“It’s like living your worst nightmare every single day,” said 14-year-old Aaliyah Whitehead’s mother who is pleading for her return home.
www.wkrn.com
by:
Sierra Rains
Posted: Mar 20, 2023 / 02:38 PM CDT
Updated: Mar 20, 2023 / 04:14 PM CDT
BENTON COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — A full week has passed since 14-year-old Aaliyah Whitehead was last seen leaving her home just outside of Camden.
Despite several search efforts, Whitehead’s mother, Alicia Laster, said there still have been few clues as to what could have happened to her only daughter.
“It’s like living your worst nightmare every single day,” Laster said. “No one thinks that their kid is going to be missing. We all think that’s just a TV thing, and my mind starts to go to the worst.”
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However, not long before her disappearance, Laster said she and her husband had started to have some concerns about their daughter’s well-being.
“We used every local resource that we could to try to get her some inpatient help,” Laster said. “We explained that we tried typical therapy where you go in every other week, and we were really concerned. We felt like she needed to be put inpatient somewhere where she was safe.”
Instead, Laster said they were told “just to keep an eye on her and make sure there was nothing she could harm herself with.” Laster said she was “terrified” when she realized Whitehead had run away from home on Monday, March 13.
Her husband called the Benton County Sheriff’s Office, and deputies began searching the neighborhood for Whitehead only about 15 minutes after Laster realized she was gone. However, there was no sign of her anywhere.
On Wednesday, March 15, authorities from the sheriff’s office and Madison County Fire Department organized a grid search in the Saddletree area. Deputies have also asked residents in the Hallshire area to check their surveillance and trail cameras.
“Over the last week they’ve questioned every neighbor — anybody who has surveillance, they’ve looked into. Where I live there’s only a few people who have cameras,” Laster said. “They said they’ve been getting tips, but so far nothing has turned out to be her.”
Deputies continued their search the morning of Monday, March 20 at a river nearby Whitehead’s home. In addition, Laster said she and her husband have searched every place in town where their daughter could have gone and are continuing to pass out fliers each day in nearby towns.
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“Aaliyah, if you’re listening right now, please know that we love you more than anything and we want you to come home,” Laster said. “Anything can be worked out if you just come home. Your brothers need you. Your dad and I need you, and we miss you.”
