NJ NJ - Bonita Sanders, 2, Atlantic City, 14 Sept 1986

[anthrobones]

Bonita Karen Sanders
Missing since September 14, 1986 from Atlantic City, Atlantic County, New Jersey.
Classification: Non-Family Abduction



Vital Statistics Date Of Birth: September 17, 1984
Age at Time of Disappearance: 1 year old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 2'6; 30 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Black female. Black hair; brown eyes.
Marks, Scars: Sanders has an abdominal hernia scar.
<LI>Clothing: Sanders was last seen wearing a short-sleeved yellow shirt; blue pants; and blue and white sandals.

Circumstances of Disappearance
On September 14, 1986, Sanders was strapped in her stroller, sucking a popsicle on her mother's porch on the 900 block of Baltic Avenue in Atlantic City. Inside, her mother, Bonita Sanders , cooked dinner as her other children played in a nearby lot. Minutes later, between 6 and 7 p.m., Bonita Sanders later told police, she looked outside and the stroller was empty. She said she searched, but to no avail. Sanders's father was immediately eliminated as a suspect. At 20, Bonita Sanders allegedly walked out of a hospital and abandoned Sanders when she was born. A month after Sanders' disappearance, she abandoned a baby boy months after pretending to her boyfriend that she'd had an abortion.
In January 1987, she was sentenced to nine months in jail for endangering the welfare of a child; her three children were placed in other homes. At sentencing, a prosecutor said Sanders lied during their investigation into Bonita's disappearance, changed stories, provided false leads and never inquired about the investigation. Sanders' father was seeking custody of her when she disappeared.

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/318dfnj.html

[newshound81]

Possible Break in Missing Toddler Mystery

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/...g-Toddler.html

[hoppyfrog]

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wi...,6613498.story

23 Feb 09

Law enforcement officials are searching a section of woods in Pleasantville seeking evidence in the case of an Atlantic City toddler who disappeared 22 years ago.

Bonita Sanders was last seen on Sept. 14, 1986, on the front porch of her mother's house in Atlantic City. She was three days shy of her second birthday.

The girl's father, 44-year-old Abdul Salaam of Atlantic City, says officials from the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office contacted him last week and said there was a break in the case. He says he learned Monday that they were digging in the woods in Pleasantville.

more at link

[cynsational]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,499986,00.html

"They said they got strong evidence that the little girl is dead and that the person told them where to look," Dabney said.

The girl was three days shy of her second birthday ... "She couldn't walk or talk yet, but she was real playful.

Maybe mom didn't want her children and especially a special needs child. Maybe as she matured she couldn't live with the guilt and confessed?????

[thefragile7393]

I remember seeing this on the DOE network...amazing how brazen someone was in this. I hope the father can finally find some closure. The mom sounds like a piece of work.
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/1...ry/412071.html
http://www.abclocal.go.com/wpvi/stor...cal&id=6675017

[thefragile7393]

I wonder if we can get the two threads merged on this little one.

[hoppyfrog]

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wi...0,448521.story

27 Feb 09

.....The missing toddler's sister, Tameika Sanders, now 26, said she had rarely heard from her mother for years. But the woman turned up at a school event for Tameika's children on Feb. 11. Just hours later, Sanders said, prosecutors told her about the break in the case.

She said she was disheartened that the search didn't turn up her sister's remains and disappointed that her mother has not come forward.

much more at link

[tatertot]

The missing child's father has located her mother:

http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/a...ddlercase.html

[Kat]

https://www.findthemissing.org/cases/6622/1/
NamUs Profile:
Dental: NA
DNA: NA
Fingerprints: NA


This month will mark 24 years that Bonita has been missing. Come home soon.

[Snackcakes66]

Many blessings to Bonita and her family, they have been through so much. It's nice to see Bonita is in the hearts of her family. Even though her sister would have been a baby at the time, someone made sure she knew about Bonita. Maybe someday mom will have a change of heart, let Bonita come home.

[amber1]

The mom must know something, this reminds me of little lucy meadows, whose mom says someone stole her from the grocery cart, when really she killed her. she was never found.

[amber1]

i wonder if they will think 2 question ann pettway about bonita's case as well as other babies who have mysteriously vanished