12 years later, family wants answers in Detroit couple’s disappearance

DETROIT – A family has been left without answers for more than a decade. Randall Childs and Karen Young were last seen in 2011 at the Roberts III Apartments in Detroit.

Childs lived on the 6th floor and was walking Young to her ride at about 11:30 p.m. June 7, 2011. It was the last time anyone saw them.

Prior coverage: Detroit couple missing for 11 years was last seen leaving apartment after argument

Lisha Young, Karen’s daughter, isn’t even sure her mother and Randall left the apartment. She said her mom called the night she went missing using an acquaintance’s phone.

“She was supposed to come back that day but she called that evening saying she had business to take care of and she would see us the 9th instead,” Lisha Young said. “Where did she go? Where did Randall go after he followed behind to make sure she got downstairs? And even if there was a ride, who was the ride?”

The acquaintance whose phone she used is in prison for a murder in Dearborn. Lisha has reached out to them via email but is blocked, so she’s asking the police to take another look.

Karen’s brother Alden Ingram said they need answers as a family and that people still call thinking that they may have seen her in a crowd.

“We get those calls all the time. Sometimes we do it and have to double take and then that’s just keeping our hopes up and then to be brought back down to come to reality to say ‘I don’t think there’s any way,’” Ingram said.

The family is urging anyone who may know something, even the tiniest detail, to speak up. Tips can be made anonymously.

“They say time heals all wounds but it’s like a wound that will never heal because we don’t have closure,” Ingram said.

A reward of up to $2,500 is being offered for information about Childs’ and Young’s location. Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-Up. All tips to Crime Stoppers are anonymous. Click here to submit a tip online.