The concern surrounding a missing teacher from Greenbelt, Maryland, is only growing nearly two weeks since she was last seen.
The last time anyone saw 59-year-old Mariame Toure Sylla, known more commonly as Madame Sylla, was Saturday, July 29. As she often did, she left her apartment to walk around Schrom Hills Park in Greenbelt. But she never came back, and never made it to her mosque for prayer that evening, which was also part of her routine.
“At this point, we don’t believe that she is anywhere in that vicinity of either Schrom Hills Park or where her residence was,” said Greenbelt Police Chief Richard Bowers. “We have conducted other investigative techniques in trying to locate her or her whereabouts. That includes using cell phone records, financial records, social media, and variety of other techniques that would help discern her location. And none of that has yielded any positive results for us.”
Bowers said he’s encouraged by the level of concern expressed by the community, with tips coming in from as far away as Pennsylvania, and he’s hopeful someone knows something about what happened.
“The longer that she’s missing, the longer the search goes on, the greater our concern becomes that we will not be able to locate her in a safe manner,” said Bowers. “So obviously, time is always of the essence in something like this. We really need help in trying to locate her.”
The news conference held by Bowers drew both colleagues and parents of students Sylla taught at Dora Kennedy French Immersion School in Greenbelt.
“My son is really worried,” said Meadow Platt, who said whenever Sylla saw him out in public, she would yell out his name and give him a hug. “We went out last night putting up posters of her around the neighborhood, and he was knocking on doors handing out flyers asking if anyone has seen her.”
Platt says she’s still holding on to hope that there will be a happy ending.
John Enoh, who teaches with Sylla and said she was almost like a sister to him, feels the same way.
“I would be lying if I said I had not had interrupted nights ever since the news broke,” said Enoh, who showed up hoping for to hear something new. He said the school community is deeply impacted by this.
“Every night, I keep hoping that she was going to be here,” said Enoh. “I do still have hope. I do still have hope.”
