Philadelphia police are asking for the public's help finding 14-year-old Hajayah Bintou, who has been missing since Halloween night. She was last seen on October 31 in the city's 15th District, at the 1700 block of Brill Street.
According to Newport Dispatch, the Philadelphia Police Department is searching for the teenager, who is described as 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighing 150 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. When she was last seen, Bintou was wearing a black Essential hoodie, black sweatpants, and white sneakers, and she was carrying a pink backpack.
Possible Lansdowne Connection
Police said Bintou may have traveled to Lansdowne, though her exact whereabouts remain unknown. No further details about that possible destination have been released.
Anyone with information about Bintou's whereabouts is asked to call 911 or contact the Northeast Detective Division at 215-686-3153.
A Familiar Kind of Alert
Philadelphia police routinely issue public notices like this one when a juvenile goes missing, hoping that a detailed description and last-known location will jog a tipster's memory. In December 2023, for instance, the department put out a similar alert for 12-year-old London Butts, who was last seen at 10 p.m. on the 43XX block of North 17th Street, according to a notice posted on phillypolice.com. That notice described Butts as 5 feet 2 inches tall and 110 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes, and asked anyone with information to contact the Northwest Detective Division at 215-686-3353.
There is no indication the two cases are connected; the earlier notice is cited here only as an example of how the department handles these searches. For now, investigators are focused on locating Bintou and are relying on the public to come forward with any sightings or information that could help bring her home.
