Nearly three weeks since a 5-year-old girl was taken from a Cobbs Creek elementary school, those responsible for her abduction are still on the loose. On Saturday, hundreds of concerned Cobbs Creek residents took to the streets to encourage people in the community to help police solve the crime.
In mid-January, surveillance cameras captured a woman abducting a 5-year-old girl from Bryant Elementary School after pretending to be the girl’s mother. While the girl was found alive the next day, her captors still haven’t been caught.
The Women of Solidarity, a local group made up of mostly mothers and grandmothers, including the abducted girl’s aunt, Salimah Rashid, marched through Cobbs Creek for what they called a "mother’s flash mob." During their march, the group sent a clear message to those in their neighborhood: silence is unacceptable. The demonstrators told NBC10 the purpose of their march was to encourage anyone with information on the crime to speak up.
“We come against every wicked injustice in this city!” said one demonstrator during a prayer. “We come against all violence, every spirit of murder and crime that has plagued this city! Father we ask for your intervention now!”
They ended their rally with the release of white balloons, which they say symbolizes the innocence of children.
Police believe the woman who took the girl is a dark-skinned (possibly pregnant) black woman in her late 20s, about 5-foot-5 to 5-foot-8-inches tall with greenish or light-colored eyes who was wearing dark-colored Muslim clothing and possibly goes by "Rashida." They also believe the person she met with outside the school is a very light-skinned, possibly white man in his mid-30s with short brown hair who wore sweat pants and a blue long-sleeved T-shirt.
An $85,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest and capture of those responsible for the girl’s abduction. If you have any information on this incident, please call Philadelphia Police.
