TikToker @jananthecreator and her family’s lives changed forever when her sister, Kayla, was found in grave condition after being abducted and held for ransom. She ended up dying in the hospital.
On February 27, 2022, @jananthecreator received a call from her mother, who said that Kayla had met someone and brought them into her home.
She called her sister to confirm, and Kayla told her that she had met a woman named “T.” She had a baby and was escaping a domestic violence situation. So, Kayla let her stay in her personal room.
That was the last time they spoke to Kayla alive. On March 7, Kayla’s job called, saying that she hadn’t reported to work all week. It was strange because Kayla worked for a nonprofit organization in Washington, D.C., and she loved her job.
After multiple attempts to contact Kayla, they realized she was missing. When Kayla’s friend tried calling, Kayla’s kidnappers finally answered her phone, and the police have recordings of the call. In the background, they could hear Kayla groaning.
Kayla’s friend tried to gather information about the people who had taken Kayla. A woman on the other line identified herself as “T,” and there were sounds of a man in the background. They agreed to meet up somewhere to exchange Kayla for money.
At that point, @jananthecreator and her family called the police and told them which neighborhood to go to. But the police messed up and called Kayla’s phone, identifying themselves as the police. After that, no one answered the phone again.
By the time the police arrived at the area where the perpetrators claimed they would be, they had already driven away. That all happened 24 hours before Kayla was found in the backseat of her car.
One of her cousins drove down every street in the area to try to find Kayla’s car. It took him about two hours, but he ultimately found it parked outside a house.
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He pulled up at the same time the police showed up to investigate a call about a suspicious vehicle.
A neighbor had called the police at two in the morning about arguments happening outside. They also saw someone run from the car.
When they woke up the next morning to go to work, the vehicle was still there. No one had come to check on it, so they called the police again.
According to @jananthecreator, the police missed four opportunities to catch her sister’s kidnappers and rescue her while she was still alive. Kayla lay in the back seat of the vehicle for an additional 24 hours without anyone coming to check on the car.
When the police finally showed up, Kayla was unresponsive and unable to verbally communicate. The police claimed to have video footage of Kayla stating that she fell down the stairs, and because of that, they couldn’t do much to help, even though the medical examiner ruled Kayla’s death a homicide.
“The police have let us down in so many ways,” said @jananthecreator. “They didn’t even investigate it as a crime until she actually died.”
“They were just still trying to figure out what happened is what they kept saying. That it didn’t look like it was a crime because she verbally said, and they had it on video cam, that she fell down the stairs.”
“So, anyway, it just seemed like from the beginning they really didn’t want to work, that they just wanted to try to hurry up and get something off their caseload, and it just didn’t seem like it was fair.”
Until justice for Kayla is served, @jananthecreator will keep sharing her story.
By Emily Chan
Emily Chan is a writer who covers lifestyle and news content. She graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in... More about Emily Chan
