CA CA - Arianna Fitts, 2, San Francisco, 1 April 2016 *mother found dead*

[PawneeDew]

Re-post refresher, rbbm.
By Lyanne Melendez
April 1, 2022

$250K reward offered as SFPD finds new leads in murder of Nicole Fitts, her daughter's disappearance

Six years ago, 32-year-old Nicole Fitts' body was discovered at McLaren Park, but her daughter, who was a toddler at the time, was never found. A babysitter, Nicole's husband and another woman are believed to be involved.

abc7news.com

''According to the police report, because Nicole, a single mom, worked long hours, Arianna was in the care of a babysitter and her husband when she disappeared. They and another woman, believed to be involved, have not fully cooperated with police.

Arianna was two-and-a-half at the time. She's now eight. Investigators showed reporters what she may look like thanks to an age progression photo.

"You'll actually see success stories when age progression photos have led to recovery, sometimes by the missing child themselves," explained Scott Shelby, Assistant Special Agent for the FBI.

Law enforcement has never determined whether or not Arianna is alive. Today police said we have to believe that she is. That's why that age progression photo is so crucial.

Billboards with that photo will go up in California and Nevada.

The people who babysat Arianna have moved to Las Vegas, so putting that billboard up in Nevada was done strategically.''

Thank you for re-posting.

 

[PommyMommy]

JAN 2, 2023

California Cold Cases: 15 FBI Missing Person Files That Still Haunt

The FBI gets involved with some missing person cases, usually at the request of local law enforcement. These CA files remained open in 2022.

patch.com

 

[Insightful1]

Watch here , a interview of Contessa Fitts regarding the murder of her sister Nikki and the disappearance of her niece Arianna. The interview is done by the wonderful Tricia Griffith. Contessa is an amazing woman who is still fighting to find Arianna and get justice for them both. Please watch and share Ariannas photo on your social media. We are live tonight at 10:30 PM ET with murder victim Nicole Fitts sister Contessa

 

[Insightful1]

Watch here , a interview of Contessa Fitts regarding the murder of her sister Nikki and the disappearance of her niece Arianna. The interview is done by the wonderful Tricia Griffith. Contessa is an amazing woman who is still fighting to find Arianna and get justice for them both. Please watch and share Ariannas photo on your social media. We are live tonight at 10:30 PM ET with murder victim Nicole Fitts sister Contessa

This interview was done a while back. I’m sorry the title is misleading.

 

[PawneeDew]

This interview was done a while back. I’m sorry the title is misleading.

That's okay. She is wonderful. Thank you, Tricia Griffith.
Eta.
Thanks for bumping the thread! That's always welcome.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

An age progression image of how Arianna might look today was released by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC).

• 
  Arianna and Nikki Fitts in a photo from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.Read More »
• 

Age progressed photo of how 9-year-old Arianna might look in 2023 from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.Read More »
“Investigators and NCMEC believe Arianna could still be alive and they’re asking the public to pay attention to her age progression image,” officials said.

“We’re asking everyone, no matter where you are or how busy you may be, to just take a brief moment to look closely at this image,” said Angeline Hartmann, Director of Communications at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. “You may be the key to finding Arianna and not even know it.”

$250,000 reward offered for missing California girl whose mother was found murdered

Authorities are offering a $250,000 reward for information on a missing girl whose mother was found murdered in San Francisco in 2016. The missing girl, Arianna Fitts, now 9 years old, went missing…

ktla.com

 

[cuffem]

An age progression image of how Arianna might look today was released by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC).

• 
  Arianna and Nikki Fitts in a photo from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.Read More »
• 

Age progressed photo of how 9-year-old Arianna might look in 2023 from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.Read More »
“Investigators and NCMEC believe Arianna could still be alive and they’re asking the public to pay attention to her age progression image,” officials said.

“We’re asking everyone, no matter where you are or how busy you may be, to just take a brief moment to look closely at this image,” said Angeline Hartmann, Director of Communications at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. “You may be the key to finding Arianna and not even know it.”

$250,000 reward offered for missing California girl whose mother was found murdered

Authorities are offering a $250,000 reward for information on a missing girl whose mother was found murdered in San Francisco in 2016. The missing girl, Arianna Fitts, now 9 years old, went missing…

ktla.com

Now here is an example of how age progression sketches can help a case. There is a good possibility this child is alive and brings her case back in the news.
There was some discussion that stated these sketches do more harm than good and I very much disagreed.

 

[Darling136]

The reward is 250k, i hope this makes someone move

$250,000 reward offered for missing California girl whose mother was found murdered

Authorities are offering a $250,000 reward for information on a missing girl whose mother was found murdered in San Francisco in 2016. The missing girl, Arianna Fitts, now 9 years old, went missing…

ktla.com

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Fitts was a single mother and was working at the Best Buy on Harrison Street just before her death — in fact, she was allegedly wearing a blue Best Buy shirt on April 1 when she left work to go meet with the babysitter, who was later identified as Helena Martin. Helena and her husband, Devon Martin, lived on Castro Street in Oakland at the time. Arianna had been living with the Martins, sleeping there nightly, for about a month at the time of Fitts's death — an arrangement she made while she got back on her feet financially.

"As far as I know, she was going to Oakland [on April 1], and I told her before she left, ‘baby whatever you do, get the police involved' because Nicole was really upset that night," Taylor told the station. "I said, ‘I’ve had a long day.’ I said, ‘I wish I could stay up and talk to you a little longer, but I am beat, and I’m going to bed,’ and that was the last time I saw Nicole."

Approaching 7th Anniversary of Disappearance, Authorities Put Out New Call for Whereabouts of Arianna Fitts

It's been almost seven years since the body of a young mother was discovered in McLaren Park, and authorities still believe that her daughter, who was two years old at the time, is still alive and perhaps still somewhere in California.

sfist.com

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Around 10:30 a.m. on April 8, 2016, a San Francisco parks worker stumbled onto an unusual-looking piece of plywood atop a brushy, overgrown area in McLaren Park. They pushed the wood aside, and there, curled into the fetal position, was a woman's body. She was dead.

Seven years later, that woman’s young daughter is still missing — but family and police strongly believe she’s alive out there, somewhere.

The tragedy of Nicole and Arianna Fitts is one of San Francisco’s most frustrating unsolved cases.

A mom was found dead in an SF park. Her daughter may still be alive.

The tragedy of Nicole and Arianna Fitts is one of the most frustrating unsolved cases in...

www.sfgate.com

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Nicole Fitts was 32 when she was killed. Her life had been a hard one, marked by poverty and struggle. She worked relentlessly to make ends meet for her two daughters, but high Bay Area rents forced her to send her oldest to live with the girl’s father in Southern California. Nicole and Arianna, just 2 and a half years old, bounced from home to home, and sometime before Nicole was killed, they ended up briefly in a homeless shelter.

There, Nicole’s family says she met a so-called “street pastor” named Lemasani Briggs. Nicole and Arianna moved in with her, but the relationship quickly soured; Nicole’s loved ones have alleged Briggs was emotionally abusive and controlling.

The Fitts left Briggs’ home and found shelter with relatives in Santa Cruz. But that meant hours of driving to and from San Francisco, where Nicole had a job at the Harrison Street Best Buy. To cut down on commuting, she sometimes couch-surfed with friends. Arianna would stay for days at a time with her new babysitters, Helena and Devin Martin, at their home on Castro Street in Oakland.

Nicole met the Martins through Briggs; Helena was Briggs’ niece. When worried family members asked Nicole if she was concerned about still having ties to Briggs, she allegedly reassured them that Helena wasn’t close to her aunt. It’s not clear if Nicole knew that Helena had once been charged with murder in 2001 — then known as Helena Hearne, the 18-year-old was accused of fatally shooting the father of one of her children. She reportedly served six years for the crime.

San Francisco police detectives quickly homed in on Helena and Devin Martin. A police commander told reporters they believed Nicole was trying — and failing — to bring Arianna home at the time of her disappearance. Although the Martins “cooperated initially,” SFPD said they gave “inconsistent, conflicting statements” and soon stopped helping altogether.

A mom was found dead in an SF park. Her daughter may still be alive.

The tragedy of Nicole and Arianna Fitts is one of the most frustrating unsolved cases in...

www.sfgate.com

*I think of this little girl often.

 

[Countem]

LNL: Family of Missing Girl Reacts to New Ebony Alert Law in California

www.graydc.com