The Disappearance of Garnell Moore

Garnell Moore was only 7 years-old when he vanished some time during August of 2002. Throughout Garnell’s entire life up until his disappearance, he bounced from relative to relative and never seemed to have a stable home. He was never raised by his biological parents—his mother had been in prison since his birth, and his father lived a transient lifestyle. Garnell spent his early years living with his paternal grandparents in Baltimore, Maryland. Then, when Garnell was 6 years-old, his paternal aunt Belinda Cash took him into her home located in a nearby Baltimore neighborhood. This living arrangement was very informal, as Belinda never sought legal custody of Garnell.

Garnell was last seen by one of his great aunts, Trina Morton, while he was playing in Belinda’s front yard during August 2002. Trina was 9 months pregnant at the time. She arranged with Belinda to have Garnell come visit her the following weekend, but she went into labor and had to reschedule. When Trina tried to reschedule the following week, Belinda told her that it was an “inconvenient time” because she was in the process of moving to a new home. Garnell was never seen by any of his other relatives again after that.

For unclear reasons, none of Garnell’s relatives noticed that he was missing until June of 2005; nearly 3 years after he was last seen. When they confronted Belinda about his whereabouts, she initially told them that he was on a school field trip to Virginia. However, Garnell was not enrolled in school—nor had he ever been in his life. Due to this, Garnell did not have any teachers or classmates who might’ve noticed his disappearance earlier. He also never had any contact with social services.

After learning that Belinda’s claim about Garnell being on a school trip was false, Garnell’s relatives called the police. When the police interviewed Belinda, she told them that she had no longer wanted to care for Garnell and so left him on the steps of a social services building in the 500 block of north Hilton Street near Edmondson Avenue in West Baltimore. The police attempted to locate this social services building, but quickly learned that the address Belinda had given them was completely fake. The house that Belinda lived in during 2002 was searched, but no trace of Garnell was found. Investigators found it suspicious that Belinda had lied to them, but she had no criminal record or history of child abuse, and they could not find any concrete evidence that she had harmed Garnell.

The overall details on Garnell’s disappearance still remain unclear today. Various sources say that police do not necessarily believe that the child had been harmed. Unfortunately, the above picture on the left appears to be the only actual picture of Garnell out there. The picture on the right may reflect what Garnell looks like today. If you think you have seen him, or if you have any other information that may help this case, please contact the Baltimore Police Department at 443-984-7385.

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[Disappearances with Reporting Gaps]