RICHLAND COUNTY, S.C. — Here one minute, gone the next.
Even with all the technological advances, it can happen to any one of us.
Across the United States, more than 600,000 people go missing each year, according to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs).
Many are found quickly alive, but for the tens of thousands who didn’t or haven’t returned, the search can be grueling with families left wondering what happened.
The search process is something Saleemah Graham-Fleming has come to know well.
As she shuffles through baby pictures of her daughter Sanaa Amenhotep, she remembers just how much each moment meant.
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“I said, oh my God, I have a baby. I couldn't believe that I was pregnant,” Graham-Fleming said. "She's the child I had a year after I was told I would never have children…. I can't call it a journey because this has no destination. This is just kind of what it is. I'm now the parent of a slain teen, every parent’s worst nightmare."
Graham-Fleming’s story started like many others, with a missing child and a search.
“She came to the door and asked can she go outside with her sister to take pictures near the swing,” Graham-Fleming said. “That was the last time I saw Sanaa."
Right now, in South Carolina, more than 250 people of varying backgrounds and ages are considered missing, according NamUs.
Brent Garcia, 18, is among those to disappear. He was last seen at a relative’s house on Ithica Drive in Sumter in December of 2020.
Shelton Sanders was 25 and living in Rembert when he disappeared in 2001. Both families are still searching for answers.
From county to county, the investigation process is similar.
Lt. Jarrett Greenway is with the Kershaw County Sheriff’s Office.
“Have the most accurate, up-to-date information that you can,” Lt. Greenway said. “Credit cards or banks statements… fingerprints, medical information, by all means, the most up dated photo that you got."
Greenway said there are just a handful of missing people in Kershaw in August 2018.
William “Bill” Black, 45, is among them after he disappeared from East Camden.
“When he stopped calling, that was when we knew something was wrong,” Samantha Black, his niece, said.
Bill black was a father and friend to those who knew him, his family said.
“Every day was a riot with him,” Alan Black, his brother, said. “He makes Tuesday feel like a Friday night."
Alan Black says the search is a painful process he’s committed to.
“Overall, it's been very heartbreaking and frustrating…. It's been endless. We get tips and we try to search ourselves, if possible. I've looked everywhere I can think of,” Alan Black said. “I'd like to see the FBI get involved in this.... If anybody's got a family member missing, they know how I feel.... It's somebody out there that knows something."
Lt. Greenway is one of the investigators on Black’s case.
“Just because it may be cold, does not mean that it is closed,” Lt. Greenway said. “We're still looking for leads."
The search for Amenhotep lasted nearly a month.
“… the community, people involved and boots on the ground,” Graham-Fleming said.
Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott assisted Lexington County in the investigation.
“Finding out who the last people she was with and actually doing some interrogation and we were able to put the pieces together,” Sheriff Lott said.
The result was not what they had hoped.
Investigators say Amenhotep left voluntarily before being kidnapped and killed, likely the same day she went missing.
The suspects were acquaintances and are now awaiting trial.
“The coroner came in… and I remember asking, Can I see her? And she said, I'm so sorry you can't,” Graham-Fleming said. “I never seen my baby again…. It's in your everyday living where you get tormented by what could happen, because you're no longer on the side where it could never happen to me."
Today, Graham-Fleming advocates for other families through her nonprofit Mothers of Slain Teens (MOST), starting a scholarship fund and garnering nearly 17,000 signatures for the Amenhotep Law with the goal of empowering parents to speak and establishing more clearly defined search protocols.
“Parents looking for your children, do not stop looking for your children, mothers specifically. You have something inside of you that tells you if something is wrong, or not,” Graham-Fleming said. “Do not get discouraged, I don't care how long it's been. You deserve closure."
Black’s family says they’re holding out hope that they’ll see Bill again.
“I need to know. He needs to be buried in a respectful manor,” Alan Black said. “He needs justice for whatever happened to him."
Many law enforcement agencies share missing persons cases on their social media or websites. Cases can also be viewed at MissingKids.org. Anyone with information in these or other cases should call CrimeStoppers at 1-888-CRIME-SC.