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If for some strange reason you wish to leave us know that you will be missed
LaToyia Figueroa is gone, and it seems without a trace. The 24-year-old mother-to-be hasn't been seen since Monday, and friends and
family said she would never leave her 7-year-old daughter behind like this. The bright-faced woman is 5 months pregnant with her second child, and those
close to her are beginning to fear the worst. The news that's most discouraging to them came from police. She hasn't used her cell phone or a credit card since her disappearance, and
she's usually very well connected with her family, especially her daughter. "It's unusual for her to do something like this. She's not the type of person
to just disappear," said Joseph Taylor, an uncle. "So far there's nothing that
gives me hope from what I'm hearing." Christine Lewes, the missing woman's childhood friend and West Philadelphia
High School classmate, drove to Philadelphia from her Wilmington home to help
find Figueroa. She described the 5-foot-2, 130-pound woman as being very responsible, noting
that she never missed work at T.G.I. Friday's on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway,
where she was a waitress. But this week, Figueroa did not show up. A Southwest Division detective said last night Figueroa was last seen at 52nd
and Market streets. The pregnant woman had a doctor's appointment at the Hospital of the
University of Pennsylvania Monday and police believe she showed up for it. Police believe that Figueroa and the father of her baby "were working on
things" but were not currently together. The pregnant woman recently moved back to Ithan Street near Spruce with her
uncle, Emmanuel Taylor, the man who helped raise her. She has been living there on and off during the last year, according to
police. "It's not like 'Toyia to just run off. I pray that she's not hurt," said
Resheia Robinson, who lives on the other side of the twin home on Ithan
Street. Robinson said the walls are thin and she heard Figueroa yelling and fighting
with someone on the phone a few times last week, although she didn't know who it
was. "I'm just shook," Robinson said after only learning of the disappearance
yesterday. Police said they have no suspects or motive, and added that the father of
Figueroa's baby is cooperating. | ||||
