A 12-year-old Pikesville girl who went missing last week has been found, said Baltimore County Police, ending a state-wide search.
Police said Tayzha Alona Warren was located around 10:30 a.m. on Thursday in Pikesville, but declined to provide additional information at this time.
Over the past week, social media was flooded with a missing poster for Warren and calls for her safe return, including from Maryland’s first lady Dawn Flythe Moore and Baltimore native Jada Pinkett Smith, the famed actress, singer and talk show host.
The weeklong search began after Mia Brooks, 49, found a note tapped to the wall in her daughter’s bedroom that read: “Mom, I know you think I’m crazy but I’m not running away. Please just trust me and don’t call the police. I’m going to Pennsylvania for a week.”
Brooks, who has had custody of her niece since she was a week old, said she immediately called Baltimore County Police. In an interview with The Banner before Warren was found, Brooks said the note indicated that the 12-year-old was traveling to stay with a family Brooks had never heard of.
Brooks believes Warren may have been talking to a man online via social media apps. Even with parental controls and limited access to electronics, she said she now understands the pitfalls of raising a child in the digital age.
“As a mom, what has become clear to me is that I was fighting in a war that I didn’t even know I was in. ... People have way more ways to get to our kids than we’re even thinking about or aware of,” Brooks said. “I’m now clueless about how to further protect her when she comes home because I already thought that I was doing all the right stuff.”
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children currently lists more than 170 kids from Maryland on their site. Though white children outnumber Black children in Maryland, about 70% of missing children are Black, The Banner reported in 2022, citing state police statistics. Most of those children are Black teen girls.
Waking up to an empty bed
Before being located on Thursday, the last time Brooks saw her child was on June 20. She had no idea if Brooks left some time in the middle of the night or if she left Friday morning, she said.
“When I got up in the morning — I went to wake her up for breakfast and get the day going — I noticed I didn’t hear her moving around. I said ‘Let me go and wake her up, it’s 10 o’clock.’ But it was just her pillows on the bed,” Brooks said.
She immediately went to locate her daughter’s cellphone, which Warren had not had since May due to a poor report card.
After going through Warren’s phone and chatting with some of her friends, Brooks learned she had been talking to a man in his 20s online via Instagram and Snapchat. And he lived in Pennsylvania.
Detectives with the Baltimore County Police Department’s Crimes Against Children Unit worked with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and other law enforcement agencies to locate Warren, said Trae Corbin, a spokesperson with the department.
According to Brooks, county police stopped by her home Saturday and Sunday to see if Warren had returned. By Monday, the department assigned a detective to the case, but a statewide Amber Alert was not issued.
“At this time the case does not meet the criteria for an Amber Alert,” Corbin said Wednesday. Only a law enforcement agency can request an activation of an Amber Alert through the Maryland State Police. Warren’s name was also added to the National Crime Information Center database.
Brooks said multiple scenarios ran through her mind day and night about the safety of her child.
“She’s pretty fearless and bold. And she has always had a sense beyond her years is what everyone has always said,” Brooks explained. “But she had started to spiral a bit. Maybe she’s struggling with something that this will bring to light?”
Whatever Warren may need, Brooks wanted her home so that and her support system can provide it for her.
“I’ve never not known where my baby is,” Brooks said.
This is a developing story.
