In the winter of 1989, a five-year-old girl named Shemaeah Gunnel vanished from her home in Yuma, Arizona. She was last seen on February 10, a day that would end in unimaginable tragedy for her family. Shemaeah, a young African American girl with black hair and black eyes, lived in an apartment on North 1st Avenue with her 26-year-old mother, Valerie Gunnell, and her infant sister, nine-month-old Lecresha Kirklin. A distinctive birthmark was noted behind her neck on the right side.
The family's life had recently been joined by Valerie's boyfriend, Alvie Copeland Kiles, who had moved in just a month prior after being released from prison.
The circumstances surrounding Shemaeah's disappearance were horrific. On the day she was last seen, Kiles was witnessed driving Valerie's car. He later confessed to a neighbor that he had killed Valerie and her two daughters. The motive he gave was a heated argument with Valerie after he stole and sold her food stamps to purchase cocaine. According to his confession, he murdered Valerie, and then killed the children because their crying and screaming had made them witnesses. He even showed the neighbor Valerie's body in the apartment. When police arrived at the home on February 11, they discovered Valerie's body, beaten to death and wrapped in a blanket. The apartment showed signs of a violent struggle, with blood present throughout the home, including two large pools in the children's bedroom. Shemaeah and Lecresha were not at the scene.
A week after the gruesome discovery in the apartment, the body of nine-month-old Lecresha was found in an irrigation canal in Mexico; she, like her mother, had been beaten to death. Shemaeah's remains have never been located. However, her blood was found on a mattress in the family's apartment. Kiles had told his neighbor and others that he had disposed of the girls' bodies in the Colorado River. Alvie Copeland Kiles was subsequently convicted for the murders of Valerie, Lecresha, and Shemaeah. Despite his conviction for all three murders, the absence of Shemaeah's body leaves a painful void in the case. The investigation into her disappearance is inextricably linked to the solved murders of her mother and sister, with the man responsible held accountable for all three deaths, yet her final resting place remains unknown.Last Seen: Feb 10, 1989
