Juliana Umba Nzita, a 16-year-old originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was reported missing on April 28, 2026. No Amber Alert was ever issued. Ten days later, on May 8, community volunteer Kenneth Tolbert found her body hanging from a tree on church property on West Sugar Creek Road. She was held up by a ratchet strap around her neck, with her feet resting on the ground near a toddler-size chair. The tree limb was out of reach for the 5'9" man who found her. A Charlotte Observer investigation found that CMPD closed the case without performing an autopsy, without locating her cellphone, and without ever interviewing Tolbert — the man who discovered her body.

Suicide. Within three days the medical examiner ruled it a suicide. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police closed the case four days after that. Police withheld some of her clothes from the family even after the suicide determination — a criminologist at Morgan State University called that suspicious, noting police do not need to keep evidence after determining a death by suicide. Four criminal justice and mental health experts interviewed by the Charlotte Observer said the manner of death appeared unusual. Hanging is the least common method among teenage girls.