The search for Phylicia Barnes, a missing teenager with metro Atlanta ties, came to a tragic conclusion Thursday when her body was found in a Maryland River. The discovery ends the search phase of the case and begins the investigation into who killed her.
The chief medical examiner's office confirmed that the body, found floating in the Susquehanna River near the Conowingo Dam, is Barnes.
Two Maryland State Troopers recovered a body of an unidentified woman around 10 a.m. Wednesday and then were contacted about a second body, this time of an unidentified male, around 2 p.m., state police said. Troopers were alerted to the area by some people who were working on the dam, state police said.
Maryland State Police have 12 homicide investigators working with Baltimore police on the investigation, Maryland State Police Superintendent Col. Terrence Sheridan said Thursday.
"We're not going to spare any expense to try to find out what happened to these two people," he said. "It's going to take a lot of work."
There were no signs of injury to Barnes' body, Sheridan said. Neither body had clothes on.
Barnes, whose 17th birthday was in January, was visiting her half-sister in northwest Baltimore. She was visiting from Monroe, N.C., a city outside of Charlotte where she was preparing to graduate from high school a year early.
Barnes' father, Russell Barnes of Riverdale, spent time in Baltimore after his daughter disappeared. Her mother, Janice Sallis, also went to Baltimore but then moved back to Atlanta in January at her family's urging.
After Barnes' body was identified, hundreds of people posted condolences on a Facebook page set up for the teenager after she disappeared almost four months ago.
"Speechless to hear that they found your body Phylicia. May you rest in peace. Your whole family and your friends are in my prayers. We all love you. My heart aches for your family. May we always remember you for what a great person you were. RIP Phylicia."
More than 100 detectives -- including half of the Baltimore police's homicide unit -- as well as Maryland State Police and the FBI had been assigned to Barnes' case. Authorities were using helicopters, cadaver dogs, and other investigative tools to try and find her.
Authorities have interviewed more than 25 so-called "persons of interest," but no one has risen to the level of a suspect, said Baltimore police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi, speaking to the AJC in March.
Investigators are pursing the case as an abduction and as a homicide, he said.
Authorities had gone to North Carolina and other areas to interview people but had found no reason to go to Atlanta, he told the AJC.
Barnes left her 27-year-old half-sister’s apartment on the afternoon of Dec. 28. Her debit card hadn’t been used, her cell phone was turned off, and her Facebook page wasn't updated. She also missed a flight home to North Carolina.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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