Missing Since: 2009-05-09 Location: Everett, Washington
Collins was last seen at 5:30 p.m. on May 9, 2009, when she left her home on 100th Street Everett, Washington to meet her boyfriend in Seattle, Washington. She planned to travel by public transportation, either the Sound Transit #510 or Metro #101/358. She never arrived in Everett and has never been heard from again. At the time of her disappearance, Collins was carrying only a small black purse, her phone, her mp3 player, her hairbrush, her identification and a few dollars in cash. Her cellular phone has been turned off since about 8:00 p.m. the day she went missing. Collins’s parents divorced when she was three years old, and her stepfather was violent and abused her, her mother and three siblings. When she was seven, her mother took left the state with her and the other children and changed their names to get away from her stepfather. He is now serving a twenty-year prison sentence. Collins’s mother said her daughter began having problems when she reached puberty. She started running away from home when she was twelve years old, was truant from school, became sexually active, drank alcohol, and used and sold drugs. She eventually she got involved in sex work after she started dating an older man who turned out to be a pimp. She walked the streets in Seattle and in Portland, Oregon, and worked under several pimps. Her mother saw bruises on her and believed her pimps beat her, but Collins denied this. She was arrested for prostitution the first time at the age of sixteen. In 2008, Collins agreed to testify against her pimp, Donnico Tyrel Johnson, and the man was charged with interstate sex trafficking of a minor, as was a woman, Lisa Miles. She continued to work as a sex worker, however, and was arrested again in April 2009, just days before she was summoned to testify against her pimp before a federal grand jury. She disappeared a few weeks later. Because Collins was unavailable to testify, the case against Johnson and Miles was dismissed for lack of evidence in March 2010. Three months later, Johnson pleaded guilty to trafficking of a minor in another case involving a fourteen-year-old, and was sentenced to fifteen years in prison. Miles was also charged in that case; she took a plea deal and was sentenced to probation. Collins’s family believes her disappearance is connected with her court testimony and she was placed in danger after she agreed to cooperate with the police investigation against Johnson. Although she was reportedly terrified, she had not been offered witness protection services. Johnson hasn’t faced any charges in connection with her disappearance. In spite of her lifestyle, it’s uncharacteristic of Collins to be out of touch with her family, and she hadn’t mentioned any plans to leave. She was a student at Mariner High School in 2009, where she was in special education classes due to a learning disability. She could read at a fifth-grade level and had third-grade level math skills. Her case remains unsolved. Investigating Agency Everett Police Department 425-257-8400 Source Information NamUs Washington State Patrol Missing Persons Information Center NorthWest Cable News KIRO TV The Seattle Times CNN The National Center For Missing and Exploited Children The Everett Herald Updated 5 times since October 12, 2004. Last updated October 30, 2017; details of disappearance updated.