NJ NJ - Celina Mays, 12, pregnant, Willingboro, 16 Dec 1996

New Posts

The fact that the aunt and cousin are both now deceased is sad. People that can no longer be interviewed. I am sad for her sister! The interview with the sister is heartbreaking! I agree, who in the heck is Keith Burns (driver) that refuses to be interviewed?

Where is Celina??
 
Last edited:
cocomod said:
The fact that the aunt and cousin are both now deceased is sad. People that can no longer be interviewed. I am sad for her sister! The interview with the sister is heartbreaking! I agree, who in the heck is Keith Burns (driver) that refuses to be interviewed?

Where is Celina??
Click to expand...
I may have misunderstood, but from the Crime Junkie podcast I just listened to, which was excellent, I think Ashley said Keith Burns couldn’t be located. Maybe previously he refused to be interviewed?
 
www.nj.com

Missing Black and brown people rarely get media attention, group says. Here are 18 who vanished in N.J.

A 5-year-old who disappeared from a park. A teenager who went to the bank and never came home. A young mother who never arrived to pick up her toddler from the babysitter. The Black & Missing Foundation was created to highlight cases involving people of color that often don't get much news coverage.
www.nj.com www.nj.com

The Black & Missing Foundation list also includes other missing New Jerseyans who have received little publicity or whose cases have faded from memory. They include the 1996 disappearance of Celina Mays, who was 12 years old and nine months pregnant when she vanished in Burlington County.
 
This is one of the cases that sends me down a rabbit hole of Googling and combing the web. I tried to find confirmation for the claims that C.J. and Sean had both passed, but I couldn't find anything (online, at least), but I lean towards believing it's true (if only because of how many familiar with the area seem to say it.) Cerita, I do believe passed because of this news article (even though they misspell her name). If all the "main players" were dead, I feel like, if she had escaped with someone's help, someone would have come out by now. MOO.

The lack of widespread media attention for Celina's case was, IMO, caused by a "perfect storm" of coincidences and biases. Perhaps the biggest coincidence is that JonBenét happened 10 days later, which, obviously, dominated the headlines.

I think about Celina so often. Her smile was so bright. I just hope that whatever happened, happened quickly.
 
www.phillyvoice.com

Cold case of Celina Mays, missing South Jersey girl, to be featured on 'In Pursuit with John Walsh'

She had been weeks away from having a baby when she vanished in 1996. The show airs Sept. 14 on Investigation Discovery
www.phillyvoice.com www.phillyvoice.com
1682773531797.png
''Celina Mays is pictured above on the left before she dissapeared from her home in Willingboro, New Jersey on Dec. 16, 1996. The image on the right is an age-progression photo created by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Mays, who was 12 years old and pregnant when she vanished, would be in her late 30s today.
Celina Mays was 12 years old and pregnant when she disappeared from her home in Willingboro on a December morning in 1996.
Hours before she vanished, she had attended church and eaten ice cream with her family, seeming as normal as a child can just two weeks before she was due to give birth. ''
 
Missing Poster

National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
Celina Mays has been missing for nearly 30 years.
 
The Voices for Justice Podcast just released an episode about Celina's disappearance
www.voicesforjusticepodcast.com

Podcast | Voices for Justice

Listen to The Voices for Justice Podcast now.
www.voicesforjusticepodcast.com www.voicesforjusticepodcast.com

12-year-old Celina Mays went missing from her home in Willingboro, New Jersey, on December 16, 1996. Celina was reported missing, but her disappearance wasn’t really treated as a potential crime by her family or local law enforcement. In fact, it took days for police to find out perhaps the most important detail – 12-year-old Celina was pregnant and due in only two weeks.

Now, it’s been over 25 years, and Celina is still missing. But what they’ve found out about her life leading up to that day paints a dark, sinister picture of what her fate could have been.
 
VOJ brought me here. Went back and read what everyone was thinking and how they felt about the case. I am a bit torn on what I think.

I am curious if any other families or people left the church around the time she did. Is it possible someone helped her escape? In the VOJ episode, it was said that she most likely would need to have a c-section since her body was not big enough to give birth. So maybe someone took her, helped her have her baby. This would require a hospital of some kind. I feel like most places would report a 12 year old giving birth. Unless it was already a trusted person i.e. a Dr.

She left behind everything, could she have planned to give the baby up? Did someone help her escape and then help her and the child? A lot of people think she would be a Mother to that child, but to pass this long undetected as a 12 year old single mother would be hard. Someone could have raised both her and the baby. Maybe even raised them under the guise of being siblings or cousins.

I hope she is alive and I hope one day we find out she has been living a quiet life and happy.
 
SpicyFruit said:
VOJ brought me here. Went back and read what everyone was thinking and how they felt about the case. I am a bit torn on what I think.

I am curious if any other families or people left the church around the time she did. Is it possible someone helped her escape? In the VOJ episode, it was said that she most likely would need to have a c-section since her body was not big enough to give birth. So maybe someone took her, helped her have her baby. This would require a hospital of some kind. I feel like most places would report a 12 year old giving birth. Unless it was already a trusted person i.e. a Dr.

She left behind everything, could she have planned to give the baby up? Did someone help her escape and then help her and the child? A lot of people think she would be a Mother to that child, but to pass this long undetected as a 12 year old single mother would be hard. Someone could have raised both her and the baby. Maybe even raised them under the guise of being siblings or cousins.

I hope she is alive and I hope one day we find out she has been living a quiet life and happy.
Click to expand...
BBM.

If most places would report a 12-year-old giving birth, could she have gone to some unlicensed doctor to deliver, died from complications during childbirth, and then her death was covered up?

Someone upthread wrote that Celine was seeing an obstetrician who commented that Celine was mature for her age. Would they have informed Celine that she most likely would've needed a C-section?

C-sections are normally safe, but not without risks. And I imagine those risks are greater at her young age—especially if she, and therefore her delivering "doctor," weren't prepared for that possibility.
 
SadieMae said:
I had the read the thread title 3 times! 12 & pregnant? I hope that wasn't her outcome Spazkat. I'm hoping she ran off with the baby's father and he's taking care of them. Best case scenario considering the circumstances. Maybe they are afraid of him going to jail if she's found and staying in hiding. At least that's what I'm hoping.
Click to expand...
12 and 9 months pregnant!
 
Springrain said:
The fact that the disappearance and (IMO) probable murder of a pregnant 12 year old got very little media attention is an absolute disgrace. MOO.
Click to expand...
It's very difficult for media attention to be garnered when the family isn't overly concerned and advocating. (See below posts.) Their initial reaction was that a crime has not occurred.
 
Cubby said:
I don't think she is alive, though I wish she were.

I'm perplexed on how and why child protective services wasn't involved before her disappearance. She was 11 when she became pregnant.

The authorities really dropped the ball on this case.
Click to expand...
My belief is that Celina was smarter than we give her credit for. She lost her mom early, that kind of experience makes you grow up faster, emotionally. Moving to her dad’s was a drastic change for her, too. Mom’s house wasn’t anything like where she was now. I think her doctor knew who the father was and confidentiality with your patient can be broken in cases where a child’s wellbeing is compromised, but what if acting in her best interest meant getting her the hell out of there before her baby was born? I think celena was smart enough to ask for help and someone she met at the doctor’s office helped her get to a women’s shelter.
 
Could this be her?

Lower end of the age range if she survived on the run for a few years; height and weight match; she was pregnant and UID had signs of giving birth or abortion.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

DNASolves

Who is Escambia County John Doe (1989)?

Members online

... and 68 more.
Total: 3,863 (members: 69, guests: 3,794)

Online statistics

Members online
69
Guests online
3,794
Total visitors
3,863
Totals may include hidden visitors.

Forum statistics

Threads
592,621
Messages
17,972,025
Members
228,846
Latest member
butiwantedthatname
Back
Top