The bodies of a mother and her 7-year-old daughter were found in a vehicle submerged in a Wisconsin lake.
They have been identified as 25-year-old Kahlilah Brister and her daughter, Tyrielle Jefferson.
via People:
According to authorities in Milwaukee, their bodies were recovered Thursday afternoon in Northridge Lake after an individual noticed a car in the water.
Their causes of death were not disclosed.
WTMJ, citing the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office, reports that deputies went to investigate a 911 call of a suicidal subject who was “threatening to drive her vehicle into the lake with her daughter inside.”
On the way to the scene, the call was reportedly canceled because it was believed the pair had left the area and were headed to another jurisdiction, per the outlet. Still, deputies in the area investigated the scene and found nothing, according to the station.
That same morning, according to WISN-TV, Khalilah’s mother Jackie Brister called 911 to report she had not spoken to her daughter since the day before, when Khalilah took her car and wallet without permission.
“I told them she wasn’t right, you know? That had never happened before,” Jackie told the station. “I told them that, and their concern was ‘We’ll find your car,'” she said.
She also recounted a phone conversation she had with Tyrielle’s other grandmother, who said a woman claimed to have seen the pair prior to their deaths.
“The other grandmother called me and said, ‘Jackie, there’s a lady on my phone. She was down by Bradford Beach. She said Tyrielle came running up to her said her mother was trying to kill her, and the lady said she went back and talked to my daughter and my daughter said she was tired. She just wanted to go into the water,'” Jackie said, per the station.
Hours later, Khalilah and Tyrielle’s bodies were recovered.
Now, Jackie is questioning why authorities reportedly did not issue an Amber Alert when she first notified them of her daughter and granddaughter’s disappearances.
“I don’t think the sheriff took it seriously when we called Wednesday night and was talking about her going into the water. Why wasn’t an Amber Alert issued then?” Jackie said.
“I’m very angry because now I don’t have my daughter. I don’t get to see my granddaughter grow up,” she added.
Tyrielle’s great uncle Donnell Boose told WTMJ the 7-year-old “had so much joy, so much life.”
“Just every time you see her. So spunky and full of joy. It’s a tough one. This is tough.”
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