To the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, she is known simply as case No. NCMA1085502.
But to family and friends of the vibrant, 18-year-old girl who walked out the front door of her Auburn home on a summer day more than 2 1/2 years ago and vanished, she is Celeta White.
No one has seen her since.
Her mother, Rhonda White, can’t fit the pieces together, can’t find the answers, can’t bring closure to the family tragedy.
And the crushing weight of unknowns is killing her.
All she knows is that someone and some cruel and unhappy circumstances snatched her baby from her.
The last words, the last images run in an endless mental loop.
“She gave me a kiss and a hug and told me, ‘I’ll see you, Mom. I love you. I’ll call you.'”
She never called.
“It’s been hard, very hard,” White said. “I’m still waiting for her call. I still hope to hear her voice again. I know that she is still alive.
“All I’m asking for is for someone to bring her back to me. I know she is still out there. I’m not giving up hope.”
In a show of support, family and friends gathered on a damp evening last Thursday to celebrate what would have been Celeta’s 21st birthday with a candlelight vigil outside the Whites’ north Auburn apartment complex.
They came to plead for help, to urge people to continue the widespread search and to emphasize that Celeta has not been forgotten. They came to pray, laugh, cry and share stories about an active teenage, who enjoyed friends, gossip, music and cooking.
Who wouldn’t quit until she put a smile on someone’s face.
“I miss her goofiness,” said younger sister Shelatae Comer, 16, who often looks for her in crowds. “She loved talking on the phone and hanging out with friends.
“I miss her. We all miss her. We were all very close. We just want her back home safe and sound,” said Comer.
Celeta, nicknamed “KK,” was looking forward to her senior year at Auburn High School. She planned to attend beauty college. But everything changed on Aug. 22, 2006, when she left her mother’s house in Auburn to take a bus to her boyfriend’s place in Tukwila.
White was last seen on Metro Bus No. 128, wearing a yellow Adidas jacket, blue jeans, yellow boots and earrings.
The family began to worry because Celeta had always checked in before. She lived on her cell phone, but there has been no activity on it since her disappearance.
She also missed a doctor’s appointment a few days later. Small and slight at 5-foot-1 and 83 pounds, Celeta struggled with asthma and had been getting medical help for an eating problem.
Detectives suspect she might have met foul play, or worse.
Given the chance to contact family, Auburn police said, she did not.
Furthermore, police learned that Celeta’s boyfriend had a criminal background, and her acquaintances’ stories about where they last saw her were inconsistent, fueling speculation.
The family claims the boyfriend was abusive and that he threatened Celeta on many occasions.
The boyfriend, police determined, was a person of interest but not a suspect. No charges have been filed and no evidence or conclusions have been drawn to suggest anything criminal, police say.
Family and friends believe otherwise.
“I’m not falsely accusing anybody, but I know she was held against her will,” said family friend Tonya Tolliver. “We’re praying that whoever has her will give her up.”
The case remains active, but the leads are pitifully few.
And for the family left with no answers, there is no relief.
“We really need this story shown on the air and in the newspapers,” said Keri White, Celeta’s aunt. “Hopefully, someone will have a tip and call in. … We need exposure and answers.”
Rhonda White, a 46-year-old single mother, maintains hope. She calls Auburn police weekly, wondering if anything has been reported.
She answers each phone call with great anticipation. She meets each visitor at the door with the same anticipation.
The same door Celeta closed behind her on the day she disappeared.
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PLEASE HELP
Anyone with information about Celeta White is asked to call Auburn police at 253-931-3080, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678), or the National Center for Missing Adults at 1-800-690-FIND.
