BALTIMORE, Md. — The suspicious disappearance of a mother and her daughter is the first of three unsolved missing persons cases in Baltimore’s Cherry Hill neighborhood during the year 2017.
The mother and daughter both went missing at different times on the same day, and just three months before Akia Eggleston also disappeared from Cherry Hill.
It's been nearly five years since the last time anyone saw Joanna Clark or her daughter Shariece at their home here on Round Road in south Baltimore. Every year, their loved ones return to the neighborhood with the hope of finding answers.
On the three-year mark of their disappearance in February 2020, Joanna’s mother and Shariece’s grandmother Margaret Tucker recalled “Joanna was such a beautiful little girl. And all her life, her smile just won your heart over, so she was my sweetheart growing up.”
“Riece’s same way. Normal 15-year-old. Makes a lot of jokes. Likes to smile and laugh,” Tucker added.
Tucker has suffered a range of emotions in the time since her daughter and granddaughter vanished.
“Angry, so depressed and sad, it’s really taken over my life, it’s tooken [sic] over a lot of lives in our family,” Tucker said.
From the beginning, Joanna's brother Alfred Clark didn’t believe his sister or his niece would disappear on their own.
In February 2017, Alfred Clark said “this is a mother and a daughter who left behind six kids, who miss them very much. She was the sole provider. These kids…she’s all they knew. They’re going to want to know when they get older, what happened to their mom. Where are they. So, we need answers one way or the other.”
What they do know is Saturday, February 4, 2017, 15-year-old Shariece was babysitting her younger brothers and sisters while her mother was at work.
The last time anyone anyone heard from Shariece was sometime that afternoon, while the last time anyone saw Joanna was later that evening.
In February 2017, former Baltimore Police Department spokesman TJ Smith said “every part of their life stopped on February 4th, from a public standpoint, that’s work, that’s school, that’s social media, contacting family.”
Baltimore police suspected something criminal or even deadly about the mother and daughter disappearance from the beginning of the investigation.
“We do suspect foul play is very possible here, and that's not fair to the family because you're hanging on to hope that we can find these ladies alive and well,” Smith said.
Since that time, there have been several candlelight vigils, community demonstrations, and cries for help to find answers.
“I’ve searched the world on the web, 24/7. I don’t sleep too much. I don’t eat anymore. I’ve lost a lot of weight these last six months realizing they’re not coming back,” Tucker said.
Joanna and Sharice also are in the hearts and minds of the Baltimore chapter of the Guardian Angels.
The group's annual “Honk for the Missing” event called for clues about what happened to the mother and daughter
In 2018, Baltimore Guardian Angels regional commander Marcus Dent said “we’re asking anybody who can see these posters and know anything about this to come forward."
"Somebody may see something, the smallest detail, and say oh, you know what, I remember this on that day, it’s been awhile, it’s been more than a year but at the same time that little detail may be able to a close to this case," Dent added.
“I don’t know if anybody seen what happened or knows what happened. I do, and so do a lot of us. We just need y’all to keep praying,” Tucker said.
Tucker has one last plea to whomever might be responsible for her daughter and granddaughter's disappearance.
“I am aware they’re gone but you got to give ‘em back. You got to give ‘em back. I’m not stopping,” Tucker said.
