BALTIMORE — Since the very beginning, finding 22-year-old Akia Eggleston has been considered 'critical.'
But in the years since the soon-to-be mother of two disappeared, no one has been able to find out what happened to her. Now her family is taking her story national.
"She was eight months pregnant, breached, high risk baby. She could barely walk. She wasn't working. Most of the things that were being done for her were being done by friends and family, so she was absolutely in a sense useless to do anything," her father, Shawn Wilkinson said on 'The View' on Wednesday.
Wilkinson was featured as part of a segment profiling her disappearance, but also shedding light on the Black and Missing Foundation.
"Sometimes we are the family's last resort, so we have to do what we can to help them because they don't get the media coverage. Awareness is key is finding our missing because we believe that someone knows something," Natalie Wilson, the co-founder of the Black and Missing Foundation, said.
The FBI even stepped in offering a $25,000 reward for information on her whereabouts.
RELATED: One year later, Akia Eggleston is still missing
She was officially reported missing after missing a baby shower in May 2017 and was last seen on security footage from a bank -- since then any trace of her stopped.
The Baltimore Police Department sent a statement stressing their efforts in trying to find Akia:
Our homicide detectives have devoted literally thousands of man-hours to this case. About a dozen detectives have been involved at some point in the investigation, in addition to about a half-dozen FBI agents. We have also received assistance from the Baltimore State’s Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office. To date, among other things, a dozen search warrants and/or subpoenas have been executed; approximately 100 interviews have been conducted; and dogs and divers have been used in numerous searches.
As far as keeping in touch with Akia’s family, the Lieutenant in charge of our cold case squad has personally met with Akia’s father four times and spoken with him on the phone another six or so times. Akia’s father has also met with the Major in charge of our homicide unit, as well as the prosecutor assigned to the case. We have given him as much as information as we can without jeopardizing the integrity of the investigation.
Outside of Akia’s friends and family members, nobody wants this case to be solved more than the members of the Baltimore Police Department, and we will keep working until the job is done.
"The family as a whole is broken. We're in shambles trying to live day-to-day, really, just trying to figure out where our loved one is," Wilkinson said. "We're hoping and praying that someone will come forward with information."
