Nevaeh Buchanan was five when she disappeared from the Charlotte Arms apartment complex in Monroe, Michigan, on the late afternoon of May 24, 2009. She had been riding a scooter in the parking lot during Memorial Day weekend; that evening her mother, Jennifer, went to bring her inside and Nevaeh was gone. An Amber Alert and large volunteer searches followed.

On June 4, 2009, two fishermen on the River Raisin, about a dozen miles from where she was last seen, found Nevaeh’s body in a shallow grave on the riverbank. Her body had been encased in improperly mixed concrete, and the medical examiner determined she died of asphyxiation from inhaling dirt, consistent with being buried alive. Toxicology showed no drugs and there were no signs of major trauma.

Investigators have pursued more than 2,000 leads. Early in the probe, two men known to Nevaeh’s mother, George Kennedy and Roy Lee Smith, both convicted sex offenders, were arrested on parole violations and questioned; no charges in the murder were filed, and Kennedy’s bloody items contained DNA that did not match Nevaeh. The case remains unsolved.

If anyone knew Nevaeh, saw her on May 24, 2009, or has information that could help the investigation, please come forward.