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Search Continues In High-Level Disappearance Case

Mayor Campbell Says Finding Girl Is Top Priority

POSTED: 5:57 pm EDT April 6, 2004
UPDATED: 8:33 am EDT April 8, 2004

Investigators are pulling out all the stops to find missing Gina DeJesus, 14. Police purchased clothing identical to what she was wearing when she disappeared Friday and presented it at a news conference Tuesday in hopes of jogging someone's memory.

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DeJesus disappeared four days ago while she was walking home from Wilbur Wright Middle School on Cleveland's west side, and friends and family said the teen decided to walk home instead of taking the bus.

This is the same neighborhood where Amanda Berry vanished almost one year ago. Cleveland Mayor Jane Campbell met with DeJesus' family to comfort them and assure them that finding the teen is the city's top priority.

"Our goal now is to find this child," said Campbell at Tuesday's news conference.

Also present to comfort the family was Alicia Randal, the mother of Shakira Johnson, the 11-year-old girl who disappeared last September. The body of the murdered girl was found a month later.

Randal said she knew immediately upon hearing the news of DeJesus' disappearance that she needed to be there with the family because she knew what they were going through. Police stopped traffic along Lorain Avenue near West 105th Street while their bloodhounds sniffed for clues in DeJesus' disappearance.

Investigators are leaving no stone unturned in the search. They are searching abandoned lots and interviewing countless people in order to learn as much information as possible. Needless to say, neighbors are very concerned – not just for the safety of DeJesus, but for their own safety as well as their families'.

"I'm usually not alone, I'm always with somebody," said Nicole Monhart. "I don't go out at night by myself now."

Family members gathered at DeJesus' house said her disappearance is starting to take its toll. Councilman Zack Reed visited the family, and reassured them that he recognizes the need for a citywide game plan for protecting children.

"We had an incident last week where a 13-year-old in Hough was lured at knifepoint into a vacant house and raped as she was walking to school," Reed recalled.

Reed is hosting a meeting next week with safety personnel from the city and the school district to try to figure out how to protect our children.

About 15 FBI agents are helping local police search for the girl.

NewsChannel5 is now working with Crime Stoppers to help in this case. If you know any information that could help lead to the arrest of the person or people responsible, you can call (216) 252-7463.





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