Strangers donate to bring remains of missing DC woman home
A family in Southeast D.C. are fighting a tight deadline to get the remains of their beloved one after passing away earlier this month. Their remains may have been in
A family in Southeast D.C. are fighting a tight deadline to get the remains of their beloved one after passing away earlier this month. Their remains may have been in a morgue for over a decade.
December 6th marks the deadline, Delores Mitchell of Southeast, D.C. told Fox5 that she and her family are up again the deadline. Henderson Long, D.C.’s missing person advocate, created a GoFundMe page where strangers have been donating to the cause.
“She would rather be out getting the leaves up than to be in the house and that way she could see everybody outside and wave to her friends in the neighborhood,” said Mitchell describing her daughter, Armenta “Penny” Mitchell-Williams.
Mitchell stated that her daughter was once a member of the National Guard and had been working as a civilian in Maryland around the time of her disappearance.
Court records indicate that Williams had got in some trouble in Maryland. The family are unaware about what happened. They do know that in 2012, Mitchell Williams became apart of DC-area missing persons case. An older post by the group, “The Charley Project,” reads, “Williams was last seen in the 1900 block of north 14th Street in southeast Washington D.C. on July 24, 2019. She has never been heard from again. Few details are available in her case.”
Mitchell says she gave DNA to assist in the investigation and Penny’s son done the same back in 2018. Then this month, a match was made.
The mother said that DC police was at her door stating that her daughter’s remains had been discovered in 2007 and were inside a morgue the whole entire time.
Henderson Long along with “DC’s Missing Voice” told Fox5 that he is trying to help the family raise enough money to get a mortician to the morgue so that Penny’s remains will not be cremated along with a dozens of strangers.
“Everybody needs help. We’re never exempt,” said Long, “Most of the families in this country live paycheck to paycheck. It could you tomorrow. I would be doing the same thing if you didn’t have the money. It’s just. I know what it feels like and it’s very important for the community to come together in times like this.”
