Authorities Confirm Body Is Phylicia Barnes

2 Bodies Pulled From Susquehanna River On Wednesday

BALTIMORE -- The state medical examiner has told 11 News that one of the two bodies pulled from Maryland's Susquehanna River has been positively identified as a missing teenager from North Carolina.

The medical examiner confirmed Thursday afternoon that one of the bodies found Wednesday is that of Phylicia Barnes, who disappeared from the Baltimore area on Dec. 28.

The Monroe, N.C., 16-year-old was visiting family in northwest Baltimore over the Christmas holiday.

Her disappearance puzzled investigators and garnered national attention. Over the last few months, police conducted massive searches for Barnes that turned up no possible clues.



Phylicia Barnes | More Barnes Photos |April 7 Search Photos


An 11 News source said the girl's family has been notified and that dental records confirmed her identity. No immediate cause of death was determined after the preliminary autopsy. More tests will be done Friday.

Barnes' mother told 11 News that she's been in mourning since her daughter disappeared and is grateful for all of the efforts made to find her.

Barnes was an honor student and a track star. Her mother said she planned to graduate early and attend Towson University.

Baltimore Police Commissioner Fred Bealefeld said at a Thursday night news conference that they'll continue working to find out what happened to the teen. He extended his condolences to the Barnes family.

Initially, 11 News I-Team lead investigative reporter Jayne Miller said that the source said the leading clue was a distinctive tattoo.

"There was a tattoo that got everybody's attention," Maryland State Police Superintendent Col. Terrence Sheridan said at a news conference.

Barnes has a tattoo of a rose on her lower right leg. The source told Miller that a similar tattoo is located on the body of the female who was pulled from the river Wednesday.

Police said two troopers crossing the Conowingo Dam were flagged down by people working there at about 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday. The female body was pulled from the river at about 10 a.m. The man's body was found about 2 p.m., police said.

Miller reported that the area north of the dam where Barnes was found isn't easy to reach.

The Susquehanna is a cold river and it is possible that Barnes' body had been in the river since shortly after her disappearance and was only recently stirred up by warmer weather and storms, Sheridan said.

Police have not yet identified the man, but the 11 News source said police believe he and Barnes are linked. Police said the man was black, about 6 feet 4 inches tall and weighed about 240 pounds.

Miller reported there was no identification on either of the victims, and neither of the bodies were clothed. The source said the conditions of the bodies were very similar.

There were no signs of injury or wounds to Barnes when her body was found, Sheridan said. The cause and how they died have not yet been determined.

Soon after the teen vanished, Baltimore police alerted local media saying her disappearance was unusual because she had no history of disputes with her family or trouble with the law. Police called it one of the strangest and most vexing missing persons cases they had investigated, and, despite getting help from the FBI, they had few leads.

Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi described the incident as "Baltimore's Natalee Holloway case." The Barnes case did not get as much attention as the disappearance of the Alabama teen in Aruba, but Barnes' mother said in January that she did not feel slighted.

"My daughter is not the only child that's missing. Other children need their time, too," Janice Sallis said. "I appreciate all that has been done for her and us thus far, and it's quality, not quantity, that's important to me."

Barnes' family and friends had raised more than $35,000 in reward money to help solve the case. Her mother and stepfather declined to comment on the identification of the body.

Telling Sallis her daughter was dead was a horrible experience, Baltimore Police Commissioner Frederick Bealefeld said.

"It's the worst possible news you can give to any mother," he said. "It's the last bit of news they ever want to hear."

Investigators find themselves at the beginning of a new phase of the investigation. State police have 12 homicide investigators working with city police on the investigation and police are plotting out areas of the river to search, Sheridan said.

"We're not going to spare any expense to try to find out what happened to these two people," he said. "It's going to take a lot of work."