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Jun 2025
42m 43s

91: MISSING: Celina Mays

Derrick Levasseur
About this episode
On the night of December 15, 1996, 12-year-old Celina Mays went to bed in her family home in Willingboro, New Jersey. 

By morning, she was gone.

As police began investigating, they learned that when she disappeared, Celina was nine months pregnant and just days away from giving birth. They also learned that her family belonged to a controversial religious group led by her aunt—one that former members have described as a cult. This dynamic, along with reports that the aunt’s son had molested underage girls in the church, complicated the case.

Twenty-nine years later, Celina has never been found, and detectives are still working to untangle what happened inside the church and to Celina and her unborn baby. And despite everything, they haven’t given up hope that she may still be alive.

Celina Mays was last seen sometime overnight between December 15 and 16, 1996, at her home on Crestview Drive in Willingboro, New Jersey. She was 12 years old and nine months pregnant at the time. She was around 5 feet tall, weighing 120 pounds, with brown eyes and black hair. 

Anyone with information is asked to call the Willingboro Police Department at (609) 877-3001 or the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at (800) 843-5678.

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