Name: Aesha Amera Muhammad
Case Classification: Endangered Missing
Missing Since: November 30, 2000
Location Last Seen: Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania
Date of Birth: October 11, 1977
Age: 23 years old
Race: Black
Gender: Female
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 135-140 lbs.
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Brown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Small linear scar on lower right abdomen.
Dentals: Available. Distinctive gap between her front teeth.
Fingerprints: Not available
DNA: Available
Clothing: Unknown
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Unknown
Aesha Amera Muhammad (also seen spelled Muhammed), was with her 2 1/2 year old son, Amaru, when she was last seen on November 30, 2000 in Philadelphia.
Aesha shared custody of her son with his father. The week after Thanksgiving, Amaru's father said Aesha asked for more time with her son. It was arranged for Aesha to have Amaru from November 27th to December 8th, but by November 30th, Amaru's father claims that Aesha was on the phone asking him to take Amaru because she had plans for the weekend. However, she never brought Amaru to his father's home in Chester.
According to police, on November 29th, Aesha talked to one of her sisters saying her landlord, Charles Dockins, had been getting on her nerves and she wanted to move out. Her sister told her she could move in with her. When Aesha called back the following day, her sister wasn't home so she asked her half-brother to pick her up because Dockins was "acting crazy" and "threw her dinner in the trash."
After not being able to reach Aesha, the family went to the West Philadelphia house where she was renting a room. They found her room completely cleaned out. Charles Dockins told them that Aesha, who didn't own a car, had packed up her things and moved out with Amaru.
Aesha's son was found unharmed at the Liberty Temple Church during Sunday services on December 3, 2000 in East Orange, New Jersey. He was interviewed by Special Victims Unit police officers and he told them that his mother had been killed, stating, "They were fighting. Mommy was bleeding... Mommy got hit with a rock." He told the same story to family members.
Dockins told different stories about Aesha's whereabouts both times he was interviewed. He was scheduled to take a polygraph exam in mid-January of 2001, but he vanished. By July 2001, Dockins was back in a Pennsylvania state prison after police stopped him in Camden and discovered an outstanding warrant for him. Dockins was denied parole in July 2002.
Aesha remains missing.
Agency Name: Philadelphia Police Department
Agency Contact Person: Detective Viviana Reyes
Agency Phone Number: (215) 686-3093
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: 2000-19-098672
NCIC Case Number: M021221254
NamUs Case Number: 24975
NamUs
Philadelphia Daily News
Philadelphia Daily News (December 2, 2002)
The Star-Ledger (December 12, 2000)
North American Missing Persons Network
Added: 2/26/16; Last Updated: 11/21/2023
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Questions or comments? Please contact appropriate member of the Area Team
** Listed information is from the time of disappearance.
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