‘That girl was my sister': Family, police plead for answers in cold case

Wednesday marked the 13th-anniversary police found the body of a teenage girl who they say had been murdered.

“Thirteen years ago the body of an eighteen-year-old girl was found in Daytona. That girl was my sister Mamie Jamika Thomas,” said Walter Thomas, holding back tears during a news briefing. 

Investigators said Mamie Thomas, who was originally from Georgia, was living with her sister for the summer in Daytona Beach. 

They say she was last seen at the Volusia County Mall where she had a job interview. 

The medical examiner’s office ruled her death a homicide, but detectives are still trying to figure out how she was killed -- and who did it. 

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“She was an innocent, smart girl, beautiful,” her brother said. Her family said she had been missing for two weeks before her body was found in a vacant lot near the Halifax River. The lot still remains vacant today.

Police are now offering a $10,000 reward in the case.

“Somebody saw her somewhere before she was killed and that’s what we’re looking for,” said Cpt. Jennifer Krosschell.

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Cpt. Krosschell added they plan to run old evidence through new technology to see if it uncovers any clues. 

“The only thing I can think about is what she would be like if she was still here,” said her sister Shanita Williams.