Right: Age-progressed by NCMEC to 20 years
Right: Age-progressed by NCMEC to 20 years
Name: Angelique James
Nickname/Alias: Unknown
Case Classification: Endangered Missing
Missing Since: February 15, 1997
Location Last Seen: Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California
Date of Birth: October 2, 1992
Age: 4 years old
Race: Black
Gender: Female
Height: 3'6"
Weight: 40 lbs.
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Brown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Fracture in her left arm that is visible only on an x-ray. Born with one of her legs and arms shorter than the other. Burn scars on top of one foot.
Dentals: Unknown
Fingerprints: Unknown
DNA: Unknown
Clothing: Unknown
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Unknown
James was last seen in her family's home in Los Angeles, California on February 15, 1997.
Authorities believe Angelique was killed between December 15, 1996, and March 1, 1997 by her mother, Shirley Ann James. Shirley James, failed to comply when authorities inquired as to her daughter's whereabouts.
Shirley was arrested in November 1997, nine months after Angelique disappeared, when authorities demanded she produce the child and she did not. She was charged with Angelique's presumed murder, as well as three counts of child abuse and two counts of corporal injury to a child.
Shirley has seven other children in addition to Angelique. One of them, a nine-month-old daughter, died in 1992, apparently of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. The baby's death was reviewed by homicide investigators after Angelique's disappearance, but no charges were filed.
Shirley was sentenced to five years in prison in 1998, but Angelique's body has never been found.
Agency Name: Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
Agency Contact Person: Homicide Bureau - Missing Persons Detail
Agency Phone Number: 323-890-5500
Agency E-Mail: homicideops@lasd.org
Agency Case Number: LA sheriff 97-21648-21
NamUs Case Number: 6219
NCMEC Case Number: 840165
Added: Prior to 2011; Last Updated: 07/02/2024 - By: mc
Questions or comments? Please contact appropriate member of the Area Team
** Listed information is from the time of disappearance.
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