Episode 146: Aaliyah Bell – Bite-Sized Crime

When a teenager vanishes on her walk home one night, her family searches high and low for the truth. Where is Aaliyah Bell?

Episode Media

Age-progressed image of Aaliyah at age 24(NCMEC)

Possible route Aaliyah may have taken on November 25, 2014 *(Google Maps)*

Episode Sources

Episode Transcript

Welcome back to Bite-Sized Crime. This week I’m bringing you a missing persons case from my home state, one that has been cold for far too long. This episode discusses sensitive topics, so listener discretion is advised.

Aaliyah Shadeay Bell grew up in Rock Hill, a small city on the border of North and South Carolina. Since the time she was just a few months old, Aaliyah grew up under the care of her maternal grandmother Jacqueline and her godmother Juanita. The two women shared the responsibility of raising young Aaliyah, often trading weekends to make sure the little girl was properly cared for.

Aaliyah was also close with her many cousins, aunts, and uncles – her tight-knit family kept her grounded. They described Aaliyah as sweet and kind with a wonderful sense of humor. Aaliyah was outgoing and fun, but also gentle and nurturing to those around her.

Even with her bright mind and easygoing nature, Aaliyah struggled in school due to a learning disability. In her teens, Aaliyah moved to the state capital of Columbia to live with her mother. But high school was a battle, and it wasn’t long before Aaliyah dropped out and moved back to Rock Hill. There, she enrolled at Phoenix Academy, an alternative high school program that focused on helping students complete their education. Aaliyah planned to earn her GED and find a cosmetology program in the area so she could pursue her dream of becoming a hairstylist.

In the fall of 2014, 18-year-old Aaliyah was balancing schoolwork and a busy social life. According to her family, she was a typical teenager, figuring out how to transition into adulthood and how to make her way in the world.

On the evening of Tuesday, November 25, 2014, Aaliyah was in good spirits. She was looking forward to Thanksgiving break and had been making plans to do some shopping on Black Friday. A family member had even wired her $100 to get some new shoes.

Around 9:30 that night, Aaliyah told her godmother that she was heading out. Juanita reminded her that she needed to be home by 11 – Juanita always locked the doors and went to bed at that time. Aaliyah said she would, telling Juanita that she would see her in the morning.

As she often did, Aaliyah walked the half-mile between Juanita’s house on N. Confederate Avenue and her Uncle Bobby’s house on Chestnut Street. Bobby Hall was her uncle on her mother’s side, and they had reconnected after Aaliyah moved back to Rock Hill. She often spent time at his house with him and his family.

Aaliyah stayed at Bobby’s house until just before 11 that night. By that time, it had started to rain, and the temperature was dropping. Some sources have indicated that Aaliyah asked someone to walk her back to Juanita’s house, but they declined. Whatever the truth is, Aaliyah left the house alone, stepping out into the rain and walking into the darkness.

She never made it home.

Unfortunately, no one realized Aaliyah was missing until Thursday, when she didn’t show up for Thanksgiving dinner. Juanita thought she must have been at Jacqueline’s house, and Jacqueline thought she must have been at Juanita’s. It wasn’t unusual for Aaliyah to hop between houses. But eventually, through multiple conversations, the family realized that no one knew where Aaliyah was.

Police records indicate that Aaliyah was officially reported missing on Saturday, November 29th, but the family wasn’t able to talk to a detective until that Monday. In the meantime, they started searching on their own, focusing on the area between Juanita’s and Bobby’s homes. Juanita told the Fall Line podcast that Aaliyah had a particular route she liked to take. Much of the route was lined with streetlights, but there was a shortcut popular with residents – a dark section of road that made Aaliyah slightly nervous. She would run the two blocks until she was safely under the streetlights again. Family members had warned Aaliyah about walking alone at night, but she could be stubborn, and she stuck to her routine.

When the Rock Hill Police Department picked up the search on Monday, their first theory was that Aaliyah was a runaway. She was a legal adult, so she could go wherever she pleased. Investigators wondered if Aaliyah may have hitched a ride with someone to get out of the rain and ended up leaving town instead of going home. But her family insisted that Aaliyah wouldn’t do that, and even if she did, she would have let them know she was alright.

However, when Aaliyah left Bobby’s house on the night of November 25th, she left her cell phone and wallet behind. Perhaps she had been in a hurry to get home before the rain got worse and had simply forgotten her belongings in the rush to leave. But the fact that Aaliyah could be somewhere without any money and no way to contact her family made them uneasy.

As the days passed, Aaliyah’s family grew more and more concerned that something had happened to her. They told investigators that Aaliyah hadn’t claimed the $100 that had been wired to her the day she disappeared. She never would have left that money unclaimed if she could help it. She had also gone completely silent on social media, which was very unusual for her. Although investigators had considered the possibility that Aaliyah could be a runaway, that scenario was looking less likely by the day.

Weeks passed, and there was still no sign of Aaliyah. Police and family members canvassed the streets, hanging flyers and asking residents and business owners if anyone had seen the young woman. Juanita told WSOC that she was trying to stay strong, to keep believing that Aaliyah would come home. “I’m holding onto my faith that she’s alright.”

Investigators began to consider the possibility that Aaliyah had been abducted by someone as she walked along her route. Aaliyah’s family believed that if someone had tried to grab her, she would have put up a fight. Aaliyah was sweet and kind, but she was also scrappy. However, it had been dark and rainy that night, and most of the residents in the neighborhood would have been inside their homes. It was possible that no one no one saw or heard anything.

Police added Aaliyah to the National Database of Missing Persons, hoping that it would generate some leads. They contacted all of Aaliyah’s friends and associates, anyone who may have had contact with Aaliyah in the last few weeks. There were rumors that Aaliyah had been spotted at a local motel, and some even speculated that she could have gotten mixed up in some illegal activities. But none of this turned out to be true, and the leads soon dried up.

Rock Hill Police Captain Mark Bollinger told WCNC that they were frustrated with the lack of information in the case. “It grinds on investigators. They wish they would get a good break or something solid to go after.”

Aaliyah’s family was also frustrated, but they were clinging to hope. Her aunt Laroy told WCNC, “Just have to keep our faith and stay strong. We just know she’s still out there. We are just hoping and praying she comes home.”

After a few years, Aaliyah’s case went cold. Every so often someone would claim they had seen her in Charlotte or Columbia or Atlanta, but every one ended up not being Aaliyah. There was no indication that she had started a new life – no tax records or credit card applications or even arrest reports. She had truly vanished.

In 2020, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children released an age-progressed image of Aaliyah, showing what she may look like at the age of 24. A year later, a new detective took over the case, hoping that a fresh perspective might help. Detective Tayler Tucker told reporters, “It’s difficult to imagine an 18-year-old girl just up and vanishing from nowhere. There are no leads, no signs of a struggle on the path, it’s like she up and vanished. We are always going to have hope of solving the case, and we are going to continue to work until we do solve the case.”

Sadly, in 2021, Aaliyah’s godmother Juanita passed away. In her obituary, Aaliyah was listed as one of her children, speaking to the unbreakable bond between them.

In 2023, Rock Hill police took a new look at Aaliyah’s case after alleged serial killer Rex Heuermann was arrested and charged in relation to multiple murders on Long Island. According to police, Heuermann and his brother owned 18 acres of land in Chester County, South Carolina, just 20 miles from where Aaliyah disappeared in 2014. Rock Hill detectives worked with police in New York and the FBI to explore any possible connection between Heuermann and Aaliyah’s case, but ultimately, it was another dead end.

As of this recording, Aaliyah is still missing. Her family remains hopeful that they will learn what happened to Aaliyah. Back in 2020, Juanita spoke to the Fall Line podcast about the emotions involved in having a missing loved one. “When she comes back, we’ll be in a position where we can laugh about it. But see, right now, it’s so serious. When my kids talk about it now, I get upset… That child was my heart. And I just can’t understand why somebody would do that… My prayer each night is that whoever did this would not go to their grave with the information of where Aaliyah is and why you did this. Because she didn’t ask for it. She did not ask to be taken away.”

Aaliyah Bell was last seen on November 25, 2014, in Rock Hill, South Carolina. She may have been walking down Flint Street between N. Confederate Avenue and Chestnut Street. She was last seen wearing gray joggers, a black coat, and neon blue and green shoes. She is described as a Black female standing 5’6” tall with black hair and brown eyes. She has a lip piercing and multiple stars tattooed on her left abdomen. She may be using the last name Hall. At the time of her disappearance, Aaliyah was 18 years old. She would be 29 today.

If you have any information about the disappearance of Aaliyah Bell, please contact the Rock Hill Police Department at 803-329-7200. And please share Aaliyah’s story. Don’t let her be forgotten.