Missing
Arianna Fitts
Arianna, approximately 2016; Age at the time of disappearance: -progressions to Age at the time of disappearance: 6 (approximately 2019); Nicole Fitts; Plywood board found at Nicole's gravesite
Date and time person was reported missing : 02/01/2016
Missing location (approx) :
Oakland, California
Missing classification : Endangered Missing
Gender : Female
Ethnicity :
Black
DOB : 09/06/2013 (7)
Age at the time of disappearance: 2 years old
Height / Weight : 2'0, 45 pounds
Distinguishing characteristics, birthmarks, tattoos
: African-American female. Black hair, brown eyes.
Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : Arianna's mother, 32-year-old Nicole Fitts, disappeared from San Francisco, California on April 1, 2016. She was last seen after her shift at Best Buy on Harrison Street that day.
Later in the day, she exchanged text messAge at the time of disappearance: s with relatives, saying she was going to Fresno, California with a friend named "Sam." Her family was puzzled by this, as Nicole didn't know anyone named Sam and she didn't have a car.
In the early morning hours of April 2, there was a post to Nicole's Facebook reading, "Spending time with my 3 year old need this brake." Her family doesn't think she actually wrote it; Arianna was two, not three, and Nicole wrote with good grammar and spelling.
Nicole has never been heard from again. Her family reported her missing on April 5; they said they couldn't find Arianna either.
On April 8, Nicole's body was found in a shallow grave in McLaren Park, covered by a piece of plywood with a symbol spray-painted on it. Photos of Nicole and the plywood are posted with this case summary. After Nicole was found murdered, police announced they thought Arianna was at risk.
Nicole, a single mother, was struggling financially prior to her death. She spent a period living in a homeless shelter and had sent her older daughter to live with the child's father in Southern California. While in the shelter, Nicole met a "street pastor" named Lemasani Briggs, who invited her and Arianna to live with her. Nicole paid Briggs money for rent and for babysitting Arianna, but after a few months she switched babysitters to Siolo Hearne, Briggs's niece.
According to Nicole's sister, Briggs was abusive to Nicole, never gave her a key to their shared residence, read her private diary and sent her text messAge at the time of disappearance: s calling her names. Nicole's sister and a friend helped Nicole and Arianna escape the situation, picking them up from Briggs's house in November 2015 and taking her to their home in Santa Cruz, California.
After Nicole moved to Santa Cruz, commuted two hours each way to her job at Best Buy. She worked long hours and stayed with various friends. She often left Arianna with Siolo Hearne and Helena Martin, Briggs's nieces, as well as Helena's husband, Devin Martin. The Martins lived on Castro Street in Oakland, California.
A coworker offered Nicole and Arianna a place to stay, but Arianna's babysitters did not want to let her go and wouldn't even let Nicole see her. No one in Arianna's family had seen her since sometime in mid-February 2016, about six weeks before her mother's murder.
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