RADCLIFF, Ky. — A 16-year-old girl walked away from her Hardin County home in the middle of the night.
"It’s not like her. She didn't reach out to anybody," her mother, Consuela Jobe told our UNSOLVED team.
No social media, no contact with friends or family, and as the weeks turned into months, no sign of Kamaria Johnson.
"She just went off the map, went off the radar," Lt. Brian Davis with Radcliff Police Department said. There is not much room to walk inside Lt. Davis’ office. Reports and notes fill folders and binders that completely cover every surface in his office. Next to his desk sits a five-inch binder full of maps, documents, and discs. "This is Kamaria's case, been doing a lot of work with this," he said thumbing through more than 500 pages of evidence he’s collected. "It's unusual for kids to just up and disappear."
"After 24 hours, I knew something was wrong. No one had heard from her. It was like she disappeared almost," her mother said.
She’s been missing for nearly a year. What happened and where could she be?
"It was very early morning- one or two in the morning- she and father became involved in an argument, and he went back to work, she left the house," Lt. Davis explained the account from Johnson’s father.
Johnson’s father told us when he got home to find her missing, he drove around looking for her before filing a missing person’s report with the Radcliff Police Department.
Desperate for signs of life, her family posted a reward online pleading for information.
“A young gentleman reached out to me saying he dropped her off at a store in Meade County," Thomas McKinney, Johnson’s grandfather told us.
A man admitted to picking up Kamaria on the highway miles from her Hardin County house and dropped her off at a gas station in Meade County miles past that.
Days after she disappeared, it was a clue in the case, a single surveillance video and an image that haunts her family.
"When I first saw it, I was glad to see her moving. I was disheartened to notice that the picture does not reflect the Kamaria that I know," her mother said.
A white car spotted by security cameras pulls up in front of convenience store just off Highway 60 in Hog Wallow. Karmaria gets out and walks into the store.
“That's actually the last place we have her on video, that's the last place she was seen," Lt. Davis said.
Police told us they questioned the man that dropped her off at length and at this point he has been ruled out as a person of interest.
"She had on a Gucci Mickey Mouse mask, a pink jacket, black joggers with red and black stripes down the side and a pair of vans with flames on the side of them," her mother said. “No keys, no phone, and no money- just the clothes on her back.”
Perhaps most distressing, she was missing her glasses.
"She cannot see without her glasses. That's like a part of her. A necessity," her mother explained. "If someone leaves without something that important- there's a reason."
“It feels like she may be fearful that not even I could protect her," her mother said.
"The last image we have is her on foot, walking away from the gas station." Lt. Davis said.
Police and her family still hold out hope Kamaria will come home.
"I really do feel that Kamaria is still around. I'm hoping she's in Louisville," Lt. Davis said.
He says at this point, they have few options to move the investigation forward.
"We have exhausted search warrants and everything else," Lt. Davis told us.
"We sent people out to Tennessee, we sent people out to Arizona. We hired private investigators and it's like she just vanished," her grandfather told us.
Police join family members in a plea to the public for any information that could help them find the missing teen, Kamaria Johnson.
“It’s just the unknown… that's the most painful," her grandmother, Deandrea McKinney said. "We just want her back safe so she can go to college and fulfill her life's dreams of becoming a doctor. That's all we want.”
"We need to put closure to it,” Lt. Davis said.
"I want to be able to enjoy things with my daughter,” her mother said holding back tears. “I want to be able to see her go to high school, I want to help her go to college… I just want her back in my life."
"I feel somebody knows where she's at. I don’t know if its against her will or with her will. I just feel somebody knows where she's at," her grandfather said.
LOCATION
As a reminder, Kamaria was last seen May 25th, 2021, in Meade County Kentucky.
DESCRIPTION
She is an African American teen with brown eyes, long black braided hair and about 5 feet, 4 inches tall
She was wearing a Gucci mickey mouse mask, a pink jacket, black athletic pants with red and black stripes down the side and a pair of Vans with flames on the side.
CALL
If you have seen the teen or know anything about her whereabouts call Radcliff Police at (270) 351-4470 or the Anonymous Tip Line 270-351-TIPS(8477) .
REWARD
Kamaria’s family is offering a $5,000 reward for information.
►Contact reporter Shay McAlister at smcalister@whas11.com. Follow her on Twitter (@WHAS11Shay) and Facebook.
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