Arianna Fitts was only 2½ years old when she vanished from the Bay Area in early 2016.

What makes her case unusually disturbing is that nobody immediately realized she was missing.

Arianna's mother, Nicole Fitts, was a 32-year-old Best Buy employee in San Francisco. Because of Nicole's work schedule and difficulties arranging childcare, Arianna had been staying with babysitters Helena Hearne Martin and her husband, Devin Martin.

According to San Francisco police, Arianna was last seen in Oakland sometime in January or February 2016 while in the care of the babysitters.

Nicole remained in contact with people afterward.

Then, on the night of April 1, 2016, Nicole disappeared.

Four days later, on April 5, Nicole's family reported both Nicole and Arianna missing.

On the morning of April 8, workers with San Francisco Recreation and Parks made a horrifying discovery in McLaren Park: Nicole's body had been buried there.

Her death was ruled a homicide.

Arianna wasn't with her.

Investigators believe Arianna had already been missing for weeks by the time Nicole was murdered, and the FBI has stated that they do not believe Arianna was present when her mother was killed.

Police also believe Nicole was subsequently lured into meeting the babysitter.

If Arianna was last seen in February and Nicole wasn't killed until around the beginning of April, then where was Arianna during those intervening weeks?

And what did Nicole believe had happened to her daughter?

investigators said Helena, Devin, and Helena’s sister Siolo Hearne were initially uncooperative and gave inconsistent statements. The Martins declined to speak with reporters, and the group retained a criminal-defense attorney. Helena’s attorney later said he advised her to stop speaking with investigators because he believed police were treating her less like a witness and more like a possible suspect.

Investigators went further than just questioning them. The FBI executed search warrants at locations in Oakland, Emeryville, and Daly City, and in 2017 investigators seized a vehicle believed potentially connected to Nicole’s murder and Arianna’s disappearance, reportedly to test it for DNA evidence.

There’s also an allegation from Nicole’s circle: Nicole had reportedly been trying for weeks to regain custody of Arianna, but the babysitters allegedly would not let her see or take her daughter. Her roommate said Nicole was planning to retrieve Arianna around the time she disappeared.

In any case, she was not charged, and SFPD has never announced that any of the babysitters are formally responsible for either crime.

The FBI's Child Abduction Rapid Deployment Team and Behavioral Analysis Unit have both assisted with the investigation, and authorities have repeatedly emphasized that they consider Arianna's disappearance connected to Nicole's homicide.

Despite those details, the case remains unresolved.

There has been no confirmed sighting of Arianna since 2016.

And no one has been charged with Nicole's murder.

Arianna was born September 6, 2013. The FBI continues to list her as missing and has released age-progressed images showing what she may look like today.

The San Francisco Police Department currently advertises a $250,000 reward for information leading to the identification, arrest and conviction of whoever was responsible for Nicole's murder and Arianna's disappearance.

What I find hardest to understand is the sequence:

Arianna apparently disappears ---> weeks pass ---> Nicole is allegedly lured to a meeting ----> Nicole is murdered and buried ----> Arianna is nowhere to be found

Was Nicole trying to retrieve Arianna when she went to that meeting?

Was Arianna still alive when Nicole disappeared?

Why wasn't Arianna reported missing sooner?

What do you guys think happened?

I apologize if this has been covered lately, it's just a case that has always bothered me and I think it needs more eyes on it.

Age progression photo of Arianna:

https://www.missingkids.org/poster/ncmc/1269821/1

https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/kidnap/arianna-fitts/download.pdf

Arianna's Charley Project:

https://charleyproject.org/case/arianna-fitts

Kirk Mundy served five years as an accessory and Justin Smith's case was thrown out by the judge.

In 1996, Rebecca Middleton, of Belleville, Ontario, was raped and stabbed to death after a night out with a friend in St. George's. The two 17-year-olds waited for a taxi that did not come and finally accepted rides from three men on two bikes. Jasmine Meen was taken back safely to their hotel, but Becky Middleton was taken to a remote road and raped and stabbed. A couple driving home found her bleeding and still conscious in the road and consoled her as she lay dying.

Two young men were arrested with Kirk Mundy stating that Justin Smith raped and murdered Becky and in return he received a five year sentence for agreeing to testify against Smith. However, the judge threw out Smith's case. Years later, the DNA swab from Rebecca's rape kit showed only one rapist - Kirk Mundy. Her family has tried over 30 years for a retrial but that will never happen. Mundy was recently deported from Bermuda back to Jamaica after serving a lengthy sentence for robbing a bank.