Elaysha Gilliam, the mother of four who was found dead in Kansas City, Missouri in February.Photo:Facebook
A family is looking for answers over five weeks after a 26-year-old pregnant mother was found dead in Kansas City, Missouri.
Elaysha Gilliam’s loved ones are “trying to stay strong” and “want closure,” they told bothNBC NewsandThe Kansas City Starin recent days, after the mother of four was reportedly found dead in a field near the city’s Dunbar Park on Feb. 19.
“We are trying to stay strong for the grandkids, but it is really hard because she was really loved and nobody really has any answers as to what happened,” Elaysha’s father, Ed Gilliam, told theStarabout his daughter, who was 12 weeks pregnant when her homicide investigation began.
As NBC News reported, the Kansas City Police Department hasn’t shared many updates regarding Elaysha’s death with her family in the weeks since, and no arrests have been made in connection with the investigation.
“I want closure, we need answers,” Clydetta Gilliam, Elaysha’s stepmother, told the outlet. “The police are dragging their feet, but I need to go out here and solve the case myself. They aren’t giving us anything.”
In a statement to PEOPLE on Sunday, a department spokesperson shared that the “investigation is ongoing, and there have not been any updates.”
NBC News reported that detectives are offering a reward of up to $25,000 for those with information pertaining to the case, and they are making progress toward a person of interest.
Elaysha Gilliam.Facebook
“I hope the people who did this would turn themselves in and take responsibility for their actions,” Elaysha’s father toldThe Star. “I hope that if anyone knows anything that they will do the right thing because my daughter was a beautiful person who didn’t deserve this.”
Gilliam’s four children range in age from 2 to 9. One has sickle cell anemia, and another is eating through a feeding tube, NBC noted.
The family has described Elaysha as someone with a “big personality and an even bigger smile,” a woman who “loved to be around family,” and someone whose smile you could spot “all the way down the street,” they told the multiple outlets.
“We’re still at a loss for words. We don’t know what to think,” Elaysha’s 18-year-old brother Brandon said. “Death happens, but the wrong person was taken from us.”
“I’m not gonna let them sweep this under the rug. I want every single person charged,” she said, before adding: “People are starting to forget about her."
source: people.com
