The FBI is now investigating the disappearance of a 13-year-old Gary, Ind., girl who has been missing since mid-August.
Ja’Niyah McMichael has been missing since Aug. 11, according to an update from the city of Gary, which announced federal officers are now helping local police search for her.
The city says its police department “has been in active communication with the family members of Ja’Niyah McMichael, who have assisted in the investigation” since her mid-August disappearance.
“This is an active and ongoing investigation,” the city said. “This investigation has led Gary Detectives to secure a court approved search warrant which was executed [Saturday] in partnership with the FBI. To preserve the integrity of the case, the Gary Police Department is limited in additional details that can be shared publicly.”
Local CBS News reported that the search warrant was executed at a Gary, Ind., home.
McMichael’s grandmother Dalia Guerrero told the outlet she’s asking others to “keep sharing anything little to the public that they see or hear, or whatever they hear on the streets, could be something big for us.”
Ja’Niyah McMicheal.
Gary Indiana Police/Facebook
The grandmother told ABC 7 Chicago that the family is “not gonna stop until we find her and bring her home.”
“Ja’Niyah is very outgoing, she lights the room up, she’s very loving to be around,” Guerrero told ABC 7. “It’s been too long… the not knowing is the worst.”
The city of Gary said in its press release over the weekend that there is “significant misinformation” about McMichael’s disappearance on social media and is “strongly” urging others “to refrain from sharing unvetted information” online.
The city also warned the public “to exercise due caution if solicited for donations from individuals or vigilante groups” claiming to be working with the police or directly with the McMichael family. Instead, police asked for anyone with information about the teen’s disappearance to contact the Gary Police Department or the FBI.
Guerrero, the girl’s grandmother, told ABC 7, “If Ja’Niyah is listening, just know your nonna loves you… your family loves you… you have the world looking for you.”
