News Releases

Missing One Year Old Located in New York City

For Immediate Release: Wednesday, December 1, 2021

Gaithersburg, MD - Detectives from the Montgomery County Police – Special Victims Investigations Division (SVID) have located one-year-old Ziona Amaya and her father, Cornelius Smith.

Smith and the toddler were located in New York City, after being spotted by a passenger on a subway. That passenger recognized Smith from the Montgomery County Police news release that had been shared by the group, Black and Missing, Inc. on Facebook. The social media post on Black and Missing, Inc. had been shared over 1,400 times on Facebook.

The passenger took a picture of Smith with the child and called Montgomery County Police SVID via the phone number listed on the news release.

The passenger spoke with an SVID detective and forwarded the photo that had been taken on the subway to the detective.  

With assistance from the New York City Police Department, Smith and Ziona were located, and Smith has been taken into custody.

Ziona is reported to be in good health and unharmed.

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Release ID: 21-475
Media Contact: Shiera D. Goff 
Categories: missing-person