Lashaya Stine, 16: Last Seen Walking Down The Street In 2016
Despite being a straight-A student in high school, Lashaya Stine‘s mother says her daughter got mixed up with bad influences. The 16-year-old vanished from Aurora, Colorado, in 2016, and the investigation into her disappearance has gone cold. The last known footage of Lashaya came from a surveillance camera that showed her walking down the street on July 15. It was a little after 2:00 a.m., and it was suspected that Lashaya was going to meet up with a boy.
That theory arrives from Lashaya’s mother, Sabrina Jones. In February 2022, ABC 7 Denver spoke with Sabrina in an update report about her daughter’s case. The mother of six—five boys and the missing girl—was celebrating another of Lashaya’s birthdays without her daughter.
“You really want to know what I think? I think that whatever situation she was in, I think it was bad,” said Sabrina. “I think that, I do believe that Lashaya was being trafficked.”
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The worried mother told the news station that she believed Lashaya left home that early morning to meet up with a boy who was a bad influence. It is unclear who that boy could have been, but it is one of several theories that have floated about since the teen went missing. Aurora police also worked tirelessly to search for Lashaya—they’ve made public pleas, followed up on tips, and searched a particular residence for three days. Still, there was no evidence found of what could have happened to the young girl.
For years, police have received calls from people saying they saw Lashaya alive. Just a few years ago, investigators learned of a potential witness who said the teen was at a hotel in the city. However, when they checked on the location, nothing materialized. Since that time, there hasn’t been movement on the case. It was further suggested that if Lashaya fell victim to human or sex trafficking, she may have been moved out of the state.
“It used to be I’d be so afraid for somebody to tell me that she was deceased,” Sabrina added. “But now it’s… I’m at this point now where whatever it is, please somebody. Just help me find out what happened to her. More than anything in this world, even if it means the worst, I just want to know what happened to her… good or bad. If she’s out there living her best life, I want to know about that, if she’s under another identity, I just want to know that; if my baby is not alive, I want to know that.”
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“How do you go this long? How do you go this long? And I have the same phone number. I live in the same house. How do you go this long without at least picking up the phone and at least saying, even if you don’t want to come home, ‘I’m alright. Goodbye.'”
When the theory of sex trafficking was first shared, Sabrina said there were some people who were cruel. They laughed about the teen being trafficked from “Colorado to Kansas,” and others used the opportunity to scam Sabrina. Fake information has come in from people who told her to pay up if she wanted to see Lashaya again. The scams were frightening, but they also offered hope that Lashaya Stine was alive.
“And now I just want to say to some of those people: What do you think now? It’s been almost six years. What do you think now? You think she’s just a runaway now?” Sabrina also asked, “You think it’s okay for somebody to traffic her from one state to the next? You think that’s all right? How would you feel if I never find her and you had a part in that somehow? I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night knowing that somebody’s daughter was missing for about six years, and I knew something to save that girl.”
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At the time of her disappearance, Lashaya Stine stood 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighed 150 pounds. She had black/dark brown hair and brown eyes. Lashaya’s hair was long, and she usually styled it in a bun. She also has a quarter-sized round scar on Lashaya’s chest. The FBI reported she was last seen wearing a black V-neck t-shirt, black stonewash jeans, silver hoop earrings, and a silver watch on her left arm. Some reports may state she was wearing a white shirt and dark capri jeans or shorts.
Anyone with information about this case is urged to contact the Aurora Police Department at (303) 627-3100, Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867 (anonymous), or their local authorities. The agency case number is 2016-28205.
Please share this story about Lashaya Stine to reignite interest in her missing person case. She is our sister, and her life matters.
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