Gabrielle Fernandez

Staff Editor

Pictured Above: Official Missing Person’s flier 

Cieha A. Taylor is a vibrant, loving, bubbly, and charming individual who grew up in Florida with her mom, dad, and sister. A person who would help you no matter what and be a loyal friend, a loving daughter, and a doting sister. What exactly happened to Cieha Taylor and why has no progress in the case been made? 

On February 6, 2020 Cieha Taylor dropped her boyfriend, his friend, and uncle off at their house around 4:00 PM with the intent to go to her friend’s house right afterwards, but that was the last time anyone physically saw her. 

The same day a citizen called to inform police about an abandoned car on the railroad tracks on Trapnell road. The individuals originally believed it was just a broken down car but upon closer inspection, the car was running and facing northbound on the tracks with the doors wide open. For some odd reason when the police showed up on the scene, they believed there was no foul play and secured it on the side of the road. 

Three days passed until the boyfriend’s mother spotted the vehicle on the side of the road and to her surprise it was Cieha Taylor’s car. The mother informed the boyfriend, and both reached out to the friend that Cieha was supposed to be staying with. She then went to pick up the vehicle. 

Digging through the car, her belongings were still there, including her phone and wallet which was a big red flag to Cieha’s mother who had finally been informed of the incident. The police finally started getting involved and began to search aggressively for her whereabouts four whole days after the disappearance of Cieha Taylor. Fingerprints and tests were conducted on the DNA from the car, while people went door to door looking for surveillance footage and eyewitnesses of Cieha Taylor but NOTHING progressed the case. 

Absolutely nothing had come from the desperate searches until three weeks after her disappearance where the shoes she was wearing on that unfortunate day were discovered near a pole with her missing persons poster on it. That is the last promising piece of evidence to come from the case until it ran cold and continues to be on this very day. With all this information in mind, let’s touch on the possibilities of what exactly happened on the day of Cieha’s disappearance.

A touch into Cieha’s past shows her involvement with a bad crowd involving drug abuse which is actually how she met her boyfriend. Many speculations on forum platforms suggest that the boyfriend has something to do with Cieha’s disappearance. The police interviewed him but nothing has been heard from the boyfriend, not even his name is public knowledge at the moment, though one of Cieha’s last texts points to his involvement in this disappearance. The last text sent to Cieha’s boyfriend from herself was, “So you are going to send your white supremacist friends to take care of me?”

Taylor is bi-racial and her boyfriend has posted things such as the confederate flag and other racially threatening posts on Instagram. The speculation is that the boyfriend sent someone to take care of Cieha, whether it was race driven or even drug driven. Since they both have had a deep involvement with drugs, this may also suggest that the boyfriend might have been in some extensive trouble with other individuals that caused them to go after his girlfriend, Cieha. 

An important fact is that their relationship has always been on and off, very rocky and quite toxic. The text is clear evidence that something had arisen between them sometime before her disappearance. Unfortunately, the boyfriend has still made no public comments about any accusations or even her disappearance itself. Therefore it is hard to figure out what caused the conversation to happen but, putting that aside, there is another piece of incriminating evidence against the boyfriend. Cieha Taylor’s car was only a mile from the back of the boyfriend’s house and the car wasn’t found for THREE days. His mother saw the car, how did he not? Maybe he did not leave the house during those three days but it is a bit difficult to imagine that happening. 

Another speculation is human trafficking, and whether it involved the boyfriend or not is still up to debate. Women are usually the victims of human trafficking and Cieha was alone in her car going to a friend’s house. Who’s to say it wasn’t an attack that is completely uninvolved with the boyfriend? Whatever may have happened, there are some key facts and information to be pointed out throughout this case.

Number one is the shoes at the telephone pole and how huge that really is in perspective. If the shoes Cieha were wearing showed up three weeks after her disappearance then the perpetrator either came back to the town of their crimes or never left with Cieha in the first place. It is unknown if DNA testing was done on the shoes in hopes of picking up foreign fingerprints but it is known that nobody saw anybody put those shoes there, even after checking any camera footage around the area. What does leaving the shoes there mean? Is it a sign that she is already gone or is it a threat to stop continuing to look for her? And leaving her shoes there weeks after means it’s unlikely for it to be human trafficking. It is the strangest thing to occur during this case. 

The second piece of information to think upon is why the car was on the train tracks in the first place. Throughout researching the case, some sources say the car was put there to destroy it for it to be unrecognizable as her car. Though this cannot happen because those train tracks are actually not usable, they are abandoned. If the perpetrator were to put the car there hoping for it to be destroyed then it’s safe to assume they aren’t from the area. Anyone living in Plant City or around that area would know the tracks are not in use, therefore maybe it was someone sent there to go after her or just a cruel individual looking to cause misfortune in a quiet town.

Finally, the main issue with this case was the lack of concern and help done by the police. Many cases like these are overlooked because of race and past involvements like drugs or crimes. They aren’t taken as seriously and it seems like that occurred here. The police did not rule foul play when finding the car, did not try to contact the owner, and stalled the investigation later than it should have been. DNA testing on the shoes hasn’t been done nor has pushing on the boyfriend, a person who should be the number one suspect during this investigation. Precious time was lost in trying to find Cieha Taylor and we should not let that go unnoticed. 

Cieha A. Taylor is still out there somewhere and the mission here is to bring her back safely. Over a year has passed since her disappearance and no leads have been made by the police. Please if you have any information about her disappearance or whereabouts, call the number in the photo above. A more detailed version of the case details can be seen here and the family has a Facebook set up following Cieha Taylor’s disappearance which can be found here. Finally if you would like to get to know Cieha Taylor herself then her old YouTube channel can be found here. No disrespect was supposed to be evident to anyone involved in this case, all assumptions are not accusations, and everyone is innocent until proven guilty. May Cieha Taylor be found.