DETROIT (WWJ) -- Relatives of a Detroit girl who vanished four months ago today are clinging to hope that she's alive, demanding action from authorities, and pleading for anyone who knows something to speak up.
The family of 13-year-old Na'Ziyah Harris gathered at the courthouse Downtown Detroit on Thursday, to remind officials and the community that Harris is still missing.
The teen hasn't been seen since she got off a school bus near Cornwell Street and Three Mile Drive on Detroit's east side on Jan. 9. And while the Detroit News reported this week that police have identified a suspect, there have been no arrests or charges in connection with Harris' disappearance.
Jernell Smith Holland speaks with reporters, as other friends and family hold up signs.Mike Campbell/WWJ
This all comes about two years since Harris' great aunt, Jernell Smith Holland, filed a report with Child Protective Services over concerns about child sexually abusive activity in the home where her niece was living.
"And now since I found out there's at least seven other CPS reports saying pretty much the same thing I said," Smith Holland said.
"So, if the system works, we might not be here?" asked WWJ's Mike Campbell.
"Yeah, because they didn't do nothing," Smith Holland said.
A cousin in town from Texas, who goes by "Roxy," explained a sign they family made that reads: "Silence is violence."
Signs set up by the missing teen's family.Mike Campbell/WWJ
Friends of Na'Ziyah's great aunt tell the teen's story to a jogger who was in tears as she listened, "especially because I'm a mom and this weekend is Mother's Day."Mike Campbell/WWJ
"Silence is violence because there's been too much silence; too much silence," she said. "Things were being reported, nothing was being done, nobody was saying anything. And now it has turned into what we, as a family, think is violence. Speak up!"
In a report out Monday, the Detroit News said two police sources confirmed that a man considered a suspect in this case is a 41-year-old Wayne County jail inmate who's accused of sexually abusing a 7-year-old girl. He remains behind bars, charged in April with two counts of criminal sexual abuse of a person under 13.
Smith Holland said she wants to believe that her niece ran away from the home where she was living, with that suspect. But lately, she's losing hope.
"After police pretty much told us they had no contact with her? Like, the other kids might run away, but a cousin would hear from them, or a friend would've talked to them, or they might've logged on social media and post a picture or something," Smith Holland said.
"Na'Ziyah has not posted anything, she has not called anybody, she has not reached out to anybody."
While Smith Holland is glad the suspect is behind bars, she and other family members are unhappy that no charges have been filed by the prosecutor in the case of her great niece.
"Which is why she's out in front of the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice keeping Na'Ziyah name, at least, alive," Campbell said.
Back in March, police searched sites in Clinton Township and Ann Arbor, as well as the Rouge River for the teen, but found nothing.
While the Detroit Police Department has released no new information lately, at the time of the river search Chief James White made clear that investigators were inclined to believe the worst. "Unfortunately, as time goes on, it does start to look more like a recovery effort," White said, adding: "We're prayerful that that's not the case."
Anyone with information about Harris' whereabouts is urged to call the DPD's Major Crimes Division at 313-596-2260. To remain 100% anonymous, tipsters can call the Crime Stoppers line at 1-800-Speak Up (1-800-773-2587), or submit information online at this link.
