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In December 1996, Celina Mays mysteriously disappeared from her Willingboro home when she was only 12 years old. Moreover, the pre-teen was nine months pregnant and just two weeks from her due date at the time when she went missing without a trace after spending a wholesome evening with her family.
Celina's disappearance occasionally made headlines and has become the target of theories and suspicions. These suspicions have been made by both her maternal and paternal sides of the family, given their long-lasting feud, which started during the girl's custody after her mother's death about two years before the incident.
Investigators are stepping up their attempts to revive conversations about her disappearance after pursuing hundreds of leads that have failed to provide any useful information over the past 25 years. The case has been transferred to a number of detectives over time, but the desire to find answers to decades-old questions remains intact as they continue to work on the cold case.
On Wednesday, In Pursuit With John Walsh will re-examine the case in hopes of finding the truth behind Celina Mays' disappearance. The episode titled Unforgotten airs on September 14, 2022, at 9:00 pm ET on ID.
Numerous conspiracy theories surround the unsolved disappearance of Celina Mays
Shortly after Celina Mays' disappearance was made public, rumors and suspicions quickly started to circulate with regard to the missing case. The first move was to pinpoint the child's father. She allegedly never disclosed the father's name to her family members, who repeatedly kept asking for the identity of the person.
Celina's family was against abortion due to their religious beliefs despite her age. According to sources, Detective Monica Pogorzelski stated:
"As far as we know, she was accepting of the pregnancy. And ready to move forward, so for her to go missing after carrying a baby for nine months, it's very strange."
Pogorzelski added:
"We've investigated over 254 leads throughout the past 25 years. Recently, we've had four more leads that we're now investigating."
She further said:
"This isn't something that just got pushed to the side. It's been continually investigated and whatever leads come up, we follow and go, go, go; and just nothing turns up of any evidentiary purposes to go farther."
Her father, C.J. Mays, even revealed that he had a vasectomy years earlier, a move to eliminate rumors from getting out of hand to the point where authorities would start questioning his virtues. This was verified by his doctor.
Both sides of her family have blamed each other. But the strain had long existed before the disappearance. C.J. claimed that the maternal family still wanted her custody mostly because he was black and they were white.
According to detectives, the Mays family had a close relationship with a Mount Holly church called The Gospel of Christ Ministry, led by Celina Mays' aunt Cerita Smith. It was another lead during the early stages of the investigation. Many people came forward during the investigation, claiming that Smith had complete control over the church and the Mays family. Reports state that the Smiths and Mays were not very helpful to the case.
The 1997 sighting of Celina's lookalike was one of the most plausible prospects. Nonetheless, after investigating the source, authorities concluded that the girl was not Celina Mays.
Authorities are still investigating Celina Mays' case after 25 years
Investigators are still uncertain about Celina Mays' whereabouts to date, just as they were when she first went missing. They believe that ever-evolving technology might change that. Assuming Celina is still alive and her pregnancy was successful, she is now a 37-year-old mother and her child is now 25 years old.
Police have prepared and circulated an age-progressed portrait around the nation in the hopes that someone may identify her. They hope that someone will recognize her, realizing the prominence of the unsolved mystery in the state. However, they also believe that there is a possibility that she was killed all those years ago and her life was sadly cut short when she first disappeared.
Celina Mays' disappearance is to be the subject of In Pursuit With John Walsh on Investigation Discovery this Wednesday, September 14, 2022.
