Masaraha Ross -- Missing 10/18/09

Police Searching for Missing Girl



WINTER HAVEN | Winter Haven police said they are searching for a 2½-year-old girl who they described as “missing and endangered.’’

Police said Masaraha Ross was last known to be with her mother, 29-year-old Ronkeya Holmes, 29, who is also missing. Police would not say why they consider the child to be endangered.

The child and Holmes, who is from Georgia, were last seen Oct. 18 at a Walmart store in Haines City, said Winter Haven police Detective Amity McGee.

Holmes came to Polk to pick up her daughter who was visiting with relatives. When family members did not hear from Holmes, they notified police, McGee said.

Police said there are conflicting stories as to the last known location of the mother and daughter. However, witness statements place them in either the Winter Haven or Haines City area.

Multiple law enforcement agencies are involved in this case, according to police.

Anyone with information about the missing pair can contact Detective Sgt. Chris Ford at 863- 291-5733 or 863- 412-5973 and Detective Amity McGee at 863-291-5312 or 863- 287-1961.

http://www.theledger.com/article/20091028/NEWS/910289949/1410?Title=Police-Searching-for-Missing-Girl#

Reward Offered for Pair's Return
Ronkeya Holmes and her daughter have been missing for two months.
Published: Tuesday, December 8, 2009 at 10:02 p.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, December 8, 2009 at 10:02 p.m.
http://www.theledger.com/article/20091208/NEWS/912085036/1134?Title=Reward-Offered-for-Pair-s-Return#

WINTER HAVEN | The family of missing 29-year-old Ronkeya Holmes and her 3 1/2-year-old daughter have set up a $2,000 reward for their return.

In addition to posting the reward for Holmes and Masarah Ross, who have been missing for two months, the family has set up an account at SunTrust Bank to help with expenses associated with the search, said Edith Fletcher, Holmes' mother. Fletcher said her family is holding bake sales and selling T-shirts to raise money to add to the reward.

"Anything we can do to raise money ourselves, we're going to do it," Fletcher said.

Fletcher said she occasionally speaks with Winter Haven police detectives, but nothing significant has happened in the case.

"I haven't heard anything and it is driving me crazy," she said. "One time I thought I was going to give up, but I said no. As long as they keep telling me there is no body, I'm really going to keep the faith and stay prayed up."

Early last month, Fletcher and her family printed T-shirts with information about her daughter and granddaughter's disappearance and circulated fliers in the Florence Villa community. Fliers have also been posted in Haines City.

The case is ineligible for Crimestoppers reward money because investigators haven't been able to determine that foul play is involved, said Winter Haven police Sgt. Brad Coleman.

"We haven't been able to get search warrants because the lack of probable cause," Coleman said.

Investigators are puzzled by the case because there are inconsistencies in statements from Holmes' family and Masarah's father, Lester Ross. Investigators consider Holmes and Masarah "It's at a complete standstill," Coleman said about the case.

Holmes came to Winter Haven from Savannah, Ga., Oct. 14 to try to pick up her daughter from Lester Ross, 31, who lives in Winter Haven and is Holmes' ex-boyfriend. Lester Ross told investigators he last saw Holmes and his daughter Oct. 18 at the Haines City Walmart where he turned the girl over to her mother, police have said. Haines City police detectives reviewed the surveillance tapes from Walmart and found no evidence that Holmes or her daughter were there.

The last time Holmes' mother and her sister, Nafateria Fletcher, heard from her was Oct. 20, when she said she had been stopped by police in Sanford and needed paperwork on her 1992 Ford Escort.

When the Fletchers came to Florida from Savannah, Ga., looking for Holmes, they learned Joseph Wilcox, the cousin of Masarah's father, was the one stopped by police. Wilcox initially told detectives he didn't know whose vehicle it was and that his cousin had asked him to drive the Escort to Florida's east coast, Coleman has previously said.

Wilcox is being held in the Polk County Jail for violation of probation after Lake Mary police arrested him Oct. 19 for driving with a suspended license. Investigators haven't been able to find Lester Ross since he was questioned about Holmes and her daughter's disappearance.

To donate to the search, visit any SunTrust Bank and ask for the Holmes/Fletcher Benevolent Fund. To send letters of encouragement or prayers, contact 5405 Robinson Circle, Apt. A, Savannah, Ga, 31406.