Missing 14-year-old girl found in Florida
SYRACUSE, Ind.-- 14-year-old Aaliyah Ramirez went missing on April 27th. She was last seen that morning at 8 AM on ring camera video leaving to the bus stop, and never arriving to school or back home.
A statewide silver alert was declared the following day and continued for 4 long months, until Friday, when it was canceled after she was found safe in Florida by U.S Marshals.
“We have a happy ending. She will be going home,” private investigator Joe Carrillo said.
However, the case into how she got there and what happened, is still unfolding.
Aaliyah’s aunt, 25-year-old Allissa Sands, and her grandmother, 47-year-old Elizabeth Sands, both from Boynton Beach Florida, were arrested Friday evening in connection to her disappearance, with out of state fugitive charges.
“Any child that is not home at night and parents don’t know where they are no matter who they’re with, are in danger. This child was in danger since the day she didn’t come home,” Carrillo said.
ABC57 spoke with Allissa Sands back in May in an emotional interview about her niece’s disappearance, where she claimed she had no idea where Aaliyah could be.
“She’s just not one to like have any issues and what not like this before,” Sands said. “I’m not for sure if she ran or if somebody grabbed her.”
Aaliyah’s biological mother posted to Facebook, saying the relatives kept her in a hotel room the whole time with a disguise. Though, this is not confirmed yet with officials.
“I kind of knew this was going to occur because we knew that she was down here with her grandmother, but she just needed to be found," Carrillo said. “The most important thing here is Aaliyah. Not her mom, not her dad, her grandma, the aunt in jail or anyone who helped, it’s a 14-year-old child that was thoroughly confused because adults confused her.”
Joe Carrillo, Founder of non-profit organization “Bringing Them Home Project” and private investigator in Miami Dade County, has worked closely with Aaliyah's parents to help find her.
“Through social media, Aaliyah’s mother reached out to me on May 7th. She kind of gave me the details and gave me the background, there were suspicions that a family member had brought her down to Florida, and we jumped on that and now are assisting her dad in getting her home,” Carrillo said.
While things are still be sorted out, Carrillo says himself as well as Aaliyah’s family are just overjoyed for her to come home.
“I’m every child that I have recovered, I have seen the parents' eyes before while they’re missing. I didn’t get the chance to see Anthony's eyes before but from the moment I saw him, I saw life. I saw my daughter is in that building and my daughter is alive, and she’s going home with me,” Carrillo said.