Pregnant woman Akia Eggleston disappears before baby shower

Friends and family of Baltimore resident Akia Eggleston were excited to celebrate her pregnancy at a baby shower in her honor, but the mother-to-be never arrived.

Eggleston mysteriously disappeared in May 2017, before the planned celebration, beginning a years-long search for justice, a new investigation has revealed. Date line episode aired on Friday September 13 at 10pm on NBC.

“The arrival of a new baby can bring promise, opportunity and happiness,” Date line correspondent Josh Mankiewicz said in a preview of the episode. “Akia Eggelston was ready to get the party started. The tables were set, the balloons were filled, the guests were starting to arrive. There was just one thing missing.”

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Akia Eggleston’s relatives realize something is wrong

People who knew Eggleston, who was eight months pregnant at the time of her disappearance, said in the episode titled “The Day Akia Disappeared” that she was looking forward to the baby’s arrival.

“She couldn’t wait for the baby shower,” Stephen Foster said, as reported by the Baltimore TV station WBFF as Eggleston’s good friend told Date line“She was overjoyed.”

So it didn’t make sense that the guest of honor didn’t show up at the baby shower. “I started getting phone calls,” Foster said. “‘Where’s Akia? Where’s Akia?'”

Eggleston’s face was soon plastered on missing persons posters and she made local news, as her family began a “desperate search” for the 22-year-old.

“She was eight months pregnant, so for her to just disappear on her own was highly unlikely,” said Baltimore Police Detective Jill Beauregard. Date line.

The episode synopsis reads: “As detectives struggle to unravel the chilling mystery, they wonder: is it a missing person’s case, or something much more sinister?”

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Investigators quickly got to work piecing together a timeline of Eggleston’s final moments before she disappeared and, according to Date linerevealed details of the case that “Akia’s family knew nothing about.”

Mankiewicz said NBC Insider that the case is a reminder of the importance of openness with the people you love.

“Don’t be afraid to tell your family what’s going on in your life,” he said. “That turned out to be crucial in this story.”

In the years since her disappearance, Eggleston’s family and Derrica and Natalie Wilson, co-founders of the Black and Missing Foundation, have worked to keep her case in the spotlight as the search for answers continues.

Foster said that at that point he just had hope that if she’s still there, she’s just waiting for someone to come and rescue her.

According to Mankiewicz, the most surprising aspect of the case was how long it took for the investigation to be completed.

“It’s always surprising when justice takes so long,” he said. “Akia Eggleston disappeared in 2017. We finally got answers in 2023.”

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In addition to Beauregard and the co-founders of the Black and Missing Foundation, the episode also features interviews with Detective Terry McLarney and FBI agents Summer Baugh and Patrick Dugan.

“A loss from which no one ever recovers”

Mankiewicz said NBC Insider that, as with all missing persons or murder cases, the hardest part of covering the story is speaking to the families of the victims.

“It’s a loss that no one ever recovers from,” he said. “Justice is better than nothing, but it doesn’t come with grandchildren.”

To learn more about Eggleston’s disappearance, tune in Date line Friday at 10:00/9:00 PM on NBC or stream the episode the next day on Peacock.

And for even more Date linesign up for the show official newsletter and watch it podcast.