Found Deceased IA - Abdullahi "Abdi" Sharif, 18, Des Moines, 17 Jan 2020

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thecatmeows said:
Reading up on Abdi's case and thought of this until I saw it was a middle-aged man.

I'm a local and only heard about Abdi a couple days ago. :(



I lived by Merle Hay Mall for four years, and shopped at Target weekly. I never felt unsafe there by myself. Any mall in Des Moines (or anywhere, really) has its fair share trouble makers. Des Moines has been growing rapidly and with population growth, unfortunately, comes trouble. There's a lot we don't know, and it's unfortunate that MSM has waited so long to get the word out about his disappearance. So much opportunity has been lost by not organizing a search party sooner and getting his face out there.
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Question for you as you’ve lived in the area: where exactly would you think a search party should search for somebody that was last seen at the intersection of Merle Hay Road and Douglas Ave during a blizzard?
 
SharonNeedles said:
Question for you as you’ve lived in the area: where exactly would you think a search party should search for somebody that was last seen at the intersection of Merle Hay Road and Douglas Ave during a blizzard?
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This is such a hard question to answer. What no one has mentioned is Merle Hay Mall isn't far from I80. When I lived there, hitchhikers would hang out in the mediums and try to find a ride. So, he could have a) left voluntarily and hitched a ride or b) met trouble in a nearby parking lot and been forced into a vehicle. He could be anywhere at this time. I don't understand why they're searching the area by Hickman unless they have a tip to suggest he headed that way. It's a long-shot to me he'd make it that far, especially in the weather we were having at that time.
 
thecatmeows said:
Reading up on Abdi's case and thought of this until I saw it was a middle-aged man.

I'm a local and only heard about Abdi a couple days ago. :(



I lived by Merle Hay Mall for four years, and shopped at Target weekly. I never felt unsafe there by myself. Any mall in Des Moines (or anywhere, really) has its fair share trouble makers. Des Moines has been growing rapidly and with population growth, unfortunately, comes trouble. There's a lot we don't know, and it's unfortunate that MSM has waited so long to get the word out about his disappearance. So much opportunity has been lost by not organizing a search party sooner and getting his face out there.
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Good to have another local here. Thank you for your insight.

Abdi went missing on Jan 17 and the police put the word out (see post #1) on Jan 20 followed by news articles and reports that same day. Unfortunately, it appears that LE is STILL collecting and/or reviewing video footage. How would anyone know where to search? MOO
 
I’m surprised they aren’t searching along the Des Moines river. At the Lower Beaver area, it’s really not far from the mall. Maybe 3-4 miles? (I’m so bad about judging distance!) However, with the weather we had that day, I can’t imagine him walking very far willingly at all. School was cancelled that day due to snow - I remember because it was my son’s birthday and apparently a snow day is an amazing birthday present to a brand-new 8 year old! If I remember right, it had stopped snowing by that night, but we still got several inches of snow.
 
Emerald1328 said:
I’m surprised they aren’t searching along the Des Moines river. At the Lower Beaver area, it’s really not far from the mall. Maybe 3-4 miles? (I’m so bad about judging distance!) However, with the weather we had that day, I can’t imagine him walking very far willingly at all. School was cancelled that day due to snow - I remember because it was my son’s birthday and apparently a snow day is an amazing birthday present to a brand-new 8 year old! If I remember right, it had stopped snowing by that night, but we still got several inches of snow.
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Sadly, I'm not surprised. LE can't just deploy resources - SAR teams, K-9's, drones, helicopters, etc. on a hunch that he might be down by the river. I'm sure we all WISH they could and that there was an active search going on for Abdi, but unfortunately, it just doesn't work that way. Simply put, they don't have unlimited resources. MOO
 
PommyMommy said:
Sadly, I'm not surprised. LE can't just deploy resources - SAR teams, K-9's, drones, helicopters, etc. on a hunch that he might be down by the river. I'm sure we all WISH they could and that there was an active search going on for Abdi, but unfortunately, it just doesn't work that way. Simply put, they don't have unlimited resources. MOO
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And the police have actually stated they believe he is voluntarily missing. They haven’t released what evidence they have that leads to that conclusion, but I can’t imagine the police would be conducting searches when they think he left of his own free will. Especially since he’s -8, technically an adult. But my heart still breaks for his family.

Des Moines police, family share concern for safety of missing 18-year-old
 
Emerald1328 said:
And the police have actually stated they believe he is voluntarily missing. They haven’t released what evidence they have that leads to that conclusion, but I can’t imagine the police would be conducting searches when they think he left of his own free will. Especially since he’s -8, technically an adult. But my heart still breaks for his family.

Des Moines police, family share concern for safety of missing 18-year-old
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True, and I believe the video led them to that conclusion. However, about a week following that article there was this one:

Police haven't ruled out foul play in case of missing Des Moines teen
The Des Moines Police Department announced Wednesday it isn't ruling out foul play in the case of Abdullahi Sharif, a missing Des Moines teen.

So, to me, it seems that LE believes Abdi left the mall voluntarily but don't think he has remained missing voluntarily. MOO
 
PommyMommy said:
True, and I believe the video led them to that conclusion. However, about a week following that article there was this one:

Police haven't ruled out foul play in case of missing Des Moines teen
The Des Moines Police Department announced Wednesday it isn't ruling out foul play in the case of Abdullahi Sharif, a missing Des Moines teen.

So, to me, it seems that LE believes Abdi left the mall voluntarily but don't think he has remained missing voluntarily. MOO
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That’s the direction I’m leaning as well. I have faith in our local LE. There really haven’t been any notable controversies with them in the community, so I don’t think they’re going to forget about him.
 
Emerald1328 said:
That’s the direction I’m leaning as well. I have faith in our local LE. There really haven’t been any notable controversies with them in the community, so I don’t think they’re going to forget about him.
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Agreed, DMPD has a great track record of investigating and getting answers in cases like this. I just wish there had been more news about Abdi when the story first broke. I think initially they believed he took off on his own because of the video footage with him crossing the street to the AT&T store. I think it's easy to assume he met someone there and took off. However, when you think about the bigger picture - and I'm sure as the family has stressed to LE - it's not that simple.

A) Why tell his mom he was working late when he wasn't?
B) What's up with the Snapchat about receiving bad news? Was it at work? Anyone who worked with Abdi that night needs to be questioned (and I hope they have). What was his mood that night? Was the news related to work, or did he get a message while at work which led him to meet someone after work and tell his mom he was working late?

It definitely sounds like he planned to be back later to meet his mom, so I don't think he willingly got into a vehicle with another person after storming off/upset about something that happened at work. Initially, I thought it was weird that it was mentioned he only had family members as contacts in his phone, but now I realize it's not that strange at all, because I have very few contacts in my phone. Most of my contacts are on social media accounts, which is probably even truer for teens these days. I also wonder about any encrypted apps he may have used (or like Whatsapp) where he may have chatted with friends, who could have relayed bad news.

It sounds like he planned to be somewhere for four hours. Could he have walked to a friend's house in that area, and that's why they're searching that area? I'm not super familiar with that area, but there's Broadlawns Medical Center over there, which is a community, low-income hospital. He could have been walking to see someone who's in the hospital, too - hence the "bad news."

My initial thought was he might have frozen to death, but most of the snow in the area has thawed now so I would think they would have found him by now.
 
PommyMommy said:
Thank you so much! I've been hoping to see some news in this case.

Noting:
  1. January 17 was a snow day, so Abdi had the day off from school.
  2. His mother drove him to the mall that evening after he told her that he'd been called in for a shift.
  3. He asked her to to pick him up at 9:30 p.m.
  4. Abdi's loved ones say that neither he nor his sister were scheduled to work that night.
  5. Target provided police with footage of Abdi in the store and he appears to be wearing a dark winter coat, khakis, and sneakers and also seen holding a phone, with earbuds plugged into his ears.
  6. Sgt. Parizek, declined to say what time exactly Abdi left the Target store.
  7. His phone was either shut off or completely drained of its battery shortly after his disappearance.
  8. Abdi's sister and Levine are attempting to access his Apple account, to access data regarding his phone's location.
  9. Despite requests for expedited access, Apple has told them that they may not be able to get into the account until February 20.
  10. Detectives have gone to businesses and homes in the area to check if anyone has captured Abdi on video.
  11. "At this point, the only thing that we can say is that we found some evidence that indicates that his absence is voluntary," Parizek said.
  12. His sister and Levine have expressed worry about Abdi's health as he has missed weekly shots needed to treat his allergies.
  13. Levine flew to Des Moines after Abdi disappeared, and she and Abdi's sister have launched their own search for clues in his disappearance.
  14. They have gained access to his Snapchat, Facebook, emails, and bank account but haven't yet found anything that sheds light on what happened to him.
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BBM above. I was looking at the previous posts and read this from @PommyMommy. It says that Apple may not be able to get them Abdi’s phone location data until February 20th, which was yesterday. The search was announced on Wednesday, the 19th, so I wonder if they got some data and that’s why the search was planned.

I don’t think that the actual meeting place location, Freedom Blend Coffee, was picked due to the proximity of where the search may actually begin, but I don’t know for sure. It is an extension of Freedom for Youth Ministries, an organization dedicated to helping inner-city and impoverished youth. Rep. Ako Abdul-Samad is very involved in this demographic of our city, so I think it’s more of a “meet them where they’re at” type situation, rather than a “meet them where HE’S at” situation. Again, I could be wrong about that and we’ll see later today where they actually search.
 
I am local and have a few questions. I am guessing this info has not been released, but let me know if I am wrong and missed something:

1. Do we know whether his snap about ‘bad, bad news’ was sent before or after he told his mom that he was going to work another shift that evening?
2. Has anyone from Target indicated whether there were any issues with Abdi that day? Could he have gotten fired or laid off or reprimanded? (Total speculation...seems unlikely he was fired or reprimanded since he is such a responsible kid).
3. Where does he live in relation to Merle Hay Mall?
 
amland01 said:
I am local and have a few questions. I am guessing this info has not been released, but let me know if I am wrong and missed something:

1. Do we know whether his snap about ‘bad, bad news’ was sent before or after he told his mom that he was going to work another shift that evening?
2. Has anyone from Target indicated whether there were any issues with Abdi that day? Could he have gotten fired or laid off or reprimanded? (Total speculation...seems unlikely he was fired or reprimanded since he is such a responsible kid).
3. Where does he live in relation to Merle Hay Mall?
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Re #2 - A Target employee reported Abdi missing on Saturday, the morning after he was last seen, when he didn't show up for work. So, it wouldn't follow that he was fired or laid off. MOO
 
FEB 21, 2020
Volunteers meeting today to search for missing Des Moines teen
Hundreds of volunteers were expected to meet and search Friday morning for Des Moines teen Abdullahi "Abdi" Sharif, who has now been missing for over a month.

[...]

Police support the family's decision to implement additional measures to help find Sharif.

"It's appreciated. We have gone door to door, walked sections of timber, but we can't cover it all and still follow the tips that are coming in. Des Moines people are generous and caring, and this is an excellent example. We appreciate the support," Parizek said.

Search for missing Roosevelt student intensifies Friday
[...]

Roosevelt's student body president who says Abdi's classmates and community members are coming together this evening, hoping to keep his name at the forefront of the community's attention, and bring him home.

The event is at 3:45 p.m. at the Roosevelt library and it's open to the public.
 
I don't want to derail Abdi's thread with conspiracy theories, but I just can't ignore the recent wave of homicides/attempted homicides of (and committed by) teenagers in Des Moines, since January 1st. There has been some rumblings that a lot of it is retaliatory, but I've seen nothing in MSM or from LE connecting them really. I'm sure it isn't very likely that Abdi's disappearance is related, but I just wanted to throw this out there. (and for a little extra weirdness for you, each incident below happened every other week...)

January 1st, 2020:

Victim:

Josiah Woods - age 14
No suspects/arrests yet

"Des Moines Police say 14-year old Josiah Woods was killed early this morning in a shooting. It happened just before 4:00 a.m. in the 1400 block of 17th Street. Officers found Woods with a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police say Woods was in an interior porch when he was struck by gunfire. Police can't yet confirm where the shots came from and if Woods was the intended target."

Des Moines Police Identify 14-Year Old Killed in First Homicide of the Year

January 15th, 2020:

Victims:

Damiko Carr - age 28
Karyree Henderson - age 21

2 others were also shot - a 26 yr old male and 31 yr old male

No arrests and no teenagers involved as of yet, but this is the one I referenced above that was 2 days before Abdi disappeared and just a couple of miles from the mall.

"Police have released the names of two people killed and two people injured in a shooting in the Merle Hay neighborhood Wednesday afternoon.

Those killed were 28-year-old Damiko L. Carr and 21-year-old Karyree Henderson, both of Des Moines.

31-year-old Michael E. Blackwell of Des Moines remains hospitalized recovering from gunshot wounds.

26-year-old Alonzo L. Kearney was released from the hospital on Thursday and taken into police custody. He is being charged with Interference with Official Acts as well as charges related to outstanding warrants."

Names Released of Those Killed and Injured in Merle Hay Neighborhood Shooting

Both victims had prior criminal history though, so I would have considered this an anomoly, if not for the proximity to the date and location that Abdi disappeared.

"Both brothers have had run ins with law enforcement in the past. Carr served six years for charges related to the shooting death of a local man back in 2012. Henderson was convicted of felony drug charges, but activists are urging residents to look beyond the past, saying their deaths have left many holes in peoples’ hearts."

Des Moines Homicide Victims Remembered at Candlelight Vigil

January 30, 2020:

Victims:

Devonte Swanks - age 19
Malachi Swanks - age 16
Thayne Wright - age 15

Suspects:

Emmanuel Totaye - age 19
Daishawn Gills - age 20

"Des Moines police were called to the 600 block of East Hackley Avenue shortly before 11:30 p.m. Authorities said someone returned to the home to find three young men with gunshot wounds, deceased.

Police said 19-year-old Devonte Swanks, 16-year-old Malachi Swanks and 15-year-old Thayne Wright died of gunshot wounds.

Police said Devonte Swanks and Malachi Swanks are brothers and lived in the home at 619 East Hackley. Wright was a friend who was visiting. He is also from Des Moines."

Des Moines Police: 2 charged in triple homicide

February 14, 2020:

Victim:

57 year old male

Suspect:

Shyvez Ekanem - age 17

"Police are seeking a teenager on an attempted murder warrant related to a shooting that happened on Valentine’s Day.

Des Moines police are looking for 17-year-old Shyvez Calile Ekanem of Des Moines. Investigators say he is the suspect in a shooting that seriously injured a 57-year-old man.

According to police the victim was brought to a Des Moines hospital around 5:30 p.m. suffering from multiple gunshot wounds to the upper body."

Teen Suspect Sought on Attempted Murder Warrant in Valentine’s Day Shooting

(edited to add/delete words that help things make sense!)
 
The search meeting just ended and volunteers are about to go on foot to search. It is a triangular area that they are going to cover, with one of the points being where the last ping of his phone was located, sometime between 5:33-5:47pm on the day he went missing.
 
Yes, the rash of teen males involved in these recent shooting incidents is alarming. I would hope Abdi was not lured into an association with someone like that...

Wishing the searchers all the best...those involved please do keep us updated. I am in the Des Moines suburbs thinking of you all out there today...
 
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