Kalaysia Eppert, a Black female teenager from Illinois, was reported missing from Mount Vernon, Illinois, with online missing-child alerts listing her missing date as January 1, 2026. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children poster for Kalaysia identifies her as 15 years old, female, missing from Mount Vernon, Illinois, and associated with NCIC number M818704586. The same NCMEC alert states that Kalaysia was last seen on January 1, 2026, but the public-facing information does not describe the circumstances of that last sighting, where in Mount Vernon she was last observed, who she may have been with, or what she may have been wearing at the time.
The details released publicly are limited, which leaves the case defined more by what is known than by a complete timeline. Stop Child Abuse’s missing-child alert lists Kalaysia by first and last name, identifies her as female, Black, with black hair and brown eyes, and states that she has been missing since January 1, 2026, from Mount Vernon, Illinois. That alert also lists the country as the United States and asks anyone with information, even information that may seem small, to come forward because it could help investigators understand what happened after Kalaysia was last seen.
The available alerts point the public toward established reporting channels rather than speculation. Stop Child Abuse lists the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children hotline, 1-800-843-5678, and the Mount Vernon Police Department in Illinois, 1-618-242-2131, as places to provide information. The Mount Vernon Police Department’s own website lists emergency contact as 911 and the same non-emergency number, 618-242-2131, along with an investigations line and Crime Stoppers tip line, underscoring that tips can be routed through local law enforcement as well as national missing-child resources.
There is no public information in the reviewed online sources stating that Kalaysia has been found alive or located deceased, and the available missing-child alerts continue to present her as a missing child. There is also no verified public narrative explaining whether she left on foot, entered a vehicle, was traveling to another city, or had a known destination. In cases like this, the absence of detail can be painful for those who know and love the missing child, because every unanswered question leaves room for worry and uncertainty while the search depends on careful attention from the public and responsible sharing of verified information.
Kalaysia’s case, as reflected in the available online sources, begins with a last known sighting in Mount Vernon, Illinois, on January 1, 2026, and continues with public alerts asking for help locating her. She is identified as a 15-year-old female missing child, with public descriptions listing her as Black, with black hair and brown eyes, and the official avenues for information include NCMEC and the Mount Vernon Police Department. The case remains sparse in publicly released detail, but its core is clear: Kalaysia Eppert is a missing teenager from Mount Vernon, Illinois, and investigators and child-safety organizations are asking anyone who may know where she is, where she was seen, or what happened after she disappeared to report that information through the listed channels.
Last Seen: Jan 01, 2026
