I sat down with Detective Roberto Herrera for an exclusive interview about Janteyl Johnson's case. Herrera heads the missing persons division for the New Castle County Police Department in Delaware. We know Janteyl, then 15 and five months pregnant, was in contact with several older men when she vanished on Feb. 3, 2010. Investigators believe she may have left with one of those men. I asked Detective Herrera about those individuals and if any are considered suspects in her disappearance. Janteyl's family doesn't believe she left on her own. They feel she was taken against her will and are holding out hope that she and her child will be found alive. Janteyl could be anywhere, perhaps even out of state. If you see Janteyl or know where she is, please call 911 or Detective Herrera at 302-395-2784.
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On the afternoon of Feb. 3, 2010, security camera footage from what used to be a PathMark grocery store in Newark, Delaware, shows Janteyl Johnson, 15, walking in to buy candy. She's wearing a puffer jacket, blue jeans, and sneakers. Her braids are tied back in a ponytail. Janteyl, five months pregnant at the time, pays at a self-checkout register. As she exits the store at 12:31 p.m., she's talking on her cell phone and stops to scratch her leg, then continues walking. The two-and-a-half-minute footage is the last confirmed sighting of the teen. An hour later, Janteyl vanished from her family's apartment and has not been seen or heard from ever since. Watching Janteyl buying a bag of candy is a reminder that she was just a child, and no one has been held accountable for her disappearance. "I can tell you that it's not normal what happened to her," said Detective Roberto Herrera, in an exclusive interview. Herrera, a 19-year-veteran of the New Castle County Police Department, made Janteyl's case a priority when he took over the missing persons division in 2018. "She was 15. She was pregnant, five months pregnant, so it’s a case that catches anyone’s attention right away.” A missing pregnant child should've made headlines, but Janteyl didn't get wall-to-wall media coverage. She didn't become a household name. There was no social media frenzy over her disappearance. She was barely mentioned in the news. I first reported on Janteyl's disappearance in 2010 for a news station I worked for at the time. I interviewed her mother, twice, but because Janteyl was classified as a runaway, there was no further interest in covering her case. Some Delaware newspapers mentioned Janteyl at the time, but as far as extensive media coverage goes, there was none. A few online outlets have recently written about Janteyl, and some podcasts have featured her story. But what if from the start, Janteyl's disappearance had generated the type of media coverage that Gabby Petito or Lacy Peterson received? Perhaps she would've been found, and whoever's responsible for her disappearance would've been held accountable by now. Janteyl's case serves as an example of how when a black or brown person is missing there isn't always an urgency to cover their case. There are plenty of examples to prove that point. The investigationWhat we know is that Janteyl was talking to several older men the day she vanished, including the alleged father of her unborn child. Her family says he was the last person who called Janteyl and that her cell phone later pinged near his relative's home. Det. Herrera didn't confirm that information and has not named any suspects in the case. “At the end of 2019 we put up a billboard in Delaware with her picture, and we also put her picture and information on a deck of playing cards and distributed them in jails in Delaware prisons," said Herrera, "and we actually got a good lead that I cannot go into detail at this point.” Herrera wants Janteyl's family to know that she hasn't been forgotten. He feels this case can be solved, and is asking for the public's help. "Like any other missing person, it's going to take somebody coming forward and provide us with more information. I’m hoping that we can get more with time and we can solve this to give some peace of mind to the family.” NOW MORE THAN EVER, IF YOU HAVE INFORMATION ABOUT JANTEYL'S DISAPPEARANCE, PLEASE CALL NEW CASTLE COUNTY POLICE AT 302-395-2784.
UPDATE: I DISCUSSED ANTONIO'S CASE ON THE VANISHED PODCAST. GO TO THEVANISHEDPODCAST.COM FOR THE FULL EPISODE. On June 15, 2017, Antonio Vela Jr., of Victoria, Texas, vanished after leaving a local pub. Other than asking the public to call Crime Stoppers if they have information about Antonio's whereabouts, Victoria Police have not released many details about this case. Not then and not now. Antonio's family is desperate for answers. They want him home, one way or another, even if it means the former DJ and music producer is no longer here. I met Antonio's mother, Ninfa Vela, and his sisters, Michelle and Natalie, in 2018. Victoria, a city of just over 67,000 people, is surrounded by Houston, San Antonio, and Corpus Christi. The Vela's have lived in Victoria their entire lives. Antonio, or TJ, as he's affectionately known, is her only son and the youngest of Ninfa's children. His absence has turned her life upside down. (You can watch our original story on Antonio here.) I wanted to revisit TJ's case to include additional information from different sources who have their own theories about what they believe happened to TJ. But it's important to note: it's not what you know; it's what you can prove. That's why missing person cases are some of the most complex investigations for any police department. And this case is no exception. On the night of June 14, TJ, then 36, went to a couple of pubs near his home. As usual, he ended up at a bar called Sports. He was a regular there. According to one of his friends I interviewed, who was bartending that night, TJ sat at the bar by himself and left at around 1:45, just after last call. He never saw TJ again. But according to a source who came forward after our initial coverage of this case, at one point that night, a woman at the bar approached TJ and started a conversation. Minutes later, a man the woman was with confronted TJ, and the two exchanged words. Not long after that, TJ said goodbye to the staff and walked out. According to the source, the couple left a few minutes after TJ. Victoria Police have not confirmed that information, nor have they said if the bar was equipped with surveillance cameras. When I went there I was told there were no cameras, but sources say otherwise. As has been reported, on his way home, TJ stopped at a Cimarron Express convenience store to get food. But, according to sources, while at the store, TJ called his roommate and asked if he wanted anything to eat. Keep in mind, the store is only a few minutes away from where they lived; therefore, if TJ had just spoken to his roommate then it's possible that whatever happened when TJ got home, his roommate saw or heard something. Victoria police remain tightlipped about this case. According to TJ's family, his roommate told them he found the garage door open and a plastic bag with food on the ground. He also reportedly found TJ's phone. The roommate did not call the police. TJ's family reported him missing early that morning, June 15. By all accounts, it appears that not much time went by before the Vela family found out TJ was missing. His car was found on June 16 abandoned along Venglar Road in the town of Inez, outside Victoria City limits. It had a flat tire, and according to multiple sources, the driver's seat was moved up, suggesting someone much shorter than TJ could've been driving. There are many questions. Did the store and bar have surveillance video? Did someone follow TJ home? Was someone waiting for him in the garage? Was he set up? Was he ambushed? Was he targeted? Was this a random crime of opportunity? Or did he leave on his own? Another lingering question: Who were the man and woman who allegedly approached TJ at the bar? Victoria Police have declined to comment citing the ongoing investigation. This June will mark the five year anniversary of TJ's disappearance. A lot of people miss him, and they just want him home, one way or another. If you have any information on this case, call Victoria Police or Crime Stoppers at:
361-572-4200. I sat down with Sanobia Wilson to talk about the case and her plans to push for legislation in honor of her niece and nephew.
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Claudia Rivero Investigative Reporter/ProducerArchives
July 2024
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