She Vanished on Her Way to School — A Year Later, They Found Her Backpack Buried in the Woods-NY

Nine-year-old Annayia Bell put on her purple backpack, zipped up her red raincoat, and ventured out into the drizzle on a wet Valentine’s Day morning in Lakewood, North Carolina.

That afternoon, she was expected to travel the well-known half-mile to school, bring a handcrafted Valentine’s card to her favorite teacher, and head back home to Patrice, her mother. However, Annayia never showed up.

When the school contacted at 3:10 p.m. to inquire about her absence, a nightmare that would plague her mother and the neighborhood for the upcoming year started.

A Child Who Was Abandoned

When the call came, Patrice Bell had just concluded her midnight shift and was hoping to get a few hours of sleep. Annayia’s Valentine’s card was still unopened on the bed, and her lunchbox remained on the counter.

In a panic, Patrice called her daughter’s name and went barefoot into the street before dialing 911. Within half an hour, the road between home and school was being searched by police and neighbors. A track led bloodhounds to an abandoned warehouse, but that was the end of it.

Reporters descended upon Lakewood, flyers were distributed, and Annayia’s image was broadcast on all local news outlets.

But hope waned as the days stretched into weeks. There was no response to reports of weird noises near a construction site, a white van, or a girl wearing a red raincoat. The scope of the search was reduced.

The posters faded and twisted. The press went on. Some neighbors said that Patrice, worn out from work, had missed a warning sign, or that Annayia had fled.

Patrice chose to dismiss the rumors. Every night, she waited for the youngster who never returned home while keeping her porch light on.

After grieving, a community moves on.

Lakewood was plagued by terror and grief for months. In pairs, parents walked their kids to school. Telephone poles and mailboxes were adorned with purple ribbons.

Strangers left teddy bears at the park gate, and prayer groups sprang up in parking lots. However, things subtly returned to normal as spring gave way to summer. Only Patrice was unwilling to let go.

She made sure Annayia’s bed was made, her nightlight was turned on, and her plush giraffe was on the pillow. Her kid had crafted a Valentine’s card, but she couldn’t bring herself to open it.

The case was abandoned. Detective Nia Ror, a quiet but tenacious investigator troubled by the unresolved disappearance of her own sister years prior, found it on her desk in July.

After reading every page of the file, Ror discovered something that others had overlooked: a child’s cries heard close to a construction site that had been ruled out of the search parameters.

When she went there herself, all she saw was overgrown vegetation and quiet. She believed the case wasn’t finished, though.

A Find in the Forest

Evelyn Haskins was planting daffodils on her late cousin’s abandoned farm outside of town over a year after Annayia disappeared when her spade struck something solid: a black trash bag buried beneath the dirt.

It contained a notebook, a packet of granola bars, a sparkling Valentine’s Day card, and a worn purple backpack with a rusted zipper and a cut strap. The name Annayia B. was still visible inside the journal.

The sheriff was called by Evelyn. After confirming that the backpack belonged to Annayia Bell, forensic teams cordoned off the area. They requested Patrice to name the objects.

She recognized the card her daughter never delivered and the notepad she had purchased. The case was rekindled by the discovery. Reporters came back. The headlines were blazing. The neighborhood trembled.

A Hidden Shack and a New Lead

Returning to the site, Detective Ror surveyed the area and looked over historical land documents. Deeper into the woods, she discovered a neglected utility trail that was not GPS-marked.

She found the remnants of an ancient shack after it. A child’s painting of a red house, a stick figure wearing a purple backpack, a heart over its head, and the words, “If anyone sees this, I want to go home,” was squeezed behind a shelf inside.

The drawing and the soil on the paper were verified by forensics to match Annayia’s handwriting and the foundation of the cabin.

Ror created a new chronology in which Annayia was held in the hut and her rucksack was subsequently interred close by. She had been hidden, and then every trace was attempted to be removed.

A Development in the Case

In 2000, Ror combed through the data of workers who were able to reach the region. The name Ralph Henley, a former forestry worker who unexpectedly quit his job six weeks after Annayia disappeared, came up twice.

He continued to reside in a cabin outside of Rock Hollow in the county. After obtaining a warrant, Ror conducted a search of his property. She discovered a child’s sneaker, red-framed spectacles, and a plastic star keychain bearing the name “Annayia” in a sealed cooler in the garage.

Without protest, Henley was taken into custody. He asked for a lawyer but said nothing else in the interview room. The keychain, rucksack, and sketch were sufficient evidence to support charges of improper concealment of a juvenile and kidnapping.

A Community That Was Permanently Changed

The courtroom was quiet and strained during Henley’s arraignment. Bail was rejected by the Court. “Justice would be seeing my daughter walk through her front door,” Patrice Bell told reporters while holding a picture of her daughter.

For the first time in a year, there was hope for answers, but the case was far from over—Annayia’s body was never located, and no confession was made.

Lakewood evolved. The lights in the porch remained on. Children were hugged closer by their parents. The community center dedicated a new reading room for girls in Annayia’s honor, complete with science books and a framed entry from her journal that said, “I hope someone looks for me if I ever get lost.”

Detective Ror continued to work, broadening the scope of the inquiry and looking for additional proof. Standing in the area where a young girl had made her mark on the world, she made one final trip back to the shack.

She muttered into the trees, “We saw you.”

Annayia’s missing anniversary was marked by a candlelight vigil at Lakewood. While standing in her yard, Patrice lighted a solitary flame and muttered the name of her daughter. Despite the wind, the flame continued to burn.