Missing teen found murdered in Florida linked to human trafficking: cops
A 16-year-old girl who had been missing since August was found shot dead outside an Orlando home this week, with cops saying she was tied to a human trafficking case.
De’Shayla Ferguson was just 15 when she ran away from a Department of Children and Families office in Orlando. She had been taken there to be placed with a family for the night because she was expected in court the next day.
On Monday, two months after Ferguson’s disappearance and four days after her 16th birthday, the girl was discovered fatally shot next to a car.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office is investigating Ferguson’s killing, but so far no arrests have been made and no suspects have been named.
A report from the Orlando Police Department that has been obtained by local station WESH-TV revealed that Ferguson was a ward of the state and a “habitual runaway.”
It also mentioned Ferguson’s alleged involvement in a “human trafficking case in Orange County,” but no additional information was immediately available.
According to the document, Ferguson was last seen alive on Aug. 12 at the DCF office on South Kirman Road in Orlando.
While waiting to be placed with a family, Ferguson “became argumentative with staff” and took off.
Two DCF workers looked for her but could not locate her.
A missing persons report was filed and the teen’s information was posted on the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children website.
It’s unknown at this time how and where Ferguson spent the last two months of her life, nor why she was killed.
