Latoyia Figueroa

[HOPE]

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (CNN) -- The Philadelphia Citizens Crime Commission, with the help of a Philadelphia blogger, have launched a reward fund for information leading to Latoyia Figueroa, a 24-year-old pregnant mother of one who has been missing since July 18.

Figueroa went to a doctor's appointment with a male friend on that afternoon, police said, but did not show up to retrieve her 7-year-old daughter from day care later that day.

Stephanie Stephenson, a relative who raised Figueroa after her mother was killed when she was a toddler, told CNN that Figueroa, five months pregnant, left the friend's house in west Philadelphia "and disappeared."

Her cell phone -- a constant companion -- has gone quiet for the nine days she has been missing, and her bank has recorded no transactions.

"The Philadelphia police and the detectives are involved now, and they're making this their priority case," Stephenson said, adding that the very close family was bearing the strain "as well as can be expected."

"Her mother was my first cousin," she said. "We were raised together as sisters. ... We're holding up by the grace of God."

Philadelphia Police Lt. Frank Vanore said authorities have no suspects in custody.

"We're trying to interview everybody that she knew, but as far as leads or evidence found to show us something might have happened -- no," Vanore said.

Vanore said Figueroa was a victim of robbery in April, but police believe that was an isolated incident unrelated to her disappearance.

Santo Montecalvo, vice president of the Philadelphia Citizens Crime Commission, said the commission's reward fund had reached $10,000 Wednesday morning. And Richard Blair of Philadelphia has launched a drive for the reward fund through his blog, allspinzone.com.

"The Citizens Crime Commission does not have a way to make a donation online so we've taken up that task," he said.

Meanwhile, family and friends have been searching a park near where she disappeared and passing out flyers with the diminutive, 5-foot-2 Figueroa's picture.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Philadelphia Southwest detective division at 215-686-3183.

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Figueroa Reward Jumps to 100K
PHILADELPHIA-August 2, 2005 — It is day 15 in the disappearance of pregnant mother Latoyia Figueroa and a major increase in the reward for information in the case.

The reward is now at 100-thousand dollars. Police, Figueroa's relatives and neighbors have spent the last two weeks searching her Philadelphia neighborhood and other parts of the city, but tips have led to dead ends. In Cobbs Creek Park last week, dozens of police canvassed the woods and banks of the creek looking for her.

Then on Sunday, searchers looked in the Mount Moriah cemetery in southwest Philadelphia, but they found nothing.

Yesterday, they searched several areas of the massive Fairmount Park with police and dogs.

And Tuesday, the search came to West Philadelphia around 59th and Catherine and 52nd and Market Streets in west Philadelphia.

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Missing Woman's Remains Apparently Found

August 20, 2005 - Philadelphia police said they believe remains
recovered in neighboring Chester may be those of a pregnant woman
missing for a month, and also said they had a person in custody in
the case.

Inspector William Colarulo said early Saturday that he could not
confirm that the remains were those of 24-year-old LaToyia Figueroa,
whose disappearance has gained national attention, but investigators
believed that to be the case.

"We have strong reason to believe that it is her," Colarulo said.

Colarulo said the person in custody had not been arrested or
charged. He said he could not comment on whether the person had any
connection to the property where the remains were recovered.

Police scheduled a 10 a.m. Saturday news conference in Philadelphia
on the case.

The remains were recovered in a grassy, partially wooded lot near
homes and a road in Chester, about 13 miles southwest of
Philadelphia, cordoned off by yellow police tape Saturday morning.

A few dozen members of the Figueroa family and supporters arrived at
the scene shortly after daybreak, clustering close to the police
tape and embracing each other but declining comment to reporters.

Figueroa, who is five months' pregnant and already the mother of a
young girl, was last seen on the afternoon of July 18 in West
Philadelphia. Police received a missing persons report July 21,
McClane said.

Authorities said they had questioned family members, neighbors and
the father of Figueroa's unborn child, among others, but had not
identified anyone as a suspect and said they were treating the
disappearance as a missing person's case.

Relatives and friends, who have papered the city with flyers and
held large-scale searches for any sign of Figueroa, had just marked
the one-month anniversary of her disappearance. A reward fund for
information had reached $100,000.

[HOPE]

PHILADELPHIA - Police discovered the remains of a missing pregnant woman and quickly arrested the father of her unborn child Saturday, ending an exhaustive, monthlong search.

District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham said Stephen Poaches would be charged with two counts of murder and related offenses for the deaths of 24-year-old LaToyia Figueroa and her fetus.

Authorities did not provide a motive or say what led them to suspect Poaches, 25, who police said was wearing a bulletproof vest and carrying a pistol when he was arrested.
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The remains were recovered in a grassy, partially wooded lot in Chester, 13 miles from Philadelphia. A few dozen members of the Figueroa family and supporters arrived at the scene shortly after daybreak, clustering close to the police tape and embracing each other.

gNow she can rest in peace,h said the womanfs father, Melvin Figueroa. gAll I want is justice with that peace.h

Closure for family
The womanfs uncle, Jose Figueroa, said as terrible as the discovery of the body was, it puts an end to the weeks of fear and not knowing about LaToyia, who was five months pregnant at the time of the disappearance. gWe can actually try to go back to a normal life,h he said.

Relatives and friends have papered the city with flyers and held large-scale searches for any sign of Figueroa, recently marking one month since her disappearance. A reward fund for information had reached $100,000, including donations from the restaurant where she worked.

The case attracted a brief flurry of television attention after several Philadelphia-area bloggers waged a campaign urging networks to give the same attention to Fugueroa, who is black and Hispanic, as they did to Natalee Holloway, a white woman who disappeared in Aruba.

Poachesf lawyer, Michael Coard, has repeatedly spoken to journalists on behalf of his client, including national television appearances in which he noted that Poaches has spoken to investigators voluntarily and that he has consented to have his home and his vehicle searched.

Police Commissioner Sylvester M. Johnson said Saturday that Coardfs public relations moves would not hold up.

gHe has an attorney who has basically tried this case in the news media and has depicted him to be innocent. We are saying today that he is not innocent and we are going to convict him and he will go to whatever he deserves to get,h Johnson said.

Coard did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment after Saturdayfs news conference.

Figueroa, who also is the mother of a 7-year-old girl, was last seen on the afternoon of July 18 in West Philadelphia.


In memory of Latoyia Figueroa:

www.geocities.com/servant1962/TamikaandLatoyia.html