Highlighting Missing Black Women: A Mother Is Searching For Daughter Who Hasn’t Been Seen Since Appearing With Bruises On Her Face

According to Women’s Media Center, an estimated 64,000-75,000 Black women and girls currently remain missing in the United States.

Regarding the alarming rates at which Black children and Black women go missing, activists have done their best to highlight and sound the alarm in regards to the lack of coverage concerning this issue. They’ve worked hard to highlight the barriers Black families face when it comes to reporting missing loved ones (including mistrust of law enforcement), and the disparate ways law enforcement treat disappearances.

So when it comes to highlighting Black women and children at risk, it’s important to us that we help families act quickly.

Tiara Lott, 22, has been missing since January 29. 

Lott’s mother, Patricia Davis, says she was last seen on a video chat with one of her friends. At the time, her face appeared bruised.

“She was sore. They asked her, ‘What’s the address?’ to send an Uber and the phone hung up. Then 10 minutes later she sent out, ‘God forbid, if anything happens to me, that I love y’all and tell everybody.’ “

Davis says the last person she believes that her daughter saw was her boyfriend.

Lott’s family say that they have not seen or heard from her boyfriend, but have heard that he remains in the area in which she went missing.

According to Davis, Lott was in a house on Gold Street in Buffalo city’s Lovejoy neighborhood. Since Lott’s disappearance, her family has gone to the house and managed to recover some of her belongings.

“We found her clothes in the house, her boots. We went back to the house four days later, and we found my baby’s coat with her IDs in it,” Davis told Buffalo’s local news outlet 2WGRZ. After managing to recover video and pictures from surveillance cameras in the neighborhood the family is asking Buffalo Police to step in and conduct a search.

The family is currently offering a $5,000 reward to anyone who has information

“I’m out here everyday looking, running up in abandoned buildings, train tracks. I’m going crazy right now,” Lott’s mother said.

Lott is an East High graduate from Buffalo who was recently about to begin a new job in telemarketing. Her family has described her as an outgoing, loving, and fun shopper.

Anyone with information about Lott are asked to call 911 or the confidential tip line (716) 847-2255