A Bridgeton, Mo. woman and her 2-year-old daughter who were reported missing last week were found dead in a vehicle parked near an apartment complex in North St. Louis.
Police found the bodies of Kanisha Richardson, 37, and two-year-old Ava Richardson inside a maroon 2014 GMC Terrain just before 4:30 p.m. Saturday.
The two were reported missing on Wednesday, Jan. 13 — two days after Richardson made suicidal statements on Facebook.
The two were seen at Chuck E. Cheese’s at the South County Center in Mehlville, Mo. on Jan. 11. They were last seen alive at a Chick-Fil-A at 12450 St. Charles Rock Road in Bridgeton on Jan. 12, according to KSDK News. Based on witness sightings, police initially believed they were headed to Florida.
No cause of death was released, but police said Richardson may have been armed with a handgun and that she and the toddler were endangered persons.
Alea Turner, Ava’s stepmother, launched a GoFundMe page to raise money for her stepdaughter’s funeral expenses. The child’s biological father is unknown.
“On January 11th My Wife and Daughter went missing. January 16th we found out that Kanisha and Ava were gone,” Turner wrote on GoFundMe.
“My babies are no longer here to laugh with, argue with, make new memories, or grow. I won’t hear ‘mommy ima be a lady like you’ or ‘I’m getting big like my sis sis’. I won’t hear Kani obsess about IHOP coffee or laughing at all her new style stunts. I’m breaking down. No ones prepared for one burial let alone two. Nobody should ever have to bury a child. No one should have to know what it feels like to bury a sister. Anything helps Please help me bury them.”
