FBI searching for missing Prince George's County teen in Norfolk, Virginia
NORFOLK, Va. - The FBI is searching for a teen from Prince George's County after she was last seen at an Army base in Norfolk, Virginia.
Authorities say 19-year-old Ashanti Markaila Billie was last seen entering Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek on Sept. 18.
Ashanti Billie's family told FOX 5 the teen, who attended Dr. Henry A. Wise Jr. High School in Upper Marlboro, was going to work at the Blimpie sandwich shop on the base. Officials said Ashanti Billie never showed up for work and did not make it to her class at a culinary school in the Virginia Beach area.
Her family said Ashanti Billie showed no signs of being in trouble and, in fact, was excited about a recent job promotion at work.
"She was excited about it and that was something she shared with me. We would talk every other day and throughout those conversations her job would come up in there somewhere, somehow because she was excited about it," her father Meltony Billie said.
The FBI said Ashanti Billie's cellphone was found later on Sept. 18 in a dumpster located near the corner of Tallyho Terrace and Azalea Garden Road in Norfolk, Virginia. Her car was later discovered on Saturday in the 9500 block of Lakeside Drive in the Ocean View area of Norfolk, Virginia, about 12 miles from the Army base with the windows rolled down.
Her parents were in the Virginia Beach area helping in the search for their daughter.
"We want people to see that we're out here looking because this is real life to us," her father said. "This is something we would never wish on anybody."
"We're desperate because it's going on eight days now," her mother Brandy Billie explained.
Officials described Ashanti Billie as a black woman, standing about 4 feet 10 inches to 4 feet 11 inches tall, weighing about 135 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. Ashanti Billie drove a cream-colored Mini Cooper with Maryland plates 2CX-0575.
Anyone with information that could aid detectives in their investigation was urged to call the FBI's Norfolk Field Office at (757) 455-0100.The FBI is offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to the location of Ashanti Billie.
The Billie family has also started using #BringAshantiHome on social media to help spread the word and a GoFundMe page has been created to help their efforts in searching for their daughter. To learn how to donate, click here.