Bonita Sanders Abduction 9/14/86 NJ
BONITA SANDERS DOB: Sep 17, 1984 Missing: Sep 14, 1986 Age Now: 21 Sex: Female Race: Black Hair: Black Eyes: Brown Height: 2'6" (76 cm) Weight: 30 lbs (14 kg) Missing From: ATLANTIC CITY NJ United States Age Progressed The photo on the right is a composite image of what Bonita may look like at 19 years old. She was last seen sitting in a stroller on her front porch. ANYONE HAVING INFORMATION SHOULD CONTACT National Center for Missing & Exploited Children 1-800-843-5678 (1-800-THE-LOST) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office (New Jersey) - Major Crime Squad http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/PubCaseSearchServlet?act=viewPoster&caseNum=601887&orgPrefix=NCMC&searchLang=en_US

Details of Disappearance According to Bonita Karen's mother, who is also named Bonita, her daughter was last seen strapped in her stroller on the porch of her family's residence in the Virginia Court Apartments on Baltic Avenue in Atlantic City, New Jersey at 6:00 p.m. on September 14, 1986. Bonita Karen was eating a popsicle and Bonita's other children were playing outside at the time. Bonita claimed that she looked outside at approximately 7:00 p.m. that evening and discovered Bonita Karen had disappeared from her stroller. Bonita claimed that she searched Baltic Avenue and the surrounding streets for her daughter, but she could not locate her. She reported her daughter as missing at approximately 8:30 p.m. Bonita Karen has never been seen again. Bonita Karen's father, Abdul Salaam, was immediately eliminated as a possible suspect in his daughter's case. He had been seeking custody of Bonita Karen at the time she vanished and was also imprisoned on a robbery charge. Bonita allegedly abandoned Bonita Karen at birth and also attempted to abandon another newborn after Bonita Karen disappeared. Bonita reportedly walked out of an Atlantic City hospital in 1984 and left Bonita Karen at the facility. She was not charged in that case, but Bonita did face charges when she gave birth to a son in October 1986, one month after Bonita Karen was last seen. Bonita checked into Atlantic City Medical Center under the alias "Laura Smith" to deliver and was discharged on October 7, 1986. Bonita apparently then left with her newborn son and took a cab to an Atlantic City bus terminal. She boarded a bus to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and left the baby lying face-down in a terminal restroom in Atlantic City, where he was rescued shortly thereafter. Bonita was sentenced to nine months in jail for endangering the welfare of a child in January 1987 and her three other children were placed in foster homes. The father of Bonita's newborn son told authorities that she lied to him and said she had an abortion when she was pregnant with the child. He did not know she had carried the baby to term and given birth until he was contacted by law enforcement. The prosecutor in Bonita's case told the court that she was uncooperative during the investigation into Bonita Karen's 1986 disappearance. He stated that she provided false leads and also lied to authorities. Bonita evidently never inquired as to the status of her daughter's case. Salaam believes that his daughter was not abducted and has asked investigators to search the yard in back of the Virginia Court Apartments for human remains. Authorities utilized cadaver-sniffing dogs earlier in the case and could not locate any evidence in the area. Salaam also stated that New Jersey's Division Of Youth and Family Services (DYFS) was supposed to check on Bonita Karen's well-being prior to her disappearance at his request. DYFS arrived at the Sanders's residence, only to discover no one was home during their first visit. By the time DYFS prepared for a second attempt, Bonita Karen had vanished. Salaam continues to search for his daughter. Some law enforcement officials believe that Bonita Karen choked to death on the popsicle stick she was holding on the day of her disappearance and was buried somewhere off the family's residence. There is no evidence to support this theory, however. Bonita Karen's disappearance remains unsolved and is still open. It is still classified as a Non-Family Abduction by law enforcement. Investigating Agency If you have any information concerning this case, please contact: Atlantic City Prosecutor's Office Major Crimes Unit 609-645-7700 Extension 4613 Last updated December 9, 2005; picture added, distinguishing characteristics updated http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/s/sanders_bonita.html

Posted: Wednesday, 25 February 2009 6:27AM Search Continues for New Jersey Girl Missing Since 1986 PLEASANTVILLE, NJ (AP) -- Authorities are entering their third day of digging in a wooded area for the remains of an Atlantic City toddler who went missing 22 years ago. Police have been digging at a site near the Atlantic City Expressway since Monday, but won't say why. But the father of Bonita Sanders says prosecutors have told him the girl is dead and that they're searching for her remains. On Tuesday, police were seen using cadaver dogs, leaf blowers and rakes to aide their search. The girl was last seen strapped in a stroller on her family's front porch in Atlantic City on Sept. 14, 1986. http://www.wcbs880.com/Search-Continues-for-Girl-Missing-Since-1986/3914562

No remains found in toddler search Friday, February 27, 2009 | 2:25 PM PLEASANTVILLE, N.J. - February 27, 2009 - -- Authorities in southern New Jersey are ending their search of a wooded area near Atlantic City after failing to turn up any remains of a toddler missing for 22 years. The search began last week after prosecutors got a tip that Bonita Sanders was killed and her body might have been buried in the lot in Pleasantville. Without a body or other evidence, Atlantic County Prosecutor Ted Housel says he doesn't have enough information to declare the case a homicide. Bonita was last seen strapped into a stroller on the porch of her home on Sept. 14, 1986 - three days before her second birthday. Housel says he wants to talk with the girl's mother, also named Bonita Sanders, but his office hasn't been able to locate her. http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/local&id=6682296&rss=rss-wpvi-article-6682296

Feb 27, 2009 6:32 pm US/Eastern No Remains Found In Search For Missing NJ Toddler PLEASANTVILLE, N.J. (AP) ― Authorities in southern New Jersey said Friday they're ending a search of a wooded area near Atlantic City after failing to turn up any remains of a toddler missing for 22 years. The search began Monday after prosecutors got a tip that Bonita Sanders was killed and her body might have been buried in the lot in Pleasantville. Atlantic County Prosecutor Ted Housal said he can't prosecute the case as a homicide without a body or other evidence. Bonita was last seen strapped into a stroller, eating an ice pop on the porch of her family's home on Sept. 14, 1986 -- three days before her second birthday. "This is an important case," Housal said. "The disappearance and/or death of a 2-year-old is a tragedy." He said his focus is now trying to find the girl's mother, also named Bonita Sanders. Investigators have not been able to locate her. He would not say what information the woman might have. Over the decades, some in Bonita's family have held out hope that she was still alive, taking their pleas for help to "America's Most Wanted." Housal said a tipster gave "significant and credible evidence" earlier this month that pointed investigators to a specific portion of the wooded lot where the child's body may have been abandoned. The 1.7-acre tract was right across the street from the Pleasantville Recreation Center. For eight straight days, cadaver dogs, radar and earth-moving equipment were used to try to find the child's remains. Some searchers were still on the scene Friday, but they planned to return the site to its owner by Monday. Housal said it's possible that the remains had decomposed completely, that they were removed by people or carried away by animals -- or that they were never there. He would not say whether there was another place to search. But Housal did say that he would like to hear from the child's mother, who is also named Bonita Sanders. Investigators have not been able to locate her, he said. The missing toddler's sister, Tameika Sanders, now 26, said she had rarely heard from her mother for years. But the woman turned up at a school event for Tameika's children on Feb. 11. Just hours later, Sanders said, prosecutors told her about the break in the case. She said she was disheartened that the search didn't turn up her sister's remains and disappointed that her mother has not come forward. "I was hoping to put my sister to rest," she said. http://cbs3.com/local/Bonita.Sanders.Pleasantville.2.946191.html

Atlantic County investigators determine kidnapping case is fabricated by The Associated Press Friday May 08, 2009, 5:26 PM Authorities say an Atlantic City woman's claim that someone snatched her 2-year-old daughter from her front porch nearly 23 years ago is a lie. Atlantic County Prosecutor Ted Housel says little Bonita Sanders died and her body was hidden. He won't say how she died. Her mother, also named Bonita Sanders, had been sought for questioning earlier this year as authorities dug up a Pleasantville lot, looking for her body. It was not found. The mother was arrested earlier this week on an unrelated charge, but made bail the next day. Housel won't say whether Sanders was questioned, only that the investigation is ongoing. No telephone listing could be found for her. http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/05/atlantic_county_investigators.html