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Just the worst feeling ever to not know where your child is. I mean, we were doing everything we could as parents in that moment to try to find her. 19-year-old Aniyah Haley Blanchard disappeared last week. Aniyah Blanchard was reported missing 11 days ago. There has been no trace of her since she was... Blanchard is the stepdaughter of UFC fighter Walt Harris. Whoa! When she was missing...
Fighting was the furthest thing from my mind at that point. We just want our daughter home. We want her found. If you have any information, please, please come forward. I was almost a shell of myself. You know, honestly, I didn't even know if I'd fight again. But she always was the one that was like, don't stop. That's it, keep pushing. You know, keep pushing, keep pushing. I know it's hard. Everything for me moving forward is about making her proud. I'm going to always fight for my baby girl.
She was a very happy girl that loved life, very loving and giving. She always put others before herself. People could just really tell, like, that she had something about her that was special. There was nothing in my mind other than finding Aniyah. You don't sleep, you don't eat, you're constantly thinking about where she is, what has happened, and it does not go away. We were just trying to keep each other sane so we could keep moving forward.
So it was a constant go, go, go. We're not stopping. -Jai, I love you, and the mommy is not gonna give up 'til I find you. We're gonna bring you home, Anaya. You're coming home, so don't worry. -James Brown reports. Fighting for Anaya.
I had Aniyah on my birthday, June 22nd. That was just going to be something so special in life for she and I to share the same birthday. Happy birthday to you! Her laugh, infectious. Her spirit, irrepressible. Aniyah Blanchard was just 19 when she vanished. Her vibrant presence replaced by the terrifying silence of her absence.
Aniyah's mother, Angela Harris. She just embraces people. She just loves people. She would walk in and no matter how you felt, how down you were, she could pick you up. Aniyah's stepfather, UFC heavyweight Walt Harris, was a rising star ranked ninth in the world in the fall of 2019.
He says Anaya constantly inspired him. You know, after wins, we'd celebrate. If it's a loss, she'd always pick me up and she was always that rock, that voice that kept me going.
Aniyah grew up in Homewood, Alabama, near Birmingham. Now off the bat, number 22, Aniyah Blanchard. Go, Tays! It's practically local folklore that after every school softball game, Aniyah invited the opposing team to join hers on the pitcher's mound to share high fives and the Lord's Prayer. And even if we lost, the other team lost, no matter what,
No hard feelings. I think that was her whole thing. This is a way to connect people. Longtime friend Hannah Crocker met Aniyah in the sixth grade.
She was one of those people that just wanted to make sure that, hey, you're doing okay. If not, let me help you out. Did folks ever think you two might be boyfriend and girlfriend? All the time. Is this your girlfriend? I'm like, no, this is my sister. They were nearly inseparable, says Aniyah's older brother, Elijah Blanchard.
We grew up, you know, 17 months apart. We were always together and she even followed me to college. Elijah headed off to Auburn University in 2017. Aniyah enrolled at nearby Southern Union State Community College a year later, finding an apartment just minutes from her brother. I would call her every morning. Sorry, it gets kind of rough sometimes.
October 23, 2019, Aniyah, Elijah, and their mom, Angela, attended the funeral of a family friend in northern Alabama. Immediately after the service, the siblings had to leave. Both had to work the next morning back in Auburn, 185 miles away.
She looked over at me, she said, "Hey mom, we really need to leave now because it's getting late." I said, "Yeah, you're right. It's 7 o'clock, you've got a four hour drive." And then she hugged me and I kissed her on the cheek and I told her I loved her. Driving right past Birmingham, Aniyah and Elijah made a pit stop at home to see their stepfather, Walt. He was training for his next fight. I didn't ever call them stepkids. They were my children.
It's just the way I saw it. I loved him like my own. The children's biological father, Elijah Blanchard Sr., a local pastor and businessman, remained a close presence in their lives. He and Angela divorced in 2004. Soon she started dating Walt Harris. And then he met Aniyah and Elijah Jr. for the first time.
You came into her life around age three. Tell us about how that bonding process went. I think it started day one. Man, we did everything together.
It was beautiful for me to watch their bond grow over the years. They loved me like they knew me their whole lives. We just felt like a little family. Walt and Angela made it official, getting married in January 2010. They eventually had two children of their own, Asa and Ayla. He was with them more than I was because I worked a lot.
Angela, a pediatric emergency room nurse, worked nights at a Birmingham hospital. So it was Aniyah who helped Walt with the younger children. It was me and Aniyah. She helped me basically raise her little brother and sister. Coming from a strong Christian background, I wanted to be a good influence in their lives. The kids certainly look up to their dad. At 6'5", 250 pounds, Walt Harris has been a towering presence in their lives.
And in the bruising octagon cage of the ultimate fighting championship, the UFC. Man, everything he throws is hard. Win, lose or draw, Walt's family has always been in his corner. My family's always been the reason why I fight and they've always been the reason why I get back up. Inanayashi was the main catalyst for that.
After the funeral, Aniyah and Elijah's visit with Walt was all too short. A brief talk, a long hug, and they were back on the road to Auburn, still about two hours away. When they left, Walt says he was left with a growing sense of regret. I struggle with it every day.
I should have just told him to stay because I felt like she was tired. I remember she said, "No, I'm fine, Dad. I'll be fine." And I hugged her and I told her I love her and that was it. They made the drive without incident, arriving in Auburn around 11 p.m. Aniyah dropped off Elijah at his apartment. So I just said, "I love you. Be careful and just make sure you get home safe."
So at 11:09 p.m., I texted her and said, "Are you close to being home?" She responded right back, "Yeah." Aniyah's college roommate, Sarah O'Brien. She always let me know where she was at and when she would be home. We actually shared each other's location on our iPhone. That's because, Sarah says, Aniyah had a deep-rooted fear.
- Since the day I met Aniyah, she always told me that that was her biggest fear, to be kidnapped or martyred. Like as soon as she walked in, she would check every room. She would tell me multiple times, like she had nightmares about it happening to her. - You know, she really never went anywhere by herself at night. - But that night, after dropping off her brother,
She was alone with just three miles to go. That's how far away she and Sarah lived from Elijah. Three miles, normally a 10-minute drive. But nearly 30 minutes later, Aniyah had not come home. Sarah texted again. Did you go out without me? About a minute later came the reply.
"I'm smoking a blunt, lol." It was the word "blunt," Sarah says, that stopped her. She had never heard Aniyah use it. "I said, 'Who are you smoking with?' 'Eric.' I say, 'Who is that?' I just met him and I responded with, 'Where?'" It was 11:43 p.m. There would not be another response. Sarah checked her cell phone one last time for Aniyah's location.
She appeared to be at a nearby apartment complex where lots of students lived. Sarah went to bed, she says, thinking Anaya was hanging out with friends. This season, Instacart has your back-to-school. As in, they've got your back-to-school lunch favorites, like snack packs and fresh fruit. And they've got your back-to-school supplies, like backpacks, binders, and pencils. And they've got your back when your kid casually tells you they have a huge school project due tomorrow.
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We FaceTimed every morning. That was kind of our thing, like, "Good morning, what are you doing? What do you got planned for the day?" So when I called her at 8:00 a.m. and she didn't answer the FaceTime, I thought, "Okay, well, you know, she's busy, so I'll give her a little bit longer." Sarah was eager to hear about Eric, the mystery man Aniyah met the night before. She went straight to Aniyah's bedroom. And she wasn't there.
She would always come home. She wouldn't spend the night with anyone she just met. Sarah glanced at her cell phone, looking for Aniyah's latest location. But there was none. Aniyah's phone had gone dark. When did concern turn to worry for you, Sarah? When I called her the lady that she babysat for, and she hadn't shown up that morning because she never misses calls.
a day to babysit those kids. She loved them. - She was like a mother to my kids. - Corinna Thomas, the working mother who depended on Aniyah, said she was the most reliable nanny she ever had. - Amazing. I don't know how else to explain it. Like every good quality that you want in a person, she had. Like every, everything. - She never once, never once didn't show up to take care of those kids.
And that's when I hopped in the car to look for Aniyah's car. The longer I drove, the more worried I got. I didn't see any trace of her at all. Sarah decided to get Aniyah's brother and take a second look. Her roommate calls me and tells me that Aniyah never even came home last night. Aniyah's missing. And then I told him what she said about Eric and that she was with him. And he was like, no, she didn't tell me anything about that. My heart kind of just sank.
And this was completely out of her character. This isn't Aniyah. Aniyah wouldn't have run away. Immediately, I would call my parents and was like, "Uh, Aniyah's missing." And he says, "Mom, we can't find Aniyah." And I said, "Son, what are you talking about? You can't find her." He said, "No, Mom, I'm in her apartment, and we can't find Aniyah." Immediately alarmed, Angela and Walt took off for Aniyah's apartment.
Two excruciating hours away. We just got in his truck and just flew to Auburn. All types of things are going through our head. What's happened? What's going on? And pure hell. Well, how did you process all of this when you found out that your daughter was missing? That drive to Auburn was the hardest, the hardest thing I've ever been through in my life because I knew something wasn't right.
Elijah decided to check with Corinna Thomas again. Maybe Aniyah showed up. And
Aniyah never left her dog Blue alone overnight. That was her baby. We just knew when we got to her apartment that, wait, there's something really bad wrong here. Word quickly spread to Aniyah's friends. And I was like, I was just talking to her last night. What are you talking about? I mean, I live three hours away from her. I was like, I don't know where she is. Hannah Crocker dropped everything and headed to Aniyah's apartment. Once it was 24 hours, I was like, that's not Aniyah.
In my heart, I was like, she's a female, something happened. Yeah, Auburn is a college town and it's a very safe place.
Former Lee County District Attorney Brandon Hughes. This from the very beginning just felt differently, you know, based on the information we had. It just didn't feel like this was a college student who decided to leave and blow off some steam. That just wasn't her personality. That's just not something she would have done. Aniyah's disappearance was breaking news. Right now the search continues for a missing 19-year-old. They're looking for Aniyah Blanchard. If you have any information on where she is, call Auburn Police.
If you have any leads on where our daughter is, Aniyah Blanchard, please, please, please go to authorities. Tell someone she was last seen in a black Honda CR-V 2017. Please, if you know anything, we have to have her back. We have to have her back. October 25th, with Aniyah gone for two days, her Honda was spotted in an apartment complex in Montgomery, Alabama, 55 miles from Auburn.
And it was badly damaged. Worse still, there was no sign of Anaya. Corinna Thomas had to break the news to her children. And they said, "Anaya's missing." And then they cried. And then they came up with their own plan to help find her. They got their tablets. Hey Google, how many houses are in Montgomery?
And I was like, "Why are you looking that up?" And he said, "Because we got to go see how many houses we have to go look for her at." They just wanted to find her. But nothing anyone did led to an Aniyah sighting. Then a few days after she disappeared, police discovered that after Aniyah dropped off her brother, she stopped at this gas station just two minutes from her home. It's a Chevron gas station on College Street.
Aniyah entered the Chevron gas station approximately 11:21 in the evening on the night of October 23rd, and she stayed there approximately a minute and a half to two minutes before she left. Aniyah bought a bag of sour cream and onion potato chips and a drink. That was her thing every night, even at home growing up. She would snack right before bed. We needed to know if anybody saw anything. What was she doing? Did she leave with anybody?
Investigators zeroed in on the Chevron gas station where Anaya was last seen on video before she disappeared. They were looking for any leads to where she might be. The community of Homewood, where she grew up, prayed for Anaya's safe return. Ribbons and bows in Anaya's favorite color appeared everywhere.
It has rocked us to our core. It's one of ours. Come home, Aniyah! And when they weren't praying for her, they were out trying to find her. Pretty quickly, people came together and said, "Hey, let's do searches here. Let's do searches there." We would go in the woods. We would go behind people's houses. We would go in alleyways.
We drove my truck in backwoods. We were all in people's yards. We must have canvassed from Auburn to Tuskegee, just me and her, within the first two or three days.
The investigation quickly expanded across several counties, especially after Aniyah's car was found 55 miles away in Montgomery. You have to imagine there were just massive areas that we had to search. There were dozens of agencies, state agencies, county agencies, local agencies, federal agencies, huge task force. And reward money poured in.
UFC President Dana White and light heavyweight champion Jon Jones each contributed $25,000. It's a pain, it's anxiety, and it's just so many emotions. You're trying to hold hope that something positive is going to come out of it, but as the days go on, your hope just starts to dwindle and dwindle. Now missing eight days, hope was dealt a major blow.
Tonight, police in Auburn, Alabama, say there's evidence that a missing college student is a victim of foul play. Evidence from within her vehicle is the reason that we are aware that she was harmed. And we do consider this a case where there's foul play involved.
Police would not say what they found, but Aniyah's biological father, Elijah Blanchard Sr., was not ready to give up. That was hard for us. I'm a man of faith, and regardless of what the police say, I still have hope that my Aniyah is out there waiting on her father to get her. Aniyah's disappearance was taking more than an emotional toll on Walt Harris. He immediately canceled his upcoming fight.
Aniyah was the only thing on everyone's mind. I wasn't able to focus at all. It was chaos. There was sadness. I just wanted to be there for my family. It's like a dark abyss. You're fighting that off. Then, after 14 days, the police announced they wanted this man.
He was seen at the gas station store at the same time Aniyah was there. An eyewitness said he thought he saw him force Aniyah into her car before they drove off together. This is a person of interest. Anyone who sees him is asked to call 911. Someone did.
and the man the police were looking for was not named Eric. He was Ibrahim Yazeed, a 30-year-old from Montgomery, and he had a lengthy arrest record. He should be considered dangerous and would be potentially armed. Police said Yazeed was charged earlier that year with kidnapping,
robbing and nearly beating a 77-year-old man to death. He was also accused of robbing and beating a second man. Despite the serious charges, he was free on bond and had been staying in a hotel near the Chevron gas station.
How is this person free to walk into a gas station? How is he just minutes down the road from me? How is he in the same gas station as my best friend? But he was, and that was at 11:22 p.m. Aniyah's car was next seen a few minutes later at another nearby gas station where Yazeed bought a small cigar.
It would be a little more than an hour before a license plate reader picked up Aniyah's Honda near the entrance to I-85, heading south towards Montgomery. Aniyah's parents clung to hope, and they had faith that their daughter would be found alive. They even prayed for Yazeed. You can stop now. You can change this. You can let her go. God will forgive you.
Police captured Yazeed the following day, hiding in the woods 145 miles away in another state. Police say he did not surrender peacefully. 30-year-old Ibrahim Yazeed was arrested overnight in Florida on the charge of kidnapping in the first degree. Yazeed appeared in a Florida court the next day with a swollen left eye. And court documents finally revealed what police found in the car.
It was blood and a lot of it. Court documents today say blood that was discovered in Aniyah Blanchard's car was, quote, "indicative of someone suffering a life-threatening injury." Yazeed waived extradition to Lee County, Alabama, where Angela and Walt Harris would be waiting, hoping to find out where their daughter was. The Harrises were committed to facing Yazeed whenever he appeared in court.
and each time felt like the first time as a father as a guy i'm imagining as well what might have been coursing through your veins then you see him mr yazeed looking back at you guys anger i remember shaking i wanted to climb across the the barricade it made me really angry because he was just kind of smug like you you you're tough i'm tough too you know like he was challenging me almost
It took all of Walt's training in the ring and Angela's steady hand to keep him from ripping into Yazeed. She grabbed me and she said, "Just breathe." And I just started trying to hear her voice because I couldn't, I wouldn't take my eyes off of him. Like, okay, who's gonna look away first type of deal. Angela, how did you stay composed? I wanted him to know that I'm representing my daughter.
and that I'm not going anywhere. We're right here, and we're going to fight this all the way through. Yazeed maintained his innocence, and the burden to find Aniyah mounted. Everybody was on edge because there's a lot of pressure. There's pressure to find this little girl. Angela and Walt Harris publicized their daughter's disappearance on Dr. Phil. I love you, baby girl. We're looking for you. We're doing everything that we can. We're going to get you.
I promise. And they're on television. You're doing everything you can, but up to this point, it hasn't been enough. By then, the DA, Angela, and Walt had grown close. If you want to call up, get frustrated, and yell at me for an hour, cry with me for an hour, I'm there, and that's what we were doing. A month after Aniyah went missing, the DA had news. Authorities now believed that this man...
Antoine Fisher, who once served time for murder, helped Yazeed dispose of evidence. He was charged with kidnapping. He soon cooperated, providing a roadmap to Aniyah. - Aniyah's remains were located in Macon County, Alabama, which is between Auburn and Montgomery. Obviously, we didn't know to 100% certainty that that's who it was. You know, there were several items of clothing out there. I saw a boot.
I took a photograph of it. Hughes asked the Harris's to meet at the DA's office. And they don't know why they're there. I showed the Harris's the photograph. The Sorrell boots, like this one, were a gift from Walt when the family visited New York City. Walt looked at the phone. He just drops it on the table and said, "Y'all excuse me?" My wife had come up there, and she came up the back stairwell. She said she saw Walt.
Just punching the wall. I mean, this is a concrete wall. He's screaming and just punching this wall. That's hard. Talk about a parent's worst nightmare when her body was found. Immediately, I just wanted to actually know if I could see my child. I just want to see her. You know, we were told no. I just didn't want to go on anymore. Walt, broken, confused, angry, depressed.
I just wanted to know why and what happened. Hughes and the police returned to the woods to search for more evidence. Just literally crawling on hands and knees looking for evidence, looking for anything that we could find. And what they found helped the Harris's finally learn what happened to their beloved Aniyah.
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Did he ask for a ride? Did he force her? But the damage outside suggests there was a struggle at some point as the car was moving. Investigators say Yazeed shot Anaya as she tried to escape. Anaya Blanchard was killed in a manner of homicide. The cause of death was a gunshot wound. Was your faith shaken, rocked? To have an angel taken like that, I didn't know anything.
why God would allow it. But Walt ultimately found comfort in his faith. It brought me back. It's helped me understand that God didn't do this. And on December 2nd, 2019, then-District Attorney Hughes announced the person responsible was Ibrahim Yazeed. He was now being charged with capital murder. We'll also be seeking the death penalty.
Two days later, the Harris's were in court when Yazeed fought back. I got a record too. They don't have no video, no audio of me shooting anyone. That's why I'm trying to see how y'all want to bind me over on hearsay, but y'all ain't presenting no evidence. Yazeed seemed pleased when he was done. The attitude, the smirks, the looks. Wow.
But maybe the most damning evidence against Yazeed comes from Antoine Fisher. Remember, he was facing charges of helping Yazeed. Those charges were dropped. Fisher told police that just hours after Anaya disappeared, Yazeed showed up in Montgomery looking for help. And he was driving what looked like Anaya's black Honda.
Fisher said he followed Yazeed to an apartment complex, the same complex where police would find Anaya's Honda. Yazeed then got into the truck Fisher was driving, says lead detective Josh Mixon. They ended up behind a church near a cemetery. And when he looked in the rearview mirror, he saw Yazeed dragging something wrapped in a comforter.
It appeared to be two legs. He drug it in the woods, come back, got in the vehicle, and he said, tell me that's not a body. Fisher says Yazeed told him he shot a girl, quote, when she went for the gun. Wow, it's indescribable how someone could actually do those things to my beautiful daughter. And so traumatizing to think about what she went through. Hearing it in grave detail, it was painful.
And then the Harris's would learn that Yazeed, in addition to being charged with nearly beating an elderly man to death, was also being charged with shooting two other people the year before he's accused of killing Aniyah. What would you like to see happen? Justice. Definitely justice. I want justice for my daughter. But justice has been delayed.
The pandemic has slowed all of Yazeed's criminal cases and his lawyer declined to be interviewed. Walt, who had considered ending his career, found inspiration when Aniyah came to him in a dream. She was sitting in her living room and there was just a beam of light on her and she had her arms out and I hugged her and she said, "Keep going." And I just
Woke up like with a renewed vigor. I felt fresh. One, two, three, four. Inspired by Aniyah, Walt Harris bravely returned to the ring. Incredibly, a fight was scheduled for October 24th, the anniversary of Aniyah's murder. When he first told me, I said,
"Are you sure?" He said, "I'm sure." And so I knew how important that this was to him and how important that this would be to her, to Aniyah, and that she would want him to do it. Walt flew to Abu Dhabi and spent two weeks in quarantine, training in a hotel.
Angela meanwhile remained home caring for their family. I miss her so bad. And holding a vigil the night before Walt's fight, marking the anniversary for the last time they saw Aniyah alive. The following day, the Harris's were on the edge of their seats to watch Walt fight halfway around the world.
Perhaps Harris playing possum a little bit. Walt started out strong. As Harris attacks the body and now goes up top. But in an instant, the fight was over. Walt's actually grabbing his stomach. In retrospect, Walt told us he needed more mental strength. He returned home
And a few days later, he released all that pent-up emotion. He just broke down and fell out on the floor, crying. And through all of her pain, Angela found her new calling. She started a nonprofit.
Aniyah's heart to teach safety and help search for missing people. I've done group sessions for education. I just did one with some sophomores from Aniyah's high school, a group of like 20 girls, teaching them about education and safety. It was amazing. This is a must. We have to have this law. And she's campaigning for Aniyah's law.
A bill which, if enacted, allows judges to deny bond to serious violent offenders. You have people committing multiple violent crimes and they just get out on bond. It's just not okay. I know one thing, that I will not stop fighting for her. Around Christmas 2019, nearly 2,000 people came together to celebrate Aniyah's life.
That beautiful smile she had, you could just light up a room. Anaya was light. When you looked at her in her eyes, the way she made you feel, she just made you feel like you was okay. I'll miss you. We are so happy you were our sissy. Anaya has been my best friend since I met her in sixth grade. She left me with...
The best memories ever, of course. She was a leader. She would put people first even when she was sad or needed anything. I love you, Aniyah. You are truly my sunshine on rainy days. All this stuff is true. She was really, truly a special human being. December 21st, 2019 will be forever known as Aniyah Haley Blanchard Day in the city of Homewood, Alabama.
In March 2023, Ibrahim Yazeed pleaded not guilty to three counts of capital murder and the death of Aniyah Blanchard. In November 2023, Alabama enacted Aniyah's Law, giving judges discretion to deny bail to defendants accused of violent crimes.
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It started with a backpack at the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games. A backpack that contained a bomb. While the authorities focused on the wrong suspect, a serial bomber planned his next attacks. Two abortion clinics and a lesbian bar. But this isn't his story. It's a human story.
One that I've become entangled with. I saw, as soon as I turned the corner, basically someone bleeding out. The victims of these brutal attacks were left to pick up the pieces, forced to explore the gray areas between right and wrong, life and death. Their once ordinary lives, and mine, changed forever. It kind of gave me a feeling of pending doom. And all the while, our country found itself facing down a long and ugly reckoning with a growing threat.
Far-right, homegrown religious terrorism. Listen to Flashpoint on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.