Karena McClerkin : 5 years since Indiana woman vanished

Karena McClerkin was 18 at the time when she was last seen on Oct. 11, 2016, in the 1000 block of South Washington Street in Kokomo, Indiana.

It has been five years since Karena McClerkin disappeared

McClerkin’s grandmother, Gerry, has fought ever since to find answers about what happened to her granddaughter.

The last conversation she had with her granddaughter was about attending a party.

Karena McClerkin said she was meeting up with a boy and then they would make their way to the party together, but sometime during the evening, she vanished without a trace.

“The last thing my granddaughter said to me – she held my hand and said, ‘I’ll be alright grandma, I’ll be alright,’” Gerry said to WRTV.

In a follow-up report on this case in 2019 on the anniversary of Karena’s disappearance, WRTV stated that the teen left the party she said she was going to then walked to a nearby BP gas station. It was there that Karena was captured by surveillance cameras before witnesses claimed that they saw her get into a vehicle in an alley. The car and who Karena may have been with is unknown.

Five years fervently trying to find Karena, Gerry worries her granddaughter’s case has not gotten the attention it deserves because Karena struggled with drugs and is of mixed race.

Karena was making plans to get help with her drug use, but she never got the chance.

Family urges for assistance

“I just want the community to step out for her. Five years is too long, way too long,” Gerry said of the search for her granddaughter.

Karena is a sister, an aunt, a daughter and a granddaughter. Her three-year-old niece is named after her. Gerry said the family has looked for Karena tirelessly these last five years.

“Over 500 miles in and around Kokomo from Jonesboro to Burlington, Peru…We have covered every woods we’ve driver by. We’d stop and knock on the door to see if we can walk through their woods,” Gerry said.

Potential Leads

Police have executed search warrants and exhausted leads in the case over the past two years, but have not turned up any information.

The McClerkin family also enlisted the services of four private investigators in 2018 to help them pursue some of those leads.

Description of Karena McClerkin

Karena McClerkin

At the time of her disappearance, Karena McClerkin stood 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighed 130 to 135 pounds. She is described as biracial (Black and White) with red/auburn hair and brown eyes. Both of her ears are pierced, she wears glasses (prescription), and has two tattoos: a round symbol on the inside of her right forearm and “RIP” with angel wings on the upper area of her right arm.

Karena goes by the nickname “Ree”. She was last seen wearing a black midriff shirt, a gray sweatshirt with a hood, ripped jeans, and brown sandals.

Reward

A $50,000 reward is still being offered for information on her case.

If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Karena McClerkin contact Kokomo Police at 765-456-7017 or Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at 317-262-8477.

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