Akia Eggleston was excited to welcome her second child, a son. She was eight months pregnant, and her family was waiting for her at her baby shower, only she never showed. Her family never stopped looking for her. And continued to pressure investigators and the media to find her. What investigators uncovered was a story of deception, abuse and murder.

The families of Tamika Houston and Pamela Butler have survived the unthinkable. Tamika and Pamela went missing and would later be found murdered. Tamika’s family had to fight for media coverage while Pamela’s brother battled to bring his sister’s killer to justice. This special episode of Untold Stories: Black and Missing was recorded at Crime Con in Nashville. Rebecca Howard and Derek Butler share how they turned their pain into purpose.

Jesse Len Foulks had four strikes against him. He’s black. He’s a man. He has a mental health disorder, and he is missing. His story, like many others, highlights a troubling intersection between mental illness and missing person cases. The Black and Missing Foundation has increasingly observed that mental health issues are a significant factor in why people go missing, and why these cases often fall through the cracks. In this episode, our panel of experts discusses the challenges, and how we can all play a role in helping bring these individuals home.