Arianna Fitts: $250K reward announced for info on missing girl who vanished just months after mom was found dead
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA: Authorities have put up a $250,000 reward for information regarding a missing girl whose mother was discovered dead in San Francisco in 2016. On April 5, 2016, Arianna Fitts, who should be nine years old now, disappeared just after her mother Nicole "Nikki" Fitts' body was found. Arianna was just two years old at the time.
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) released this age progression picture of what Arianna would look like now. An official statement noted, "Investigators and NCMEC believe Arianna could still be alive, and they're asking the public to pay attention to her age progression image."
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The FBI said its search for Arianna has spread throughout the country, and they think some witnesses have moved to various parts of California and Nevada. Nicole, a single mother, reportedly hired a babysitter to watch Arianna while she worked evenings. It served as a stopgap measure until she could resume her normal activities. According to a video made available by the NCMEC, this arrangement persisted for a number of months.
Arianna was last seen in Oakland
Nicole informed a friend that she would be seeing Arianna's babysitter on April 1, 2016. Authorities said that was the last time the friend heard from her. Less than a week later, on April 8, Nicole was discovered dead and buried in a shallow grave in a San Francisco park. According to authorities, Arianna was last seen in Oakland in January or February of 2016. While they do not think Arianna was present when her mother was slain, FBI officials think Nicole's killing and Arianna's disappearance are related, as reported by WGNTV.
Arianna has black hair and brown eyes
Angeline Hartmann, Director of Communications at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, said, "We're asking everyone, no matter where you are or how busy you may be, to just take a brief moment to look closely at this image. You may be the key to finding Arianna and not even know it," as reported by Kfor.
Arianna is a Black girl with black hair and brown eyes, according to the descriptions. At the time of her disappearance, she was 45 pounds and 2 feet tall. The San Francisco Police Department is offering a $250,000 reward for information that may help identify, apprehend, and prosecute the culprits in Nicole's homicide and the disappearance of her daughter, as per reports. Anybody with information is urged to contact the NCMEC at 1-800-843-5678 or the San Francisco Police at 415-575-4444.