A Milwaukee teenager who vanished in 2022 and became the focus of national attention has been found safe, her mother confirmed this week.
Joniah Walker disappeared in June 2022 at age 15 after leaving her mother’s home on Milwaukee’s north side.
Her case drew widespread interest as it unfolded alongside a troubling pattern of disappearances and killings involving Black women and girls across Wisconsin.
Over the years, the mystery surrounding her whereabouts also caught the attention of true crime followers online.
Tanesha Howard, Walker’s mother, said by phone on Tuesday that her daughter had been located, though she declined to give an interview.
A Milwaukee Police Department spokesperson later told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that Walker was actually found back in May, though the department has not released details about where she was found or the circumstances surrounding her discovery.
What happened the day she disappeared
Walker was last captured on a neighbor’s Ring camera around 2:30 p.m. on June 23, 2022, walking away from her mother’s house carrying a large backpack.
At the time, her mother was at work, and her father was set to pick her up roughly 90 minutes later to take her to obtain a work permit. When he arrived, she was gone.
Cell phone records later showed that Walker attempted to call her therapist shortly after leaving and sent a text message that evening suggesting she had run away.
Her mother has said Walker had a history of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Despite those records, the family has said police did not treat the case with the urgency it deserved, and Walker was not classified as a “critical missing” case, a designation that would have allowed law enforcement to share more information with the media and public.
A mother’s years-long search
Howard spent years pushing for answers and searching for her daughter. In past interviews, she said she never believed Walker left on her own accord, insisting she suspected her daughter had been manipulated or lured away by someone she met online.
She often spoke about the close bond she shared with her daughter and her hope that Walker would eventually come home.
Howard also became a visible advocate at the Wisconsin State Capitol, working alongside state Rep. Shelia Stubbs to push for a task force addressing missing and murdered Black women and girls in the state.
Stubbs released a statement Tuesday praising Howard’s persistence, saying she had waited and hoped for years for Joniah’s safe return and thanking her for standing by the effort to create the task force even while searching for her own child.
Police have not said whether Walker left the state, who she may have been with, or whether any charges are being considered as a result of the investigation.
Officials have described the case as still developing, and further details are expected in the coming days as more information becomes available to the public.
