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Pregnant Maryland Woman Disappears Before Her Own Baby Shower: "A Loss No One Recovers From"
Akia Eggleston was "ecstatic" to celebrate the upcoming birth of her baby with those closest to her, a friend said, but she never got the chance to.
Friends and family of Baltimore woman Akia Eggleston were excited to celebrate her pregnancy at a baby shower in her honor — but the mom-to-be would never arrive.
Eggleston mysteriously disappeared in May of 2017 before the would-be celebration, launching a years-long quest for justice as seen in a new Dateline episode airing Friday, September 13 at 10/9c p.m. on NBC.
“The arrival of a new baby can offer promise, possibility, happiness,” Dateline correspondent Josh Mankiewicz said in a preview of the episode. “Akia Eggelston was ready to get the party started. The tables were set, the balloons filled, the guests beginning to arrive. There was just one thing missing.”
Akia Eggleston's loved ones realize something's wrong
Those who knew Eggleston, who was eight months pregnant at the time of her disappearance, said in the episode, titled “The Day Akia Disappeared,” that she was eager for the baby's arrival.
“She couldn’t wait for the baby shower,” Stephen Foster, described by Baltimore TV station WBFF as Eggleston’s close friend, told Dateline. “She was ecstatic.”
So, it didn't make sense when the guest of honor didn't show up to the shower. "I started getting phone calls," Foster said. "'Where's Akia? Where's Akia?'"
Eggleston’s face was soon plastered on missing persons posters and she made local newscasts as her family began a “desperate search” for the 22-year-old.
"She was eight months pregnant, so, to just disappear on her own — highly unlikely," Baltimore Police Department Detective Jill Beauregard told Dateline.
The episode's synopsis states: “As detectives struggle to unravel the chilling mystery, they wonder: is it a missing persons case, or something far more sinister?”
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Investigators quickly set to work piecing together a timeline of Eggleston’s last moments before she vanished and, according to Dateline, uncovered details of the case that “Akia’s family knew nothing about.”
Mankiewicz told NBC Insider that the case serves as a reminder of the importance of being open with those you love.
“Don’t be afraid to tell your family what’s going on in your life," he said. "That proved critical in this story."
In the years after her disappearance, Eggleston’s family, along with Derrica and Natalie Wilson, the co-founders of the Black and Missing Foundation, worked to keep her case in the spotlight as the search for answers continued.
Foster said that at the time, he just had “hope that if she’s out there still, she’s just waiting for somebody to come save her."
According to Mankiewicz, the most surprising aspect of the case was how long it took for the investigation to play out.
“It’s always surprising when justice takes this long to arrive,” he said. “Akia Eggleston disappeared in 2017. We finally got an answer in 2023.”
In addition to featuring Beauregard and the co-founders of the Black and Missing Foundation, the episode also includes interviews with Detective Terry McLarney, as well as FBI Agents Summer Baugh and Patrick Dugan.
"A loss no one ever recovers from"
Mankiewicz told NBC Insider that as with all missing persons or murder cases, the hardest part of covering the story is speaking to the families of the victims.
“It’s a loss no one ever recovers from,” he said. “Justice is better than nothing, but it doesn’t come with grandchildren.”
To find out more about Eggleston’s disappearance, tune into Dateline Friday at 10/9c p.m. on NBC or stream the episode on Peacock as early as the next day.
And for even more Dateline, sign up for the show's official newsletter and check out its podcast.
