According to those who know her best, Kameela Russell is not the type of woman to simply wander off from her responsibilities or leave her loved ones. Yet the 41-year-old school administrator and mother of two has been missing since May 15.
According to WSVN-TV, on the day Russell was last seen in Miami Gardens, she was scheduled to pick up her younger daughter, age 6, from the home of Russell’s aunt Donna Blyden. Blyden said that she thought she saw Russell’s 2014 black Audi arrive as scheduled, but when she double-checked, the car had vanished. If Russell did, in fact, pull into the driveway, what could have happened to make her suddenly leave?
Confused, Blyden sent a text: “Where are you? You were in the driveway just now, and now you’re not here. Where are you?”
She says she didn’t get an answer. No one has heard from or seen Russell since.
“She’s got two girls, and they need to have their mom,” Blyden said. Russell’s older daughter, Skye, age 15, spoke to WTVJ-TV with a message for her mother: “Everybody’s fighting for you,” she said, “people who I haven’t even seen in years are coming out just to try and help you. Your students, we need you. Just come back.”
Russell is originally from Nassau, the Bahamas, according to Vibe, and is employed at Miami Norland Senior High as a test chairperson. She has been employed by the school district since 2014. Colleagues as well as students find her disappearance unsettling and out of character.
John Schuster, a spokesman with the school district, told ABC News: “This teacher’s disappearance is of great concern to her family and to many educators and students throughout Miami-Dade County Public Schools who hope and pray for her safe return. We are assisting police in every way possible as they search for her.”
According to the police statement, Russell is 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighs about 165 pounds, and was last seen with black and purple braids, gray leggings, a striped shirt and sneakers, and driving a 2014 black Audi A6 with the Florida tag HBQJ20.
Anyone with information is urged to contact the Miami Gardens Police at 305-474-6473. If preferred, you can remain anonymous.
Correction: Sept. 16, 2019, 7:58 p.m. ET: This story has been edited to remove unattributed text and to add fuller sourcing.