Stop the Madness: A Mother's Daughter Missing

Her name is Phylicia Simone Barnes. She is 16 years old and missing while spending Christmas break with relatives in Baltimore, MD. Baltimore police set up 24-hour hotline — 855-223-0033 — and are pleading for the community's help in finding Phylicia Simone Barnes. They didn’t get much help. Why?

According to msnbc.com police stated her disappearance was reported in local media, NBC's TODAY show and CNN. Baltimore police official alleged that had the missing teen been white, the case might have received even more media attention. Aiding investigators in finding a suspect like the Natalee Holloway case. The Baltimore Sun reported the Baltimore Police Department commander of the homicide unit had been prepared to go on CNN's Nancy Grace Show but got bumped for an hour-long report on a missing Texas cheerleader.

The mother of a missing North Carolina teen is pleading for information about her 16-year-old daughter. Two congressmen pleaded to the public to help solve the disappearance, Reps. Elijah Cummings of Maryland and Larry Kissell of North Carolina issued a joint statement.

Phylicia Simone Barnes is not a runaway. Phylicia Barnes was spending the holidays with her older half-sister in northeast Baltimore when she disappeared on Dec. 28, 2010. According to police, she was last seen at her sister’s apartment near the Reisterstown Road Metro station and Shopping Plaza. Phylicia is a teen away from home, she has not logged into Facebook, used her cell phone or debit card. She’s been gone since December 28, 2010. Phylicia is not one of the top stories featured on America’s Most Wanted. A search of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children website did find the Barnes case poster. Hailey Dunn who disappeared from Texas on December 27 was featured on both sites. She was the teen whose story bumped the Barnes story on Nancy Grace.

Baltimore police set up 24-hour hotline — 855-223-0033

National Center for Missing & Exploited Children - 1-800-843-5678 (1-800-THE-LOST)