."

"I understand my family can now have closure, but it doesn't take the pain away. Regardless of what people say about my sister, she was still loving. She was still my sister. We had unconditional love for her,” Joann Moore said about her late sister.

Webb grew up in Cleveland and graduated from John Hay in 1979.
At her funeral, there was not an empty seat to be found. Family friend Keith Gardner pointed to the full house, saying “You will see it’s packed… Everyone loved her."

Webb’s friends described her as a good person, whose life was valued and will be missed very much.

“She was a great person, I don’t care that she was an addict. I just want everyone to know how great she was,” Gardner said. “I just loved her. Everyone loved her… I just want everyone to know that.

Webb had three grandchildren.