An 11-year-old Knoxville girl reported missing on Halloween night was found unharmed about an hour later. Sarah Imani was reported missing around 8:30 p.m. Saturday and located by 9:30 p.m. that night.
The Knoxville Police Department issued a missing notice for Imani shortly after she disappeared, according to WVLT. She was last seen on Lansing Avenue, and officials said she could have been in the Burlington area. Police described her as wearing a black dance outfit at the time she went missing.
Search Wraps Up Within the Hour
KPD confirmed Imani had been found safe by 9:30 p.m. Saturday, roughly an hour after she was reported missing, according to the same report. The notice did not say where she was found or who was with her.
While the search was active, officers asked anyone who saw Imani or had information about her whereabouts to call 911, according to WVLT.
Broader context and safety guidance
National figures provide context, not a comparison with this brief local search: the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children says it assisted law enforcement with 29,568 missing-children cases in 2024 and helped bring 91% of those children home. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation says the state averages 500 to 600 missing children a month, many due to parental abductions or runaways. Neither aggregate figure describes Imani’s case. As separate procedural context, the Congressional Research Service says records of missing children under 18 must be entered into the FBI’s National Crime Information Center within two hours after law enforcement receives a report; that requirement does not establish what happened in Imani’s case. For Halloween visibility, WATE quoted KPD communications manager Scott Erland in 2022 advising guardians to use reflective costume elements, a glow stick or a flashlight.
