Vanished After the Bus Stop: A Detroit Afternoon That Changed Everything
On January 9, 2024, a thirteen-year-old girl stepped off her school bus on Detroit’s east side, wearing a bright Rugrats coat and clear-framed glasses. It was an ordinary weekday afternoon, the kind that blends into routine. She had attended classes earlier that day, exchanged messages on her school-issued tablet, and left school just before 3 p.m. Like so many days before it, nothing outwardly signaled that this walk home would be the last confirmed moment anyone would see her alive.
Na’Ziyah Harris never made it home.
When evening arrived and she had not returned, concern set in. Family members began calling and checking with friends. There was no response. No messages. No activity on her tablet or phone. By the next morning, with still no word, her grandmother — who was also her legal guardian — contacted authorities to report her missing.
At first, the case moved slowly, treated as a missing juvenile with no immediate evidence of foul play. But within weeks, the narrative shifted. Investigators would come to believe that Na’Ziyah did not run away, did not disappear by choice, and did not survive the night she vanished.
What followed would become one of Detroit’s most disturbing missing-child cases — one involving alleged grooming, sexual abuse, a suspected pregnancy, and a man now accused of killing a child whose body has never been found.
The Girl Behind the Name
Na’Ziyah Harris was thirteen years old at the time of her disappearance. She lived in Detroit with her grandmother, who had raised her and served as her adoptive mother. Friends and family described her as playful, talkative, and affectionate — a girl who enjoyed joking around and spending time with relatives. She attended J.E. Clark Preparatory Academy and had no history of truancy or running away.
Physically, she stood about five-foot-three and weighed roughly 110 pounds. On the day she disappeared, her hair was styled in two braided puff balls. She wore clear-framed glasses, her ears were pierced, and she was dressed in a black jacket layered over a white sweater, a pink, black, and white Rugrats puffer coat with a fur-lined hood, light blue jeans, and red-and-white sneakers.
Behind the scenes, however, her life may have been far more complicated than it appeared. Investigators later alleged that Na’Ziyah had been involved in ongoing communication with an adult man known to her family — a man who had fathered several children with her aunt. According to allegations, this communication began when Na’Ziyah was still very young and escalated into sexual conversations and exchanges of explicit material.
By late 2023, investigators believe Na’Ziyah told this man she had missed her menstrual cycle. Authorities would later allege that she may have been pregnant at the time she disappeared — a fact that would become central to the theory of what happened to her.
January 9: The Messages, the Meet-Up, and the Silence
January 9, 2024 began like any other school day. Na’Ziyah took the bus to school in the morning and attended classes. While at school, she used her school-issued tablet to send a message to the adult man investigators would later identify as the primary suspect. In the message, she referenced meeting him after school and asked him to confirm receipt so she could delete his contact information. He replied.
After school, witnesses later testified that Na’Ziyah met up with the man and one of his coworkers at an auto repair shop in Detroit. From there, the three reportedly traveled together to Ypsilanti, Michigan, to work on a vehicle. Later that evening, they returned to Detroit and separated.
According to testimony, that was the last time anyone other than the suspect is believed to have seen Na’Ziyah alive.
That night, the suspect checked into a motel in a nearby suburb. Records later showed his phone was active in multiple locations throughout the night. Na’Ziyah did not return home. She did not contact friends. She did not log into her tablet again.
By the following morning, she was officially reported missing.
From Missing to Feared Lost
In the days immediately following the report, the case was initially handled as a missing juvenile investigation. As time passed with no sightings or communication, concern intensified. The case was eventually transferred to the Detroit Police Department’s homicide unit, signaling a significant shift in how investigators viewed her disappearance.
Search efforts expanded across Detroit and surrounding areas. Law enforcement searched wooded areas, parks, rivers, and ponds. Helicopters, K-9 units, and multiple agencies were involved. Volunteers distributed flyers and participated in organized searches. Despite the extensive efforts, there was no sign of Na’Ziyah herself.
That changed in March 2024.
Searchers discovered multiple personal items in brush near Seven Mile Road and Berg Road, close to the Rouge River. Among the items recovered were pieces of clothing matching what Na’Ziyah had been wearing, along with her school identification card. The condition of the items suggested a struggle. Additional clothing, including a pink jumpsuit and a black hoodie, was also recovered from the area.
Forensic testing later revealed blood on some of the clothing. Investigators stated that DNA belonging to both Na’Ziyah and the accused was found on the garments.
Cell phone data placed the accused’s phone in that same area late at night on January 10 and into the early morning hours of January 11.
From that point forward, authorities publicly stated they no longer believed Na’Ziyah was alive.
The Allegations and the Theory of What Happened
As the investigation progressed, prosecutors outlined a theory that painted a deeply disturbing picture.
According to allegations, the accused had been communicating with Na’Ziyah for years and had sexually abused her. Investigators said digital evidence showed sexually explicit messages exchanged between them beginning in 2022. Authorities alleged that by late 2023, Na’Ziyah believed she was pregnant with his child.
Digital records later showed the accused conducted internet searches related to abortion methods and harmful substances in the weeks leading up to her disappearance.
Prosecutors alleged that on January 9, 2024, after meeting Na’Ziyah, the accused attempted a clandestine abortion that resulted in her death. They further alleged that instead of seeking medical help, he killed her and attempted to conceal the crime by disposing of her body and belongings.
The accused denied these allegations and claimed he had not seen Na’Ziyah on the day she disappeared, statements investigators later said were contradicted by witness testimony and phone data.
Inside the Courtroom: Evidence, Testimony, and a Case Sent to Trial
In September 2024, prosecutors formally charged the accused with first-degree premeditated murder, child sexually abusive activity, and second-degree criminal sexual conduct. Despite the absence of a body, authorities stated the evidence supported the conclusion that Na’Ziyah had been killed.
In January 2025, a multi-day preliminary examination was held. Over twenty witnesses testified, including law enforcement officers, forensic analysts, family members, and civilians who had interacted with the accused and Na’Ziyah on the day she vanished.
Testimony detailed the timeline of the accused’s movements, the messages exchanged with Na’Ziyah, the discovery of physical evidence, and the DNA findings. A child relative testified about witnessing sexual abuse. Witnesses described seeing Na’Ziyah with the accused at various points on January 9.
At the conclusion of the hearing — exactly one year after Na’Ziyah disappeared — a judge ruled there was sufficient evidence to bind the case over for trial. The judge stated on the record that the evidence supported the belief that Na’Ziyah was sexually abused, impregnated, and killed.
The accused remains in custody. As of late 2025, Na’Ziyah’s body has not been recovered.
What Investigators Have Confirmed
Investigators have confirmed that Na’Ziyah communicated with the accused on the day she disappeared and arranged to meet him after school. Witnesses placed her with the accused at an auto repair shop and traveling to Ypsilanti before returning to Detroit. She was last seen alive in the accused’s presence.
Authorities confirmed that clothing and personal items belonging to Na’Ziyah were recovered near the Rouge River and that forensic testing identified her DNA and the accused’s DNA on the recovered garments. Blood was present on some items.
Cell phone data confirmed the accused’s phone traveled through locations consistent with the timeline prosecutors presented, including the area where evidence was found. Digital evidence confirmed a pattern of sexually explicit communication between the accused and Na’Ziyah.
Despite extensive searches, investigators have confirmed that Na’Ziyah’s remains have not been located.
The Questions That Won’t Let Go
- Where is Na’Ziyah Harris’s body?
- Did anyone assist the accused in concealing evidence or disposing of her remains?
- What exactly occurred between the last time she was seen and the disposal of her belongings?
- Could earlier intervention by child welfare agencies have prevented her disappearance?
- Are there additional victims who have not yet come forward?
- Will the trial provide new information about the location of her remains?
- Why did it take weeks for the investigation to escalate to a homicide case?
People Connected to the Case
- Na’Ziyah Harris - Missing Child - Thirteen-year-old girl who disappeared after getting off her school bus on January 9, 2024.
- Annette Harris - Grandmother and Guardian - Raised Na’Ziyah and reported her missing when she failed to return home.
- Jarvis Ramon Butts - Accused - Adult man known to the family, accused of grooming, sexually abusing, impregnating, and killing Na’Ziyah.
- Cordell Wright - Associate - Coworker who traveled with the accused and Na’Ziyah on the day she disappeared.
- Tijuana Butts - Sister of Accused - Reportedly saw a girl matching Na’Ziyah’s description at the auto shop.
- Roxy - Cousin - Family member who has spoken publicly about the impact of the case.
- Jernell Smith-Holland - Great-Aunt - Organized community rallies demanding justice.
- Valerie Smith - Community Member - Found Na’Ziyah’s school identification card near the Rouge River.
- Law Enforcement Investigators - Investigators - Conducted the search, forensic analysis, and case development.