On June 6, 1985, about 1:45 p.m., three-year-old Alisha Smiley disappeared from a bench inside the Omni International Hotel on Techwood Drive in Atlanta while in the care of her aunt, Estella Evans. Evans had stepped away briefly to buy wrestling tickets and left Alisha and a four-year-old cousin alone in the hotel; when she returned the cousin remained but Alisha was gone. Hotel employees remembered seeing Alisha asking for a cookie and directions to the bathroom, and there was speculation she might have wandered toward a nearby McDonald’s.

Alisha was described as exceptionally friendly and trusting, three feet tall and about 30 pounds. On the day she vanished she wore a red and white checkered sundress, white sandals with silver buckles, and possibly gold earrings; her black hair was braided with lilac ribbons. Distinctive features included a gap between her lower front teeth, pierced ears, and a slight discoloration in the corner of her right eye. Investigators received a tip she may have been taken to Lakewood Fairgrounds and believe a non-family member likely abducted her, but searches produced no evidence and no definitive leads have resolved her disappearance.

Did anyone who remembers the Omni Hotel or that area in June 1985 see a small child matching Alisha’s description or have information that could help explain what happened?