Joniah Walker, a Wisconsin teenager who went missing four years ago, has been found safe, the Milwaukee Police Department confirmed Tuesday. Walker, now 19, disappeared from her Milwaukee home on June 23, 2022, when she was 15.
Her mother, Tanesha Howard, last saw her daughter in bed on the morning of her disappearance before leaving for work. Howard reported that she and her daughter had spoken by phone several times that day, but Walker abruptly stopped responding. Walker was scheduled to meet her father to apply for a summer work permit but never arrived, prompting Howard to leave work and return home.
A ring camera near Walker's residence captured her leaving her apartment complex around 2:30 p.m. on June 23, 2022, carrying a large green backpack. This was the last known sighting of Walker until her recent discovery.
Howard had previously speculated that her daughter might have been lured away, possibly by someone she met online, especially after noticing that Walker had deleted her digital footprint. "Somebody stole her…that was my first instinct," Howard told the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. "But when I saw that she left with a big backpack that I had never seen, that’s when I knew. I was like, someone lured her away."
Walker became one of the faces of a legislative effort in Wisconsin led by State Rep. Shelia Stubbs (D-Madison) to establish a Missing and Murdered African American Women and Girls Task Force. Stubbs had expressed belief that Walker was still alive and encouraged Howard to maintain hope.
Details regarding where Walker was found and the circumstances surrounding her disappearance and reappearance have not been disclosed by the police. Authorities have not provided further information on whether she was accompanied by anyone when found.