Ambassador, sister of missing Greenbelt teacher plead for help finding her

Miriam Toure Sylla’s sister traveled to D.C. from Ivory Coast to join the search for the missing teacher.

WASHINGTON — Police say they are still treating the disappearance of a beloved Greenbelt teacher as a missing persons case nearly two weeks after she was last seen. 

“I’m just here to say help us,” said Fati Toure from the steps of the Ivory Coast embassy in Washington. Her sister Mariam Toure Sylla has been missing since July 29 when Greenbelt police say she went for a walk near Schrom Hills Park and never came home. 

“We want to see Mariam,” her sister said having traveled from Ivory Coast to join the search. “We are all concerned and we are all sad.”

Sylla is a teacher at the Dora Kennedy French Immersion School in Greenbelt not far from the park where she was last seen. 

Police say near that is where Sylla’s cellphone last traced, but after days of searching they do not believe she is still near the park.

Thursday, Greenbelt Police Chief Richard Bowers said it is still a missing persons case.

“I feel confident that out there somewhere is a person who has seen her or has information as to her whereabouts,” said Chief Bowers. 

Students, parents, and friends have passed out flyers for days. They say they have no reason to believe Sylla would intentionally disappear.

Investigators say her cellphone records, social media, bank accounts and passport have given them no clues. 

“This is a very painful moment for a family, for our friends,” said the Ivory Coast Ambassador Ibrahima Toure, who is no relation to Sylla or her sister. “We will be really grateful for any single person who can be of help to provide some information to the police so that they can help in sorting out this matter,” said Ambassador Toure. 

Greenbelt Police also said Thursday they have no information that might link Sylla’s case to the discovery of two unidentified bodies in other parts of Prince George’s County found in the past two weeks.

Meanwhile, the search for Sylla is now featured on the Black and Missing Foundation website, which reports cases involving missing people of color can drag on four times longer than other cases.