Account
Sep 17, 2015
Jul 26, 2018
Lashawnda
Coates
33
27 inches
20 lbs
Black / African American
Female
In the summer of 1991, a heart-wrenching story began to unfold in River Rouge, Michigan, involving a 10-month-old infant named Lashawnda Patrice Coates. Lashawnda was a baby girl with black hair and brown eyes who was last seen on August 1, 1991. Her life, in its very early stages, was marked by turmoil. Several months prior to her disappearance, in December 1990, Lashawnda suffered a broken arm and bruising. These injuries occurred when her father, Byron Ogletree, allegedly used her as a shield during a violent dispute with her mother, Samora Coates. This incident brought the family to the attention of the Michigan Department of Social Services, which determined that neither parent was fit to care for the child. Lashawnda was subsequently placed in the care of her maternal great-grandmother, then into foster care, and finally, in June 1991, she was placed with her paternal grandmother, Barbara Brown, in River Rouge. The circumstances leading to Lashawnda's disappearance are deeply troubling. On August 1, 1991, while her paternal grandmother was at work and a teenage aunt was babysitting, Lashawnda's father, Byron Ogletree, arrived at the home and took the child without permission. Later that day, he made a chilling phone call to Lashawnda's mother, Samora. During this call, Ogletree reportedly told Samora to listen, and she horrifyingly believed she heard him shaking and choking their daughter over the phone. Samora immediately contacted the police, sparking a search for both Ogletree and the infant. In the days and weeks that followed, Samora encountered Ogletree on multiple occasions, and each time he would promise to take her to Lashawnda, only to retract his offer, providing conflicting stories about whether the baby was alive or dead. The investigation into Lashawnda's disappearance led to the arrest of her father, Byron Ogletree, on September 7, 1991, for parental kidnapping. At the time of his arrest in Detroit, Lashawnda was not with him, and he refused to disclose her whereabouts. Following his arrest, Ogletree reportedly confessed to both Lashawnda's mother and his own mother that he had lost his temper and killed the baby. Despite these alleged confessions, the outcome of the parental kidnapping charges against him is not publicly known, and investigators believe he is responsible for her likely death. Lashawnda Patrice Coates has never been found, and her case remains a painful and unresolved mystery, leaving a void in the hearts of those who remember the little girl whose life was so tragically brief. The River Rouge Police Department continues to hold the case file, a somber reminder of a life that vanished without a trace.
Aug 01, 1991
River Rouge
Michigan
Wayne County
48218
24230
River Rouge Police Deparment
River Rouge
Michigan
,
2247-91
River Rouge Police Deparment
Black
Brown
Brown
05/27/2026
