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I'm gonna say it one

1:10

more time just for emphasis, netsuite.com/Conan.

1:26

When your sister, Anaya, dropped

1:29

you off that evening, she

1:31

did indicate that she would give you a

1:34

call when she got home, correct? Yes,

1:37

sir, she did. And?

1:49

Pure hell. Just the worst feeling

1:51

ever to not know where your child

1:53

is. I

2:00

mean, we were doing everything we could as parents

2:02

in that moment to try to find her.

2:05

19-year-old Anaya Haley Blanchard disappeared

2:07

last week. Anaya Blanchard was

2:09

reported missing 11 days ago.

2:12

There has been no trace of

2:14

her since she was... Blanchard is

2:17

the stepdaughter of UFC fighter Walt

2:19

Harris. Walt Harris! When

2:25

she was missing, fighting

2:28

was the furthest thing from my mind

2:31

at that point. We

2:42

just want our daughter home. We want her

2:44

found. If you have any information, please, please

2:46

unfold. I was almost a shell of

2:48

myself. You know, honestly, I didn't even know

2:50

if I'd fight again. But

2:54

she always was the one that was like, don't

2:57

stop. You

2:59

know, keep pushing, keep pushing. I know it's hard. Everything

3:03

for me moving forward is about making

3:05

her proud. I'm

3:07

always fighting for my baby girl. She

3:12

was a very happy girl that loved life. Very

3:18

loving and giving. She

3:21

always put others before herself. People

3:24

could just really tell, like, that she had something

3:26

about her that was special. There

3:31

is nothing in my mind other than finding Anaya. You

3:39

don't sleep, you don't eat. You're constantly

3:41

thinking about where she is, what has

3:43

happened, and it does

3:45

not go away. We were just trying

3:47

to keep each other sane so we could keep

3:49

moving forward. So it

3:51

was a constant go, go, go. We're

3:54

not stopping. This

3:56

is something that I always give all the years. We're

4:00

not going to give up until I find you. We're

4:02

going to bring you home tonight. You're coming home, so

4:04

don't worry. James

4:15

Brown reports fighting for a

4:17

Nia. I

4:27

had a Nia on my birthday. June 22nd. That

4:31

was just going to be something so special in

4:33

life for she and Nia to share the same

4:35

birthday. Her

4:43

laugh, infectious, her

4:45

spirit, irrepressible. Ania

4:50

Blanchard was just 19 when

4:52

she vanished. Her

4:54

vibrant presence replaced by

4:56

the terrifying silence. Of

5:00

her absence. Ania's

5:07

mother, Angela Harris. She

5:09

just embraced people. She just loved people. She

5:12

would walk in and no matter how you felt,

5:14

how down you were, she could pick

5:16

you up. Ania's

5:22

stepfather, UFC

5:24

heavyweight, Walt Harris, was

5:27

a rising star ranked ninth in the world in

5:30

the fall of 2019. He

5:34

says Ania constantly inspired him. You know,

5:36

after wins we celebrate. If it's a

5:38

loss, she'd always pick me up. And

5:40

she was always that rock, that

5:42

voice that kept me going. Ania

5:46

grew up in Homewood, Alabama near

5:48

Birmingham. Now on to back, number

5:50

22, Nia Blanchard. Go,

5:53

tears! It's practically local

5:56

folklore that after every school softball

5:58

game, Ania's parents were Anaya invited

6:00

the opposing team to join hers

6:02

on the Pitchers mound to

6:04

share high fives and the

6:07

Lord's Prayer. And

6:09

even if we lost, the other team lost no

6:11

matter what, no hard feelings. I

6:13

think that was her whole thing. This

6:16

is a way to connect people. Longtime

6:18

friend Hannah Crocker met Anaya in

6:21

the sixth grade. She

6:23

was one of those people that just wanted to

6:25

make sure that, hey, you're doing okay,

6:28

if not, let me help you out. Did

6:30

folks ever think that you two might be

6:32

boyfriend and girlfriend? All the time.

6:35

Is this your girlfriend? I'm like, no, this is my sister.

6:38

They were nearly inseparable, says

6:41

Anaya's older brother, Elijah Blanchard.

6:44

We grew up, you know, 17 months

6:46

apart. We were always together and

6:48

she even followed me to college. Elijah

6:50

headed off to Auburn University in 2017. Anaya

6:54

enrolled at nearby Southern Union State

6:57

Community College a year later, finding

6:59

an apartment just minutes from her

7:01

brother. I would call her every

7:03

morning. Sorry,

7:06

it gets kind of rough sometimes. October

7:10

23rd, 2019, Anaya, Elijah and

7:13

their mom, Angela attended the

7:15

funeral of a family friend

7:18

in Northern Alabama. Immediately

7:20

after the service, the siblings had

7:23

to leave. Both had

7:25

to work the next morning back in Auburn,

7:27

185 miles away. She

7:31

looked over at me. She said, hey, mom, we really

7:33

need to leave now because it's getting late. I said,

7:35

yeah, you're right. It's seven o'clock. You've got a four

7:37

hour drive. And then she hugged me and I kissed

7:39

her on my cheek and I told her I loved

7:41

her. Driving right

7:43

past Birmingham, Anaya and Elijah made

7:46

a pit stop at home to

7:48

see their stepfather Walt. He

7:54

was training for his next fight. Hey, I'm

7:56

here. I'm here. I'm

7:58

here. I'm here. I didn't ever call

8:00

them step kids. They were my children. It's

8:03

just the way I saw it. I loved them like my

8:05

own. The children's

8:07

biological father, Elijah Blanchard Sr.,

8:10

a local pastor and businessman,

8:13

remained a close presence in their

8:15

lives. He and Angela divorced

8:17

in 2004. Soon

8:20

she started dating Walt Harris. And

8:22

then he met Anaya and

8:24

Elijah Jr. for the first time. You

8:27

came into her life around age three. Tell

8:29

us about how that bonding

8:32

process went. I

8:34

think it started day one. Man,

8:36

we did everything together. It

8:43

was beautiful for me to watch their bond

8:45

grow over the years. They loved

8:47

me like they knew me their whole lives. We

8:49

just felt like a little family. Walt

8:51

and Angela made it official, getting

8:54

married in January, 2010. They

8:57

eventually had two children of their own,

9:00

Asa and Ayla. He was

9:02

with them more than I was because I worked a lot. Angela,

9:05

a pediatric emergency room nurse,

9:07

worked nights at a Birmingham

9:09

hospital. So it was Anaya

9:12

who helped Walt with the younger children.

9:14

It was me and Anaya. She helped me basically raise

9:16

her little brother and sister. Coming from a

9:19

strong Christian background, I wanted to be a good

9:21

influence in their lives. The

9:23

kids certainly look up to their dad

9:25

at six five, 250 pounds. Walt

9:29

Harris has been a towering presence in

9:31

their lives. Walt, the

9:34

kid ticker! And

9:37

in the bruising octagon cage

9:39

of the ultimate fighting championship,

9:42

the UFC. Man,

9:45

everything he throws is hard. When,

9:50

lose or draw, Walt's family has

9:52

always been in his corner. My

9:55

family's always been the reason why I fight and they've

9:57

always been the reason why I get back up. In

10:00

Anaya, she was the main catalyst for that. After

10:03

the funeral, Anaya and Elijah's visit

10:06

with Walt was all too short.

10:09

A brief talk, a long hug, and

10:11

they were back on the road to Auburn, still

10:14

about two hours away. When

10:17

they left, Walt says he

10:20

was left with a growing

10:22

sense of regret. I

10:25

struggle with it every day. I should

10:29

have just told them to stay because I felt

10:31

like she was tired. I remember she said, no,

10:33

I'm fine at all. I'll be fine. And I

10:35

hugged her and I told her I love her

10:37

and that was it. They

10:41

made the drive without incident, arriving

10:44

in Auburn around 11 p.m. Anaya

10:49

dropped off Elijah at his apartment.

10:52

So I just said, I love her, be careful and just make

10:54

sure you get home safe. So

10:58

at 11.09 p.m., I texted her

11:01

and said, are you close to being home?

11:03

She responded right back, yeah. Anaya's

11:07

college roommate, Sarah O'Brien.

11:09

She always let me know where she was at

11:11

and when she would be home. We

11:14

actually shared each other's location

11:16

on our iPhone. That's

11:18

because, Sarah says, Anaya had

11:20

a deep rooted fear. Since

11:23

the day I've met Anaya, she always told me

11:25

that that was her biggest fear, to be kidnapped

11:29

or murdered. Like

11:32

as soon as she walked in, she would check every room.

11:35

She would tell me multiple times, like she

11:37

had nightmares about it happening to her. You

11:40

know, she really never went anywhere by herself at

11:43

night. But

11:45

that night, after dropping off her

11:47

brother, she

11:49

was alone with just three

11:51

miles to go. That's how

11:53

far away she and Sarah lived from

11:55

Elijah. Three miles, normally

11:58

a 10-minute drive. But

12:02

nearly 30 minutes later,

12:04

Anaya had not come home.

12:07

Sarah texted again. Did

12:09

you go out without me? About

12:12

a minute later came the reply. I'm

12:15

smoking a blunt, LOL. It

12:17

was the word blunt, Sarah

12:19

says, that stopped her. She

12:21

had never heard Anaya use it. I

12:25

said, who are you smoking with? Eric. I

12:27

say, who is that? I

12:30

just met him and I responded

12:32

with, where? It

12:35

was 11.43 p.m. There

12:38

would not be another response. Sarah

12:41

checked her cell phone one last

12:43

time for Anaya's location. She

12:46

appeared to be at a nearby apartment

12:48

complex where lots of students lived. Sarah

12:51

went to bed, she says, thinking

12:53

Anaya was hanging out with

12:55

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14:19

hours. The

14:26

next morning, October 24th, Angela

14:29

Harris took her children to school and

14:31

reached out to Aniyah to talk. It

14:34

was their early morning ritual. We

14:37

FaceTimed every morning. That was kind of our

14:39

thing. Like, good morning, what are you

14:41

doing? What do you got planned for the day?

14:43

So when I called her at 8 a.m. and

14:45

she didn't answer the FaceTime, I thought, okay, well,

14:47

you know, she's busy, so I'll give her a

14:50

little bit longer. Sarah was

14:52

eager to hear about Eric, the

14:54

mystery man Aniyah met the night

14:56

before. She went

14:58

straight to Aniyah's bedroom. And

15:01

she wasn't there. She

15:05

would always come home. She

15:07

wouldn't spend the night with anyone

15:09

she'd just met. Sarah glanced at

15:11

her cell phone, looking for Aniyah's

15:13

latest location. But there

15:15

was none. Aniyah's

15:19

phone had gone dark. When

15:22

did concern turn

15:24

to worry for you, Sarah? When

15:27

I called her

15:29

the lady that she babysat for, and

15:32

she hadn't shown up that morning because

15:34

she never misses a day

15:37

to babysit those kids. She loved them.

15:42

She was like a mother to my kids. Corinna

15:47

Thomas, the working mother who depended

15:49

on Aniyah, said she was the

15:52

most reliable nanny she ever had.

15:54

Amazing. I don't know how else

15:56

to explain it. Like, every

15:59

good... the quality that you want in a person

16:01

she had. Like,

16:04

everything. She

16:08

never once, never once,

16:10

didn't show up to take care of those

16:12

kids. And

16:15

that's when I hopped in the car to look for

16:17

Anaya's car. The longer

16:19

I drove, the more worried I got. I

16:21

didn't see any trace of her at all.

16:25

Sarah decided to get Anaya's brother

16:27

and take a second look. Her

16:32

roommate calls me and tells me that Anaya never

16:34

even came home last night. Anaya's

16:36

missing. And

16:43

then I told him what she said about

16:45

Eric and that she was with him. And

16:48

he was like, no, she didn't tell me anything about

16:50

that. My heart kind of just

16:52

sank. And

16:55

this was completely out of her character. This

16:57

isn't Anaya. Anaya wouldn't have run away. Immediately,

17:01

I would call my parents and was like, Anaya's

17:05

missing. And he says, Mom, we

17:07

can't find Anaya. And I said, Son,

17:09

what are you talking about? You can't find her. He

17:12

said, no, Mom, I'm in her apartment

17:15

and we can't find Anaya. Immediately

17:18

alarmed, Angela and Walt

17:20

took off for Anaya's apartment. And

17:25

she was two excruciating hours away. We

17:28

just got in his truck and just flew

17:30

to Auburn. All

17:34

types of things are going through our head. What's

17:36

happened? What's going on

17:39

in Pure Hill? Walt, how did you process all

17:41

of this when you found out

17:43

that your daughter was missing? That

17:45

drive to Auburn was the

17:48

hardest thing

17:52

in my life because I knew something

17:55

wasn't right. Elijah

17:57

decided to check with Corinna Thomas

18:00

Again, maybe Anaya showed

18:02

up. I wasn't worried until

18:04

her brother

18:06

messaged me. Hey, I'm

18:08

Anaya's brother. I was wondering if you heard from

18:10

my sister today. No, I haven't.

18:12

I called her a bunch of times this morning and

18:15

she missed picking up the kids this morning. Yes,

18:17

I'm at her apartment right now. We have been

18:19

looking everywhere for her and can't find her. And

18:23

Anaya never left her dog,

18:25

Blue, alone overnight. That

18:28

was her baby. We just knew when we

18:30

got to her apartment that, wait, there's something

18:32

really bad wrong here. Word

18:34

quickly spread to Anaya's friends.

18:37

And I was like, I was just talking to her

18:39

last night. What are you talking about? I mean, I

18:41

live three hours away from her. I was like, I

18:43

don't know where she is. Hannah Crocker dropped

18:45

everything and headed to Anaya's

18:47

apartment. Once it was 24 hours,

18:50

I was like, that's not Anaya. In my

18:52

heart, I was like, she's a female, something

18:54

happened. Yeah,

18:57

Auburn is a college town. And

19:00

it's a very safe place. Former

19:03

Lee County District Attorney Brandon Hughes.

19:05

This, from the very beginning, just

19:07

felt differently based on the information

19:10

we had. It just didn't feel like this was

19:12

a college student who decided to leave and blow

19:14

off some steam. That just wasn't her personality. That's

19:16

just not something she would have done. Anaya's

19:19

disappearance was breaking news.

19:22

Right now, the search continues for a missing 19-year-old.

19:24

They're looking for Anaya Blanchard. If you

19:26

have any information on where she is,

19:28

call Auburn Police. If you

19:31

have any leads on where our daughter

19:33

is, Anaya Blanchard, please, please,

19:35

please go to authorities, tell someone she

19:37

was last seen in a black

19:40

Honda CRV 2017. Please,

19:42

if you know anything, we have

19:45

to have her back. We have to have her back.

19:49

October 25th, with

19:51

Anaya gone for two days, her

19:54

Honda was spotted in an apartment

19:56

complex in Montgomery, Alabama, 55 miles.

20:00

from Auburn and

20:02

it was badly damaged. Worse

20:07

still, there was no sign of

20:09

Anaya. Corinna

20:12

Thomas had to break the news to

20:14

her children. And they said,

20:16

Anaya's missing. And

20:22

then they cried. And

20:26

then they came up with their own

20:28

plan to help find her. They

20:30

got their tablets. Hey

20:33

Google, how many houses are in Montgomery?

20:36

And I was like, why are you looking that up? And he

20:38

said, because we got to go see how many houses we have

20:40

to go look for her at. They just wanted

20:42

to find her. But

20:45

nothing anyone did led to

20:47

Anaya siding. Then

20:51

a few days after she disappeared, police

20:53

discovered that after Anaya dropped off

20:56

her brother, she stopped

20:58

at this gas station, just

21:00

two minutes from her home. It's

21:04

a Chevron gas station on College

21:06

Street. Anaya

21:10

entered the Chevron gas station approximately 11.21

21:13

in the evening on the night of October 23. And

21:16

she stayed there approximately a minute and a half to

21:18

two minutes before she left. Anaya

21:20

bought a bag of sour cream

21:22

and onion potato chips and

21:24

a drink. That was her thing every

21:27

night, even at home growing up, she

21:29

would snack right before bed. We

21:32

needed to know if anybody saw anything. What

21:35

would she do? Did she leave with anybody?

21:52

Investigators zeroed in on the

21:54

Chevron gas station where Anaya

21:56

was last seen on video

21:58

before she disappeared. They

22:01

were looking for any leads to where she might

22:04

be. Praise God! Praise God! Praise God! The

22:13

community of Homewood, where she grew up,

22:16

prayed for Anaya's safe return.

22:19

You go for hair

22:21

and hair. Ribbons

22:29

and bowls in Anaya's favorite

22:31

color appeared everywhere. It

22:34

has rocked us to our core. It's

22:36

one of ours. Come home,

22:38

Anaya! And

22:41

when they weren't praying for, they

22:44

were out trying to find her. Pretty

22:48

quickly people came together it's like, hey

22:50

let's do searches here, let's do searches

22:53

there. We

22:55

would go in the woods, we would go behind people's houses,

22:57

we would go in the alleyways. We

23:03

drove my truck in

23:06

backwoods, we were all in people's yards. We

23:09

must have canvassed from Auburn to Tuskegee, just me

23:11

and her within the first two or three days.

23:16

The investigation quickly expanded across

23:18

several counties, especially after Anaya's

23:20

car was found 55 miles

23:22

away in Montgomery. You

23:27

have to imagine there were just massive areas that

23:29

we had to search. There were

23:31

dozens of agencies, state agencies, county

23:33

agencies, local

23:35

agencies, federal agencies, huge task force.

23:38

And reward money poured in. UFC

23:41

President Dana White and light heavyweight

23:43

champion John Jones each contributed $25,000.

23:50

It's a pain, it's an

23:52

anxiety, it's just so many emotions.

23:56

You're trying to hold hope that something

23:59

positive is going to come. come out of it, but

24:01

as the days go on, your hope just starts to

24:03

dwindle and dwindle. Now

24:08

missing eight days, hope

24:10

was dealt a major blow. Tonight

24:13

police in Auburn, Alabama say there's evidence that

24:15

a missing college student is a victim of

24:17

foul play. Evidence from within

24:19

her vehicle is the reason

24:22

that we are aware that she was

24:24

harmed and we do consider this a

24:26

case where there's foul play involved. Police

24:30

would not say what they found,

24:35

but Anaya's biological father, Elijah Blanchard Sr., was

24:38

not ready to give up. That

24:40

was hard for us. I'm a man of faith and regardless

24:42

of what the police say, I still

24:44

have hope that my Anaya's out there waiting on her

24:46

father to get her. Anaya's disappearance was taking more than

24:48

an emotional toll on Walt Harris. He

24:56

was a man of faith. He

25:00

immediately canceled his upcoming fight. Anaya

25:04

was the only thing on

25:06

everyone's mind. I

25:18

wasn't able to focus at all. It was chaos or

25:20

there was sadness. I

25:29

just wanted to be there for my family. It's

25:32

like a dark abyss. You're

25:36

fighting that off. Then,

25:40

after 14 days, the

25:43

police announced they wanted this

25:45

man. He

25:47

was seen at the gas station store at

25:49

the same time Anaya was there. An

25:54

eyewitness said he thought he saw him

25:56

force Anaya into her car before they

25:59

drove away. off together. This

26:02

is a person of interest. Anyone who

26:05

sees him is asked to call 911.

26:11

Someone did and the man

26:13

the police were looking for was not named

26:15

Eric. He

26:18

was Ibrahim Yazid, a

26:20

30-year-old from Montgomery and

26:23

he had a lengthy arrest record.

26:26

He should be considered dangerous and

26:28

would be potentially armed. Police

26:31

said Yazid was charged earlier that

26:33

year with kidnapping, robbing

26:36

and nearly beating a 77-year-old man

26:39

to death. He

26:42

was also accused of robbing and beating

26:44

a second man. Despite the

26:46

serious charges, he was free on

26:49

bond and had been staying

26:51

in a hotel near the Chevron gas station.

26:55

How is this person free to walk

26:57

into a gas station? How is he

26:59

just minutes down the road from me?

27:02

How is he in the same gas station as my

27:04

best friend? But he was and

27:07

that was at 11.22 p.m. Anaya's

27:11

car was next seen a

27:13

few minutes later at another

27:15

nearby gas station where Yazid

27:18

bought a small cigar. It

27:24

would be a little more than an

27:26

hour before a license plate reader picked

27:28

up Anaya's Honda near the entrance to

27:31

I-85, heading south towards

27:33

Montgomery. Anaya's

27:37

parents clung to hope and

27:40

they had faith that their daughter would be

27:42

found alive. They even

27:44

prayed for Yazid. You can stop

27:47

now. You can change this. You

27:49

can let her go. God will forgive you. Police

27:56

captured Yazid the following day, hiding

27:59

in the woods. 145 miles away in another state. Police

28:05

say he did not surrender peacefully.

28:10

30-year-old Ibrahim Yazid was arrested

28:12

overnight in Florida on the charge

28:14

of kidnapping in the first degree.

28:17

Yazid appeared in a Florida court the

28:19

next day with a swollen left

28:21

eye. And court documents

28:24

finally revealed what police found in

28:26

the car. It

28:28

was blood and a lot

28:30

of it. Court documents today say

28:33

blood that was discovered in Anaya

28:35

Blanchard's car was quote, indicative of

28:37

someone suffering a life-threatening injury. Yazid

28:40

waved extradition to Lee County, Alabama

28:43

where Angela and Walt Harris would

28:45

be waiting, hoping to

28:47

find out where their daughter was.

28:58

The Harrises were

29:00

committed to facing Yazid whenever

29:02

he appeared in court. And

29:06

each time felt like the first time. As

29:10

a father, as a guy, I'm imagining as well what

29:13

might have been coursing through your veins.

29:16

Then you see him, Mr. Yazid, looking back

29:18

at you guys. Anger.

29:22

I remember shaking.

29:24

I wanted to climb across the street. I

29:27

wanted to climb across the barricade.

29:31

It made me really angry, because he was

29:33

just kind of smug. Like you're tough, I'm

29:35

tough too. You know, like he was challenging

29:38

me almost. It

29:40

took all of Walt's training in the ring

29:43

and Angela's steady hand to keep

29:45

him from ripping into Yazid. She

29:47

grabbed me and she said, just

29:50

breathe. And I just started

29:52

trying to hear her voice because

29:54

I could not, I wouldn't take my eyes off

29:56

of him. Like, okay, who's gonna look away first

29:59

type of deal? Angela,

30:01

how did you stay composed?

30:04

I wanted him to know that I'm representing

30:06

my daughter and

30:08

that I'm not going anywhere. We're right here and

30:10

we're going to fight this all the

30:12

way through. Yazid maintained

30:14

his innocence and the

30:17

burden to find Anaya mounted. Everybody

30:21

was on edge because there's a lot of pressure.

30:23

There's pressure to find this little girl. Angela

30:29

and Walt Harris publicized their daughter's

30:31

disappearance on Dr. Phil. I

30:33

love you baby girl. We're

30:36

looking for you. We're doing everything

30:38

that we can and we're

30:41

going to get you. I

30:43

promise. And their own television. You're

30:45

doing everything you can but up to this

30:47

point it hasn't been enough. By

30:52

then the DA, Angela and

30:54

Walt had grown close. If

30:58

you want to call up, get frustrated

31:00

and yell at me for an hour, cry with me for

31:02

an hour, I'm there and

31:04

that's what we were doing. A

31:08

month after Anaya went missing,

31:10

the DA had news. Authorities

31:12

now believed that this man,

31:16

Antoine Fisher, who once served

31:18

time for murder, helped Yazid

31:21

dispose of evidence. He

31:23

was charged with kidnapping. He

31:25

soon cooperated, providing a roadmap

31:27

to Anaya. Anaya's

31:33

remains were located in

31:35

Macon County, Alabama, which is between

31:38

Auburn and Montgomery. Obviously

31:42

we didn't know to a hundred percent certainty

31:44

that that's who it was. You

31:46

know, there were several items of clothing. Out

31:49

there I saw a boot. I

31:52

took a photograph of it. Hughes asked

31:54

the Harris's to meet at the DA's

31:57

office. They don't know why they're there. showed

32:00

the Harris's, the

32:02

photograph. The Sorel boots,

32:04

like this one, were a gift from

32:06

Walt when the family visited New York

32:09

City. Walt looked at the phone.

32:15

He just dropped it on the table and said, y'all excuse me?

32:20

My wife had come up there and she

32:22

came up the back stairwell. She

32:28

said she saw a wall just

32:30

punching the wall. I

32:32

mean, this is a concrete wall. He's

32:35

screaming and just punching this wall. That's

32:41

hard. Talk

32:45

about a parent's worst nightmare when

32:47

her body was found. Immediately,

32:51

I just wanted to actually

32:53

know if I could see

32:55

my child. I just want to

32:57

see her. You

32:59

know, we were told no. I

33:02

just didn't want to go on anymore.

33:05

Walt, broken, confused,

33:10

angry. I

33:15

just wanted to know why and what happened. Hughes

33:21

and the police returned to the

33:23

woods to search for more evidence.

33:28

Just literally crawling on hands and knees

33:31

looking for evidence, looking for anything that

33:33

we could find. And what

33:35

they found helped the Harris's

33:37

finally learn what happened to

33:39

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daily to 500 500. That's

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audible.com/history daily or text history daily

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to 500 500. But

36:00

Walt ultimately found comfort

36:03

in his faith. It brought me back.

36:05

It's helped me understand that God didn't

36:07

do this. And

36:10

on December 2, 2019, then

36:13

District Attorney Hughes announced the

36:15

person responsible was Ibrahim Yazid.

36:19

He was now being charged with capital

36:21

murder. We'll

36:23

also be seeking the death penalty. Two

36:26

days later, the Harris's were in

36:28

court when Yazid fought back. I

36:30

got a record too. They don't

36:33

have no video, no audio of me

36:35

shooting anyone. That's why I'm trying

36:37

to see how y'all are going to wind me

36:39

over on Harris Day, but

36:42

y'all ain't presenting no evidence. Yazid

36:45

seemed pleased when he was done.

36:50

The attitude, the smirks, the

36:52

looks. Wow. But

36:57

maybe the most damning evidence

36:59

against Yazid comes from Antoine

37:01

Fisher. Remember, he

37:03

was facing charges of helping Yazid.

37:06

Those charges were dropped. Fisher

37:08

told police that just hours after

37:11

Anaya disappeared, Yazid showed

37:13

up in Montgomery looking for help.

37:17

And he was driving what looked like

37:20

Anaya's black Honda. Fisher

37:24

said he followed Yazid to an apartment

37:26

complex. The same

37:28

complex where police would find Anaya's Honda.

37:32

Yazid then got into the truck

37:34

Fisher was driving, says lead detective

37:37

Josh Mixon. They

37:39

ended up behind a church near a cemetery.

37:43

And when he looked in the rearview mirror,

37:45

he saw Yazid dragging something

37:47

wrapped in a comforter. It

37:50

appeared to be two legs. He drug it

37:52

in the woods, come back, got in the vehicle, and

37:55

he said, tell me that's not a body. Fisher

37:57

says Yazid told him he shot

37:59

a girl. quote, when she

38:01

went for the gun. Wow, it's

38:04

indescribable how someone

38:06

could actually do those things to

38:08

my beautiful daughter. And I'm so

38:11

traumatizing to think about what she

38:13

went through. Hearing it in

38:16

grave detail, it was painful.

38:19

And then the Harris's would learn that

38:21

Yazid, in addition to being

38:23

charged with nearly beating an elderly man

38:26

to death, was also being

38:28

charged with shooting two other people

38:30

the year before he's accused of

38:33

killing Aniyah. What

38:37

would you like to see happen? Justice.

38:39

Definitely justice. I want justice for my daughter.

38:42

But justice has been delayed. The

38:45

pandemic has slowed all of Yazid's

38:47

criminal cases and his lawyer

38:50

declined to be interviewed. Walt,

38:53

who had considered ending

38:55

his career, found inspiration when Aniyah

38:57

came to him in a dream. She

39:01

was sitting in our living room and

39:03

there was just a beam of light on her. And

39:07

she had her arms out and I hugged her and

39:09

she said, keep going. And

39:11

I just woke up like with a renewed vigor. I

39:15

felt fresh. One, two, three, hit.

39:20

One, two, three, hit. Keep pushing.

39:22

Four. Inspired by Aniyah,

39:25

Walt Harris bravely returned to the

39:27

ring. Incredibly,

39:30

a fight was scheduled for October

39:32

24th, the

39:34

anniversary of Aniyah's murder. When

39:37

he first told me, I said, are

39:39

you sure? He said, I'm sure. And

39:42

so I knew how important that this

39:44

was to him and how important that this would be

39:46

to her, to Aniyah, and that she would want him

39:48

to do it. Walt

39:51

flew to Abu Dhabi and spent

39:53

two weeks in quarantine, training

39:55

in a hotel. And... Oh, my

39:57

God. We're gonna have to go. app

46:00

or wherever you get your podcasts. You

46:02

can listen to Scamfluencers early and ad-free

46:04

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