Wilicia Franklin was 41 years old when she was reported missing from New Haven, Connecticut. The NamUs missing-person entry identifies her case as MP103126 and lists her date of last contact as April 8, 2023, with New Haven, Connecticut, recorded as the place where she was last known to be. According to the case information, the central circumstance of her disappearance was that Wilicia was last seen when she reported to work at Yale New Haven Hospital.
The case was associated with the New Haven Police Department, and the report connected to the investigating agency was dated April 27, 2023. At the time she went missing, Wilicia was described as a Black/African American woman with brown hair and brown eyes, standing about 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighing about 130 pounds.
The identifying details in the missing-person record gave investigators and the public several specific ways to recognize Wilicia beyond her general description. She was noted as having a tattoo reading “Isis” on the inside of her wrist, a rose tattoo on her leg, a pierced tongue, pierced ears, and a history of having had her tonsils removed. Those details matter in a missing-person case because they help preserve her identity as more than a listing or a file number; they describe a real woman whose absence left people searching for answers. The available public record does not provide a detailed timeline of where she went after reporting to work, whether she completed a shift, or what contact she may have had with others afterward. What is publicly stated is narrow but significant: Wilicia was last seen on April 8, 2023, in connection with her work at Yale New Haven Hospital, and the matter was handled by the New Haven Police Department.
New Haven’s own public unsolved-cases page explains the broader purpose of seeking community help in unresolved homicides and missing-person cases, stating that the police department uses the page to bring attention and awareness to unresolved cases in the city. The department emphasizes that even information that may seem insignificant can become an important piece of a larger puzzle, and it lists ways for the public to share information with investigators, including the anonymous tip line and missing-persons email. In that context, Wilicia’s case fits into the painful category of cases where the known facts were limited, where a last known sighting became the anchor point for the investigation, and where public awareness could help fill the gaps left behind.
Later online records indicate that Wilicia Franklin was no longer missing in the ordinary sense of an active search for a person whose whereabouts remained unknown. A funeral home obituary for Wilicia “Meacy” Franklin lists her life dates as January 30, 1982, to September 26, 2025, and says she was born in New Haven to Felicia Franklin and Willie Pringle. The obituary also adds personal details that help complete the picture of who she was: she graduated from Adult Education in New Haven, had been a former employee at Yale New Haven Hospital, had a passion for writing poetry, and once had a poem titled “Wings of a Dove” published after winning a poetry contest. These details do not explain the full missing-person timeline, but they show that Wilicia’s story was not only about disappearance; it was also about a woman with family roots in New Haven, a work history, creativity, and a life remembered by those who loved her.
News reporting from Patch, citing New Haven police, later identified Wilicia Franklin, 43, of New Haven, as the woman who died after a pedestrian crash near Ella T. Grasso Boulevard and Judson Avenue. Police were called shortly after 10 p.m. on the night of the crash, found the pedestrian injured in the southbound travel lane, and later said she died from her injuries. The report states that the driver remained at the scene and told investigators a woman was suddenly in front of the vehicle; police also said it was unknown where the pedestrian had entered the roadway. The reporting publicly identifies the crash victim as Wilicia Franklin, while the funeral home obituary gives the same date of death, September 26, 2025. Taken together, these later sources indicate that Wilicia was alive after the April 2023 missing-person date and was later located in the sense that subsequent public records account for her life and death.
The overview of the case is therefore a difficult and compassionate one: Wilicia Franklin was listed in NamUs as a missing 41-year-old woman from New Haven after she was last seen on April 8, 2023, when she reported to work at Yale New Haven Hospital. Public missing-person information described her physical appearance, identifying tattoos and piercings, and the New Haven Police Department’s role in the investigation, but it did not publicly provide a detailed explanation of what happened immediately after that last known contact. Later obituary and news records show that Wilicia Franklin, also known as “Meacy,” was a New Haven woman remembered for her family ties, her work connection to Yale New Haven Hospital, and her poetry, and that she died on September 26, 2025, after being struck in a pedestrian crash in New Haven. In the end, the publicly available record begins with a missing-person notice rooted in uncertainty and concern, then closes with later confirmation that Wilicia’s life continued beyond the date she was reported missing and that her death came more than two years afterward, leaving behind both unanswered questions about the earlier missing-person period and a fuller remembrance of Wilicia as a person, not only a case.Last Seen: Apr 8, 2023
