April 26, 2012|By Peter Hermann | Baltimore Sun reporter
Dec. 28, 2010 — Phylicia Barnes, visiting from Monroe, N.C., is last seen in her sister's apartment in the 6500 block of Eberle Drive, near the Reisterstown Road Metro station and shopping plaza. When her sister, Deena, can't locate her, family members call police. Deena's ex-boyfriend, Michael Johnson, is the last person to see her alive, reporting that he saw her asleep on the couch as he moved out of the apartment.
Jan. 3, 2011 — Baltimore police put out an alert and say she could've been abducted. The police commissioner speaks about the case, noting the use of bloodhounds and helicopters. Relatives said she left with her cellphone and wallet, and had been wearing slippers. Police said they believe she walked out of her apartment about 1:30 p.m., after sending a text to Deena, who was at work, about getting food. Her cell phone was turned off.
Jan. 4, 2011 — The FBI joins more than two dozen detectives in a search for Barnes that led them and 50 cadets to Leakin Park. "We are going to pour in all the resources we can," a police spokesman said. "At this point, any tip we get is credible."
Jan. 5, 2011 — Police expand their search to half the homicide squad, but admit they're "basically, at square one." The girl's father, Russell Barnes, flies in from North Carolina. "I just want to pray to God that my beautiful daughter is all right and that she will be found," he says at a police command post.
Jan. 6, 2011 — Police press for national media attention as the search grows to one of the most extensive in department history. A police spokesman compares it to the Natalee Holloway case, complaining the wealthy white teen who went missing in the Caribbean continues to garner national media attention while a missing black girl in Baltimore does not.
Jan. 8, 2011 — Volunteers join in the search, spending a snowy Saturday trekking through a patch of thick pine trees and along railroad tracks in Northwest Baltimore.
Jan. 14, 2011 — Two United States senators, Elijah E. Cummings of Maryland and Larry Kissell of North Carolina, issue a joint statement asking for help in finding the girl. Clear Channel donates billboard space to show her photo along city highways.
Jan. 20, 2011 — City police searched the woods behind a Southwest Baltimore apartment building but found nothing. Authorities had concentrated on what they described as a well near a shed on a property in the 400 block of North Bend Road, south of Edmonson Avenue in the Westgate community near the Baltimore County line.
Jan. 31, 2011 — The squad of Baltimore homicide detectives assigned to the case talk to The Baltimore Sun. Lead Det. Daniel T. Nicholson IV, a 17-year veteran, expresses sympathy for the Barnes' family, recounting how he has two daughters and would be heartbroken if one of them disappeared. "This is a young girl who was well-liked in high school," he said. "She was doing what any young person would do, visiting her family ... and she vanished from the face of the earth. That's hard to believe. … It's frustrating in that we've run out every lead, no matter how ridiculous or impossible it might seem." His biggest fear, he says, is that "it's not going to be a happy ending."
April 9, 2011 — Hundreds of police and civil air patrol volunteers, along with the Maryland Urban Search and Rescue Team, conduct a daylong search through 16,000-acre Patapsco Valley State Park straddling Howard and Baltimore counties. Searchers find a body, but no sign of Phylicia Barnes. A frustrated police spokesman said: "We are now very much back at square one. We have no doubt in our minds that something very tragic has happened to her."
April 20, 2011 — Boaters and a worker at the Conowingo Dam on the Susquehanna River, 40 miles northeast of Baltimore, find two bodies, one male, one female, floating in the water.
April 21, 2011 — The state medical examiner's office confirms that the body of the woman is Phylicia Barnes, matching dental records and a rose tattoo on the lower leg. The body of the male remains unidentified, adding a new twist to the case and raising suspicions of a double-murder or a murder-suicide.
April 22, 2011 — Family members started preparations for a funeral as the investigation shifted from a search to criminal case.
April 24, 2011 — Phylicia Barnes' half brother, Bryan, speaks out about the death. Wearing a T-shirt with the victim's picture on it, and the words, "Have you seen me?" The firefighter said everyone was still coming to grips with the case.
April 25, 2011 — Classmates at Phylicia Barnes' school, Union Academy in North Carolina, hold a memorial service. Flags were at half-staff and grief counselors were on duty as students returned from spring break. Purple ribbons were hung on trees and elsewhere around campus.
