INTRODUCING: Someone’s Hunting Us

Summary

Podcast Summary

American Shrapnel

Host: Alabama Media Group
Episode: INTRODUCING: Someone’s Hunting Us
Date: February 11, 2026

---

Overview:

This episode introduces “Someone’s Hunting Us,” an investigative podcast by NJ.com and The Star Ledger, set against the backdrop of Newark in 2016. The series explores the case of several young Black women who vanished, and the determined efforts of survivors, friends, and families to uncover the truth in the face of systemic indifference. The hosts, Rebecca Everett and Daisy Calabio Robertson, take listeners through the emotional landscape of the victims’ lives, shining a critical light on race, poverty, institutional neglect, and the unyielding search for justice.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Predator’s Planning (00:09–02:00)

• The episode opens with a dramatized scene of the killer—clear-minded yet methodical—assembling his “kill kit” as he prowls Newark at night. His targets are vulnerable women whose disappearances are unlikely to trigger a large-scale reaction.
• The killer appears harmless: “Like if you look at him, you don't look at him and think he's a serial killer.” (Bernisha Patterson, 01:56)

Disappearances Go Unnoticed (02:06–03:41)

• Multiple young women go missing, but their cases attract little public attention or law enforcement urgency.
• “There was no widespread panic, no scary headlines. People go missing all the time in a city like Newark.” (Rebecca Everett, 02:57)
• Police and media overlook patterns that should have connected the crimes.

Victims, Heroes, and Systemic Failure (03:42–05:01)

• The policing was flawed: “There are so many opportunities where this person could have been stopped and lives could have been saved.” (Bernisha Patterson, 04:27)
• Real investigative work was done by loved ones: “The great police work in this story wasn't done by cops, but by the victims, friends, their families, and even the one woman who survived. They were the heroes who eventually brought this killer down.” (Daisy Calabio Robertson, 04:42)
• Survivors and community members played pivotal roles in the investigation.

The Personal Impact and Racial Lens (05:02–06:06)

• Daisy Calabio Robertson, a woman of color, explains the deep personal resonance of the case for her.
• The episode interrogates racial bias in media and policing. Missing Black girls were not afforded the same visibility as white victims, such as Gabby Petito or Natalee Holloway.
• “Black girls go missing all the time, and it feels like no one cares to look for them.” (Rebecca Everett, 09:36)

The Search for Mawa Dumbia (07:24–22:24)

• The emotional heart centers on Mawa Dumbia, a 15-year-old immigrant from the Ivory Coast, and her tight-knit circle of friends: Janesha, Deanna, and Kiki.
• The urgency and resourcefulness of these teenagers is palpable as they hunt for Mawa, facing institutional neglect with bravery.
  • “If you treat her with respect, she'll give you the same energy back. But if you try her, you'll see a whole different side of her because she's a Taurus.” (Janesha Jackson, 14:37)
• Law enforcement’s inadequate response is repeated:
  • “They were more focused on, like, talking to an adult than us.” (Deanna Edison, 11:04)
  • “I printed [the flyers] out at school...we walked up and down Ferry street...and just put flyers up on each pole.” (Janesha Jackson, 11:56)
• Their friendship was both sanctuary and motivation. The story explores the girls’ backgrounds, traumas, and resilience.
  • “We all kind of had similar stories in a way. Like we wasn't getting the love that we needed at home. So we formed it with each other as a group.” (Janesha Jackson, 15:30)

The Broader Social Context (22:25–23:51)

• The episode contrasts the disappearance of Black girls with the massive community responses seen in missing person cases involving white girls in suburban areas.
  • “When you black, they don't give a fuck about you. But a 15 year old girl gone missing, you don't even see her on paper or on the news. Nowhere.” (Janesha Jackson, 20:55)
• Establishes the broader pattern of neglect, reinforcing the show’s intention to correct the historical record.

Second Victim, Robyn West, and a Missed Opportunity (23:52–30:35)

• We meet Bernisha Patterson, best friend of Robin West, whose murder could have been prevented had the police listened years prior. Robyn’s life, struggles, and vibrancy are honored through interviews with those who loved her.
  • “Brielle Robin West. So sweet. We literally ran out of tissues. Because losing Robin broke Bernisha's heart.” (Daisy Calabio Robertson, 24:58)
• Robyn’s journey included foster care, trauma, and the search for belonging. Her faith, musical talent, and struggle with bipolar disorder are explored.
  • “She could sing anything, really, but gospel music was her favorite thing to sing...She used to sing that all the time.” (Bernisha Patterson, 26:45–27:07)
• The dangers of street life, especially for young Black women, are detailed, including their venture into sex work and subsequent entrapment by an abusive man.

The Night of Tragedy (34:07–35:30)

• Bernisha recounts the fateful night she and Robyn, desperate for escape, agree to work the street to repay the predatory “gas money” demanded by their trafficker.
• A BMW pulls up and the killer chooses Robyn. Bernisha, feeling uneasy, snaps a photo of the license plate—an act of intuition that would later prove vital.
  • “He was really handsome...I said, be careful with her. I love her. That was the last thing I said to him before they pulled off.” (Bernisha Patterson, 35:09–35:30)

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Like if you look at him, you don't look at him and think he's a serial killer.” (Bernisha Patterson, 01:56)
• “There are so many opportunities where this person could have been stopped and lives could have been saved.” (Bernisha Patterson, 04:27)
• “The great police work in this story wasn't done by cops, but by the victims, friends, their families, and even the one woman who survived.” (Daisy Calabio Robertson, 04:42)
• “Black girls go missing all the time, and it feels like no one cares to look for them.” (Rebecca Everett, 09:36)
• “When you black, they don't give a fuck about you. But a 15-year-old girl gone missing, you don't even see her on paper or on the news. Nowhere.” (Janesha Jackson, 20:55)
• On Robyn’s memory: “I can still hear her voice when she's singing, like, in my head.” (Bernisha Patterson, 27:11)
• The heart-wrenching moment: “That was the last thing I said to him before they pulled off.” (Bernisha Patterson, 35:30)

---

Timestamps for Major Segments

• 00:09–02:00: Introduction of the killer and his methodical planning
• 02:06–03:41: Disappearances in Newark go largely unnoticed
• 03:42–05:01: Focus on failures of law enforcement and rise of community investigation
• 05:02–06:06: The racial element and host’s personal investment
• 07:24–17:15: Mawa Dumbia’s background, friendship circle, and disappearance
• 17:16–22:24: Friends’ efforts to find Mawa; direct action in absence of police
• 22:25–23:51: Reflection on racial bias and contrasting community responses
• 23:52–30:35: Introduction to Bernisha and Robyn’s story; their struggles and bond
• 30:36–34:07: Robyn and Bernisha’s entrapment and experience with trafficking
• 34:08–35:30: The night Robyn is last seen; Bernisha’s crucial action
• 35:47–37:04: Teasers for next episode and credits

---

Tone and Style

The tone is urgent, raw, and empathetic, blending investigative rigor with deeply personal testimonials. The hosts’ candor (“that was kind of bullshit,” Rebecca Everett, 04:01), and the unsparing honesty from guests and survivors, immerse listeners in the emotional reality of the victims’ world—a world marked by resilience, courage, and heartbreak.

---

Conclusion

This episode unveils the tragic stories behind missing Black women in Newark and Philadelphia, the failures of official systems, and the heroism of those left to pick up the slack. It promises a series that will reclaim their narratives, expose long-standing injustices, and resonate powerfully with ongoing conversations around race, violence, and accountability in America.

Transcript

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

A quick warning. This podcast deals with violence and sexual assault. Listener discretion is advised.

[Rebecca Everett]

A silver BMW purrs across the New York City line on a summer night in 2016. Behind the wheel, his mind is clear. He is part id, driven by his desires and unable or unwilling to resist them.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

But he isn't all impulse. In the pocket of the driver's side door are the items he's collected for his kill kit. Tight black gloves, zip ties, a body fluid cleanup kit. There's also pepper spray and a small container of lighter fluid sloshing when the car dips into a pothole. The tools of his craft lovingly assembled for a night just like this one.

[Rebecca Everett]

He's been planning this like he plans everything. It's finally happening. Death has come to Newark.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

The killer isn't from Newark, but he knows the city well, including the area they call Down Bottom. Graffitied warehouses and impoverished people carrying their lives in bags. Women in need of a fix, a meal, who find themselves in this forgotten place. He imagines picking a girl like this, a girl who is unlikely to raise alarm bells if she doesn't come home. How hard would anyone look for a girl like that? He thinks.

[Rebecca Everett]

He's thought about the places where he can execute the plan, driven slowly past the abandoned homes, seen the broken locks that would let him slip inside to dispose of his victim.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

Even if he could never really be charming, he knows how to be disarming, just totally non threatening. With his glasses and skinny frame, he looked nice.

[Bernisha Patterson]

Like if you look at him, you don't look at him and think he's a serial killer.

[Rebecca Everett]

In a neighborhood like Down Bottom, he certainly doesn't seem like the scariest thing around.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

He takes another pass down Frelinghuysen Avenue and then turns onto Naiva. Then he sees her. No one is safe tonight. This is Someone's Hunting Us, a podcast from NJ.com and the Star Ledger. It's a story about five young women where only one survives. A story about love, pain, indifference and depravity. Where women are both the victims and the heroes. It's 2016, and there's a serial killer prowling the streets of Newark. One girl disappears, then another. Then another. And another.

[Rebecca Everett]

But there was no widespread panic, no scary headlines. People go missing all the time in a city like Newark.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

Police didn't realize this polite, pleasant young man was systematically murdering young black women.

[Rebecca Everett]

They felt safe with him, and obviously he could talk to them enough to feel safe. He looks like a little boy, but I think he's a predator. There's no doubt about it.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

He would commit a heinous crime and he would go on about his day.

[Rebecca Everett]

As though nothing had happened.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

Especially the immature, inexperienced killers were will feel that rush and then want it.

[Bernisha Patterson]

As fast as I can. This was the type of stuff that we used to read about. I never thought like it would happen to one of us.

[Rebecca Everett]

I'm Rebecca Everett. I'm an investigative crime reporter and a podcaster.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

And I'm Daisy Calabio Robertson, a [e-mail] reporting on diverse communities. For the last year, we've been digging into this case. And as a woman of color, this story hits so close to my heart.

[Rebecca Everett]

It's a story all tied up in race, poverty, a tough city, and the way the system and even society dismiss missing girls who don't look like Gabby Petito or Natalee Holloway with their pale skin and blue eyes. I had just moved here to New Jersey when this case first broke and the storyline was like, wow, they caught this serial killer in a few months. Great job. Turns out that was kind of bullshit.

[Bernisha Patterson]

There are so many opportunities where this person could have been stopped and lives could have been saved.

[Rebecca Everett]

And then it all came out. All the problems, all the police screw ups and the twists. It's like an episode of the Wire.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

The great police work in this story wasn't done by cops, but by the victims, friends, their families, and even the one woman who survived. They were the heroes who eventually brought this killer down. And it pisses me off because it shouldn't have been that way.

[Janesha Jackson]

They didn't even believe her. I feel like they should be demoted. They let him get away.

[Rebecca Everett]

We'll start with a group of teenage girls on the hunt for their friend Mawa who disappeared. But they don't know that a frightening predator is also on the hunt, killing girls just like her.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

Days pass, and Mawa is still nowhere to be found.

[Rebecca Everett]

Meanwhile, the bodies of murdered women were being discovered. Another teenager, a college student, a woman in recovery.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

And we'll meet each of these young women and learn their stories.

[Rebecca Everett]

We dug into their lives to the point that they were literally in my dreams.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

And he crept into my nightmares too, and was sometimes stuck in my head as I put my kids to bed at night. Some of the new details we uncovered about this killer were that disturbing.

[Rebecca Everett]

Well, most people have never heard of him. He isn't what you're picturing, the John Wayne Gacy's hiding in the suburbs. He doesn't fit that mold at all.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

I wanted to know what was going on in this guy's head. But he never spoke to any journalists.

[Rebecca Everett]

That is, until we reached out to him. He messaged me over the weekend. He, like, emailed me through JPay.

[Janesha Jackson]

Okay, and was it.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

What did he say?

[Rebecca Everett]

We also talked to the close friends who thought they knew him best.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

If you would have known, you wouldn't have helped him.

[Bernisha Patterson]

Fuck no.

[Kiki Smith]

I think that's probably why you didn't tell me.

[Rebecca Everett]

This story is still not over, not even close. The killer is going to be tried again soon on murder charges for yet another victim.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

So let's dive in. We're going to start in Newark.

[Rebecca Everett]

We're Jersey transplants, so locals have to forgive me if I say Newark. I'm still training myself to say it like the locals do. One syllable, so am I.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

And I live right across the bay. Newark's a city of about 300,000 and just outside Manhattan.

[Rebecca Everett]

It's still a place that people are drawn to for drugs, sex, or whatever trouble they're after. But back in 2016, Newark was really living up to its reputation as a dangerous city. It had 100 murders that year. The police were understaffed and the feds were stepping in because of racing, racial profiling and brutality. It was a tough year for a city that has seen a lot of tough years.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

But for Janesha Jackson and her friends, it was just home. And on that Tuesday in October, it was their first day back in school at Eastside High after Columbus Day weekend.

[Janesha Jackson]

I remember it being first period. I don't know if it was social studies or Global History.

[Rebecca Everett]

16 year old Janesha was trying to pay attention. Then suddenly the classroom's phone rings. They want to see her in the main office.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

She's thinking, what did I do now? But when she gets to the office, Janesha sees a police officer and her stomach drops.

[Janesha Jackson]

They called me downstairs and asked me when was the last time I seen Mawa.

[Rebecca Everett]

Mawa Dumbia is one of her best friends. A beautiful 15 year old girl with a heart shaped face, long braids and hazel eyes she hid behind gray contacts. She emigrated with her dad and little sister from the Ivory coast when she was 8 or 9.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

She'd been forced to leave her mom behind in Africa. And it left a hole in Mawa's heart that she tried desperately to fill with love from everywhere and anywhere.

[Rebecca Everett]

But her best friends, who were all a little older and saw her as their little sister, tried just as hard to give her that love she craved and be her protectors to always look out for her.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

Which is why Janisha's heart Was pounding. Now, why are the police asking about Mawa? It's sinking in. Her friend hadn't texted her all weekend.

[Janesha Jackson]

And I said the last time I seen Mawa was on Friday when she was in school. Why? What happened? And they said she haven't been home. She's missing.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

Standing there with the cops is a man she barely knows. Her best friend's dad. Do you know where Mawa is? He says he's been calling and calling.

[Janesha Jackson]

There was no answer, like her phone was turned off completely.

[Rebecca Everett]

She starts frantically texting Mawa, messaging her on facebook. Nothing. The messages are unread.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

But then she's calling their two other besties, who are also like sisters to Mawa. And she's already creating a plan for what they're gonna do to find her.

[Rebecca Everett]

Because at only 16, Janesha knows you can't trust the cops or really trust anyone to come through for mawa. Black girls go missing all the time, and it feels like no one cares to look for them.

[Janesha Jackson]

It used to get me really upset. It used to get me really mad. Because with other females, whenever they go missing, you get an amber alert. You see them all over Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. You see them everywhere. Mawa didn't get that. I wish they would have took her case more seriously.

[Rebecca Everett]

Together. The girls hit the streets of Newark to search for Mawa. But they had no idea the real threat. Stalking girls just like them. One of the first things Janesha Jackson did after she found out Mawa was missing was call Deanna Edison. She's the friend who knew Mawa the longest.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

Deanna was in her high school across town when her phone vibrated.

[Deanna Edison]

We were in the auditorium for something, like a pep rally or something, and she called me, and I just left school. I didn't waste no time and asked no teachers. Like, I just left. And we met up at the police precinct around the corner on 17th Avenue.

[Rebecca Everett]

These girls were ready to tell the cops anything that could help.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

But to the cops, they're just a bunch of teenagers trying to get info about a missing person's case that's just hours old.

[Deanna Edison]

They were. Is she a runaway? Is she this? Is she that? Well, where's her parents? You know, they were more focused on, like, talking to an adult than us.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

Deanna says it felt like the cops weren't listening or taking Mawa's disappearance seriously.

[Rebecca Everett]

If I was them, I'd be freaking out. But these girls, it was like they already knew what they had to do. They searched and snooped. They tracked down sketchy characters. Mawa Knew and pushed them for info. As we'll hear, they were more than ready to put themselves in very scary situations. And when the police did finally get a lead that they could act on, yep, these girls were the ones that brought it to them.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

Here's Janesha.

[Janesha Jackson]

I do remember us asking them to make flyers for her. And they was like, oh, yeah, we're gonna do it. And we waited, and they didn't do it.

[Rebecca Everett]

So Janisha ran to the computer lab.

[Janesha Jackson]

I printed them out at school. And when the bell rung, we walked up and down Ferry street all the way to downtown Newark, and we just put flyers up on each pole. And I remember while I was putting the posters up, I was just saying, like, I hope that she's found. I hope that somebody sees something or heard something.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

You still have that poster?

[Janesha Jackson]

Yeah, I still have it on my old Facebook. I saw it.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

You can see this poster on our website. It has two selfies of Mawa with her high cheekbones and piercing eyes. She has a stud in her full bottom lip and a tattoo of a rose on her neck. She always had a fresh weave or beautiful braids because her auntie owned a hair salon.

[Rebecca Everett]

Mawa grew up in a place called Abidjan, one of the biggest cities in all of Africa. As kids, she and her little sister moved to the US with their dad, who they hardly knew. And their mother was stuck in the Ivory coast waiting on a visa.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

My daughter's 8, and if she was stripped away from me like that, I know it'd be devastating.

[Rebecca Everett]

Yeah. Deanna remembers how Mawa described it.

[Deanna Edison]

I remember her telling me a story that they were in Africa and she said their father came to get them, I guess to bring them here. And she said when him and the little sister saw each other, it's like they known each other forever. She said when she saw him, she was just looking like, like, who's this guy? Like, you know, taking me away from my mother. And she's telling me, this is my father.

[Rebecca Everett]

We did speak with Mawa's family briefly, but they didn't want to do a sit down interview. We'll hear from them a little later.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

Mawa's friends said she never got over being separated from her mom like that, and she didn't feel close to her dad. They described the relationship as strained, but.

[Rebecca Everett]

She had kind of a second family, Janesha and Deanna and their third bestie, Kiki Smith.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

We spent countless hours with Janeesha, Deanna and Kiki, and they had so many stories about Mawa. Here's Janisha.

[Janesha Jackson]

But back to this story, because I'm all over the place. I remember at the time, I was walking with her. It was by her house and a car stopped, and she was about to walk to the car. I said, no, no, no. I pulled her. I pulled her away. I said, no, you don't walk to people's cars. Everybody is not your friend.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

So she was still naive in some.

[Rebecca Everett]

Ways, but in other ways, she seemed grown. Janesha said Mawa's dad worked a lot, and so Mawa came and went as she pleased.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

She'd be looking after herself, cooking traditional food from the Ivory coast for her sister and her friends. She liked looking out for them, too.

[Janesha Jackson]

If she can help you, she'll do whatever she could just to help you, to make sure that you are okay. And if you treat her with respect, she'll give you the same energy back. But if you try her, you'll see a whole different side of her because she's a Taurus.

[Rebecca Everett]

I laughed, but I don't actually get astrology.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

Taurus is the bull. They're tough and so headstrong.

[Rebecca Everett]

Well, they did all say Mawa was confident, 100% herself, the life of the party. Here's what Keke told us.

[Kiki Smith]

She was really sweet, but she know how to party, though. I ain't gonna lie. If you mad about something, she was like, come on, let's go to this party or something.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

Yeah, she was feisty, asking, what are we doing? What's the wave?

[Janesha Jackson]

That's how she used to say it. What's the wave? She ain't like just being in one spot.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

Nah, she wanted to be outside, chilling on a stoop to smoke weed or drink. Just going to the corner store.

[Janesha Jackson]

I felt like she just wanted to get out the house. Same thing with me. That's why I was with her, to get away from whatever I was dealing with at home. It was kind of like we all not trauma bonding, but we all kind of had similar stories in a way. Like we wasn't getting the love that we needed at home. So we formed it with each other as a group.

[Rebecca Everett]

I don't know. It sounds a lot like trauma bonding.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

Yeah, this was something Kiki talked about, too. She barely spoke above a whisper. It was hard for her to go back to that time.

[Rebecca Everett]

But she told us about the night they met, when Kiki had a fight with her mom and ran away in downtown Newark.

[Kiki Smith]

It was on Clinton Avenue, and I was on the Lincoln park side, near that little park right by the statue.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

Trust me, we've been there and it's not a place place you want to be late at night.

[Rebecca Everett]

Especially as a kid, Kiki was upset and all alone and she needed help. That's when she saw Mawa.

[Kiki Smith]

My surroundings was quiet, but I just saw her and I randomly just talked to her like, hey, is it okay that you could help me? And whatever she said, are you okay? Like Here, here, go $5 if you need my number. Here, no problem. It feels like she was like an angel to me.

[Rebecca Everett]

Then the next fall, Mawa started as a freshman at Eastside High.

[Kiki Smith]

Then we started kicking it, like chilling after school, go out, have fun.

[Rebecca Everett]

But they didn't have it easy. Keke lived in poverty and fought with her mom. And Deanna was in foster care. She bounced around so much that Mawa was her only real constant.

[Deanna Edison]

I was in foster care, home to home to home to home. Like every home I went to, she was there.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

And if Janisha missed her 10 o' clock curfew, her mom would lock her out to sleep in the hallway of the apartment building.

[Rebecca Everett]

But each of them knew if something happened, if they couldn't go home, Mawa would always sneak them in to sleepover. She'd keep her bedroom door locked so her dad wouldn't know.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

Safe in Mawa's room. They were just girls cracking up under the covers, talking shit about boys, making plans and talking about their dreams, right?

[Rebecca Everett]

They loved each other. And when Mawa went missing, they went way beyond hanging up missing posters and harassing the police for updates. In school, they were grilling their classmates for information.

[Kiki Smith]

Here's Kiki calling people that she used to chill out with if they seen her, if they know that she talked to somebody. What was her last whereabouts?

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

And when the bell rang at the end of the day, they hit the streets, tracking down an old boyfriend going to strange houses because they heard she hung out there. A few times we took the bus.

[Kiki Smith]

To places, to towns. Like we didn't know what was going on. Like at least we did that they weren't willing to risk our lives. It's like I was fighting. I wanted to see her. Like all three of us, me, Deonna and Eisha was willing to fight anybody when it came to her.

[Rebecca Everett]

They even got desperate enough to start checking creepy abandoned houses in areas where they used to hang out. They were walking down streets of boarded up houses as it's getting dark, looking for their best friend. Here's Deanna.

[Deanna Edison]

Yeah, we'll go on the porch. We'll even stick our head, like in the Door.

[Rebecca Everett]

Like hello, there's plywood over the windows. The girls are walking up to the door. It's been busted in by someone. Now it's just swinging in the breeze. I feel like even a cop wouldn't want to go in there alone.

[Deanna Edison]

We were too scared. Like, even if it's not her, what.

[Janesha Jackson]

If you find anybody in here?

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

Nobody wanted to say it out loud, but what if someone had taken Mawa and was keeping her in one of these places?

[Rebecca Everett]

But they didn't find her. And every day it felt harder to hang on to hope.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

Plus there was something else bothering them. Deanna wondered how much Mawa's father was pushing the police or trying to find her. But what she didn't know is that Mawa's father had waited over three days to report her missing.

[Rebecca Everett]

And that was something that surprised us too. And I'm sure there are some parents hearing this and saying, I'd report my kid missing right away.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

Yeah, maybe. But also think about it. Here's this immigrant dad who doesn't speak English well in a new country, raising two little girls all by himself.

[Rebecca Everett]

I guess. The girls said Mawa came and went as she pleased. Like her dad wouldn't always know where she was, but she always came home eventually.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

Maybe he thought she was at a friend's house, right?

[Rebecca Everett]

But it's not just about when he reported it. Because there's also how the police investigate if the community hears about it or cares. So Daisy, when I think about what happened here, I always contrast it with when a girl went missing in my town, which you know, is suburban, mostly white. I interviewed her parents. Everybody shared her picture thousands of times. But when Mawa and these girls were disappearing in North Jersey, most of their families weren't doing interviews. The community didn't come together to find them. They didn't have the support or the safety net that I'd seen. And neither did Mawa.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

Here's how Janisha feels about it.

[Janesha Jackson]

When you black, they don't give a fuck about you. But a 15 year old girl gone missing, you don't even see her on paper or on the news. Nowhere.

[Rebecca Everett]

We'll get into exactly why a little later, but we're here now to tell the story we should have told back then.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

Janisha and I went to dinner this spring. It was raining. And after we just sat in the car talking for hours. She showed me her Facebook from back then. They're like diary entries of the days and weeks after Mawa's disappearance. Through them, I could see and hear Janisha's growing desperation.

[Janesha Jackson]

I post, I miss you, baby girl. Wherever you are, I hope you good.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

A few more days of searching.

[Janesha Jackson]

I hope you're safe. I miss talking to you. I miss hearing your laugh.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

And then a week goes by.

[Janesha Jackson]

Baby, please call us so I can hear your voice, so I can know you're okay.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

Janesha missed Mawa's loudness, her laugh, her accent, her jokes. The days she cooked West African stew for her, the days they braided each other's hair in her bedroom. There are talks about how someday things were going to get better.

[Rebecca Everett]

But now Mawa was just gone. And her friends aren't going to stop. In fact, they're finding leads that no one else did.

[Janesha Jackson]

I'm like, we gotta figure out what's going on. I wanted to become a detective myself. Cause I honestly feel like somebody seen something. And that's the truth.

[Rebecca Everett]

And as Janesha was sharing Mawa's poster online, another family, 80 miles away in Philly was posting photos of a different smiling teenager.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

Has anyone seen my daughter?

[Rebecca Everett]

And on another post, if you see.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

My sister, please contact me.

[Rebecca Everett]

There was someone out there who had seen this girl. In fact, he'd been the last one to see her.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

A man with a baby face and a heart cold enough to squeeze the life out of her and then just casually return home to his family.

[Rebecca Everett]

Look at all these cows.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

Oh, my God.

[Rebecca Everett]

It's like, the most cows ever.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

A lot of them are laying down.

[Rebecca Everett]

Yeah.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

Does that mean it's going to rain?

[Rebecca Everett]

I think it, like, is raining. This was the cold, gray day last fall when Daisy and I drove six hours through rural Pennsylvania to. To Pittsburgh. On this trip, we were diving into another girl's story.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

You were driving, and I was trying to write a newsletter on my laptop, but it just wasn't happening, right because.

[Rebecca Everett]

We were jittery about the person we were driving all this way to meet. A woman we'd never even spoken to on the phone. She's a hero. In this story, Bryneisha Patterson.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

She's the person who could have stopped a serial killer in his tracks before he could harm anyone else, before he could even be a serial killer at all. If only the police had acted on what she told them nine years ago.

[Rebecca Everett]

Brunisha was the best friend of Robin West. Robyn was a pretty spiritual girl from a nice family in philly. She was 19 and still finding herself.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

Robyn and Bernisha were inseparable friends through all their highs and lows. And they were together the night of Robin's death.

[Rebecca Everett]

It took me weeks to track Bernisha down through her sister. She's never done an interview before. Surprisingly, no one ever asked.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

We talked to Bernisha for hours sitting on the couch in our hotel room. And it was so emotional. And trust me, it's not just because she was seven months pregnant. Any mom listening knows what I'm talking about. So is the baby gonna have a middle name?

[Bernisha Patterson]

Yeah. Robin.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

Robin. Oh, that's beautiful. Brielle Robin.

[Bernisha Patterson]

And my daughter's dad last name is west, so I think it's, like, perfect.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

Brielle Robin West. So sweet. We literally ran out of tissues. Because losing Robin broke Bernisha's heart. She relives it every time she talks about it, which is also why she doesn't do it often.

[Rebecca Everett]

But there are happy memories, too. Some that had us really cracking up.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

You mean like when she told me they got tattoos of their boyfriend's names?

[Bernisha Patterson]

It was her idea. Cause she wanted to get a tattoo. And I'm like, okay, I'll go with you. And, like, she got it. She was screaming so loud, like, in pain. I was just laughing. And then when I started taking mine, I was screaming too, so I understood.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

You guys didn't think that was crazy to get a voice name tatted on you?

[Janesha Jackson]

Yeah.

[Bernisha Patterson]

Like, later, like, I swear, like a week later, we both was like, like, why did we do this?

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

On the couch, Renisha scrolled through her phone. She was looking for a photo of a fun night that she'd given Robyn a little makeover.

[Bernisha Patterson]

I think that was, like, her first time getting dressed up. Oh, here it is. We got caught in the rain that night, so both our hair got really poofy, but it looked nice.

[Rebecca Everett]

Before that, I had seen all these Facebook photos of them together from back when they were 19 and ran all over Philly. In her selfies, Robyn always had a bright lipstick or a blue or pink wig. And I thought they looked like party girls. But the Bernisha we met up with last fall was nothing like that. Not anymore. She was tall, quiet, and carried herself with this confident, serious energy.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

She told us Robyn was fun loving and spiritual. She loved to sing and dance. Her parents raised her in the church, and she remained a devout Christian, even if she no longer went to services regularly.

[Bernisha Patterson]

She could sing anything, really, but gospel music was her favorite thing to sing.

[Janesha Jackson]

There's a voice that cries out in the silence.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

Do you remember any of her favorite gospel songs? She probably heard them at her dad's church.

[Bernisha Patterson]

Yes. It was this song by Forever Jones called He wants it all. She used to sing that all the time.

[Janesha Jackson]

He wants it all. And there's a God that walks over.

[Bernisha Patterson]

I can still hear her voice when she's singing, like, in my head.

[Rebecca Everett]

We wanted to talk to Robyn's family. A few relatives declined, and we never heard back from her mother or father. But her mom spoke about Robyn in court years later.

[Janesha Jackson]

Everywhere that she went, she was unforgettable.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

Anita Mason said Robyn was a happy kid. She wanted to be a veterinarian because she loved animals, or in the Air Force because she loved planes.

[Rebecca Everett]

But when she was a teenager, Robyn refused to follow her family's rules. She would run away from home. Eventually, she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

She didn't want to be controlled, and her mom felt like she had to take drastic steps to keep her safe. So she sent Robin to a residential placement school.

[Rebecca Everett]

It was kind of a cross between a school, a treatment facility, and a boot camp. It actually closed a few years later when a teenager died there after being restrained.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

Anita said it crushed her to send her daughter there, and it was her absolute last resort. And it wasn't a short visit. Robyn was stuck there for years until she was 18.

[Bernisha Patterson]

Like, she would get in her head a lot and black out. Like, she would rock a lot. Like, back and forth when they used to call her Rock and Robin because she would do it so much. But it was like a coping mechanism for her.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

That's where Robyn and Bernisha met and became each other's lifeline in this awful place. They were about 14 or 15.

[Rebecca Everett]

Brunisha struggled with anger issues. The staff used to send Robyn to her room to help calm her down because she was the only one who could.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

Bernisha told me when they finally got released, it felt like getting out of jail. Robyn initially went back to her family, but within a month or two, she decided to go live with Bernisha and her family in Philly.

[Bernisha Patterson]

Her dad was a pastor, and Robin didn't want to live that life. She kind of wanted to do her own thing. She liked girls, and her family kind of was against that. So I think that's why she left and came and stayed with me and my mom and my brothers and sisters. And my mom treated her just like she treated us. When we got on punishment, she was on punishment, too. When we got in trouble, she got in trouble, too.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

They eventually moved out, though, after Bernisha got in a fight with her mom. Even though they didn't have a plan of where to go and ended up staying with a bunch of friends.

[Rebecca Everett]

Things weren't easy. They were bouncing from place to place, but they finally had some control over their lives. If they wanted to stay out all night getting tattoos or whatever wild plan they came up with, they could.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

And when they were looking for jobs, they chose dancing at a strip club. Bernisha said Robyn loved to dance, and it felt like a rebellious, exciting choice. After years of being locked up, told when to eat and when to sleep.

[Bernisha Patterson]

I don't know. Both our parents were really strict, so it was just like us trying to go out there and just experiment with things.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

Like, I guess it's definitely the opposite of that church life.

[Rebecca Everett]

Bernisha said they knew other girls who did it, too. It didn't feel like a slippery slope to anything dangerous or scary.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

In court later, Robyn's mom said she didn't know what her daughter was doing, but she still worried about her every day. Even if Robyn didn't live at home, they were still talking regularly on FaceTime or Messenger.

[Janesha Jackson]

Eventually, she came home for a little while and spent her last Christmas with me. I have a video of that day, her acting silly and opening presents, helping me cook dinner. Two weeks before her death, she stopped by to say hi, and I watched her cross the street to go to the store. And I had no idea of the reason why I watched her. Now I know it was because it was the last time that I would see her alive.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

When I first heard this, it hit me hard. I literally cried just picturing it.

[Rebecca Everett]

Yeah, it was hard to listen to. So I guess this is where we say things are about to get dark. Because Robin and Bernisha didn't realize how fast things could go wrong.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

They felt like they always kept each other safe. Before in reform school, on the streets. But in this world, they had stepped into the sex trade. Their sisterhood just wasn't enough to protect them.

[Rebecca Everett]

Their nightmare started about a week before Robyn's 20th birthday, when a guy they had met in New Jersey messaged Bernisha.

[Bernisha Patterson]

He texted me one night and asked us if we wanted to call him and make some money. And me and her sat there all day and just talked about it. And she wanted to go. She was really, like, eager.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

It was an offer to do sex work. The deal was he'd set the girls up in a motel, and then he'd bring men to the room.

[Bernisha Patterson]

He came and got us in Philly at my grandmom's house. We were staying with my grandmom at the time.

[Rebecca Everett]

Like, were you guys sometimes doing that kind of work in Philly?

[Bernisha Patterson]

I mean, we never did it, like, out on the street like that. I mean, We've done it with people we know who, like, offer money or something, and we needed it then. Yeah, but never, like, out on the street still.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

This was totally different. But by the time they realized it, it was way too late.

[Rebecca Everett]

I told Bernisha I'd read the report from police about the night Robyn disappeared, August 31, 2016. It said, this man didn't just bring men by. He stayed in the motel room and kept the girls there against their will for days.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

We wanted to hear how she remembered it. And I expected her to be angry at him, but she didn't seem to.

[Bernisha Patterson]

Be at the time. I was scared. Like, I don't know if he thought that he was going to be our pimp, because that's how he was acting. Like he was really nice when he came and got us. And then he just got like, I don't know, weird.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

Like, nasty. Like, mean.

[Kiki Smith]

Yeah.

[Bernisha Patterson]

Like he never hit us or nothing like that, but it was kind of like he would have.

[Rebecca Everett]

Daisy. I remember we looked at each other at this comment because it was just hard to process. They'd basically been kidnapped and trafficked. Yeah.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

And to make it even more infuriating, this asshole was never even charged. And he wouldn't let them leave unless they gave him gas money.

[Bernisha Patterson]

That night we wanted to go back to Philly, and he just was like, I just wasted all this gas to come and get you guys, and y' all gotta get me gas money back and all this.

[Rebecca Everett]

Robin and Bernisha just felt completely alone, trapped in New Jersey. They're in way over their heads and the water just keeps rising fast and hard.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

So this jerk tells him he's gonna take them to a street in Newark so they can make money more quickly to give him back his gas money.

[Rebecca Everett]

It was almost 11pm when he drove them to Nai Ave. They'd never worked the street before, but they would just this one time. Just to get out of this.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

Standing next to Bernisha, Robyn looked much smaller. She was just 110 pounds. It had been a hot day and it was still almost 80 degrees. She was wearing a black lace tank top and black shorts, a Nike baseball cap and black sandals.

[Rebecca Everett]

Their sandals slapped the pavement as they walked the stretch of road with abandoned buildings and warehouses and, of course, men.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

In cars driving slowly by.

[Rebecca Everett]

A BMW pulled over. The tinted window rolled down to reveal a young, preppy looking black man.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

What was your first impression of him.

[Rebecca Everett]

When you saw him?

[Bernisha Patterson]

He was really handsome.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

Did you talk to him? Like, was he friendly?

[Rebecca Everett]

He.

[Bernisha Patterson]

Yeah, when he pulled up, like me and her were walking together and he just stopped. Well, I was like, which one do you want? And he pointed to Robin. She got in the car and I told him, I said, be careful with her. I love her. That was the last thing I said to him before they pulled off.

[Rebecca Everett]

As the car pulls away, Brunisha's instincts kick in. She takes out her phone and copies down the man's license plate. Coming up on Someone's hunting us.

[Janesha Jackson]

I knew she wouldn't just disappear, but I also knew that she was getting her life together and she was pregnant.

[Kiki Smith]

When does this guy have the time to have a second life?

[Rebecca Everett]

To be doing all this, all these crimes?

[Bernisha Patterson]

This was one of the most difficult.

[Rebecca Everett]

Fatal fire investigations that I was involved in.

[Bernisha Patterson]

You'll initially want to go back and.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

Ask why a DNA sample wasn't taken to begin with.

[Bernisha Patterson]

That's your first question.

[Rebecca Everett]

Someone's Hunting Us is a production of NJ Advance Media.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

The podcast is reported and produced by me, Daisy, Calavia Robertson, and Rebecca Everett. Our executive producers are Christopher Kelly, Jessica Beam, Jeff Roberts, and Jess Mazzola.

[Rebecca Everett]

Our sound engineer and composer is Paul Blake Maples. James Shapiro is our Associate Audio engineer. Our website was designed by Ela Saleem.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

Special thanks to each and every person who shared their story with us.

[Rebecca Everett]

If you want to see photos, videos, timelines and other extras from this story, check out our website someoneshuntingus.com youm can contact us at inboxomeoneshuntingus.com Follow someone's hunting.

[Daisy Calabio Robertson]

Us and if you're enjoying it, please rate and review it. Word of mouth is huge, so please help spread the word.

[Rebecca Everett]

The song He Wants it all is written by Dominique Jones and the composition is used with permission from Capital CMG Publishing. Copyright 2009 Mo Mercy BMI and 4 Jones Publishing BMI. All rights reserved. The master recording in this episode is performed by Forever Jones. Copyright 2009 EMI Gospel. All rights reserved.