Girl who was abducted aged just one in 2021 is FOUND safe three years on
Blessing Wasso, now 4, vanished on November 5, 2021, after her mother Erika Ephraim - also known as Ericka Wasso - disappeared with her during a supervised visit at a Brighton Park facility in Chicago.
At the time, the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) had legal custody of the toddler and reported both Blessing and her mother missing.
The case went cold until this spring when the Chicago Police Department issued a renewed missing person bulletin which suggested the pair may have fled to California or Texas.
But this month, a major breakthrough in the case came when US Marshals and Chicago police tracked the pair down to a home in Chicago.
US Marshals Service issued a press release Monday announcing that CPD had helped locate a missing infant on January 1, 2025.
A source confirmed to CWB Chicago that the infant was Blessing.
Chicago police confirmed that both mother and daughter were 'safely located' as of June 6.
The breakthrough came after investigators spotted a young girl peering out of a second-floor window who looking strikingly alike to an age-progressed photo of Blessing.
On June 3, officers launched a tactical operation at the home, forcing their way inside.
Blessing was found inside and immediately placed back into protective custody, according to a U.S. Marshals press release.
The little girl, who remains a ward of the state, was returned to DCFS after spending over three years in hiding.
Officers arrested Ephraim as she tried to flee.
Ephraim is now being held in Cook County Jail.
She was arrested on various charges, including one for full extradition from the California Department of Corrections and others related to retail theft, stolen property, and robbery across Illinois and California.
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