“She would have never walked away without her things,” Destini’s aunt, Shareen King, told Dateline. “And in the middle of the night. It’s not like her.”
Shareen, along with Destini’s cousins, are crushed over her disappearance. And frustrated that 27 days have passed without any answers.
“It’s been 27 days and nothing,” Destini’s cousin, Dominique Fowler Washington told Dateline. “It’s draining. We’re tired. We just want to know where our cousin is.”
Destini’s family told Dateline they knew something was wrong when she didn’t arrive at her mother’s home in the Bronx to grab her clothes for the funeral on November 5. Her two children were also staying there.
“She loves those children and would do anything for them,” Shereen said. “She wouldn’t just leave them. And there’s no way in hell she’s not calling her mama. My sister is just devastated.”
Detective Russell Clements with the Troy Police Department told Dateline that officers conducted a wellness check at her home in Troy, but she was not there.
“We’ll continue to follow up on any tips and leads we receive,” Det. Clements said. “But this is mainly the NYPD’s case. But our hope remains that someone who knows something will come forward.”
D
estini Smothers in the outfit she was last seen wearing on November 3, 2020. NYPD bbm
Destini’s family told Dateline they are worried she is being held against her will or that someone has hurt her.
A
rally will be held on
December 17 at the bowling alley in an effort to spread awareness of Destini’s disappearance and to gain the attention of local elected officials. They hope the case will then be turned over to the FBI.
“It’s been 27 days, but it feels like we’re still on day one because we don’t have any answers,” Shareen said. “We need to find her. We need to find her now.”
She has a tattoo that reads “Kareem Junior” on her right wrist. Destini was last seen wearing a black hooded sweatshirt with yellow and white lettering on the front, green camouflage jeans, light brown boots, and gold hoop earrings in both ears. She was last seen carrying a green handbag.
Anyone with information on Destini’s whereabouts is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at
1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at
WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or on Twitter @NYPDTips. bbm
Upstate New York woman still missing month after celebrating birthday at bowling alley in Queens