PLEASANTVILLE, N.J., Feb. 25 (UPI) -- Two decades after a toddler disappeared from the porch of her home in Atlantic City, N.J., investigators said new information prompted a search for her remains.
However, no trace of Bonita Sanders appeared to have been found Tuesday afternoon, The Press of Atlantic City reported. The search in a wooded area in nearby Pleasantville involved digging, cadaver dogs and leaf blowers.
Bonita vanished Sept. 14, 1986, three days before her second birthday. Her mother, also named Bonita, said she left her daughter in her stroller on the porch while she cooked dinner and her other children played outside.
Abdul Salaam, Bonita's father, said that for 22 years he has believed his daughter was still alive somewhere. Tameika Sanders, 29, shared his hope that her little sister would be found.
On Feb. 11, they said, the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office told them they had received new information about the case that suggested Bonita had been dead since 1986.
"All you have is a hope and a prayer, and then now to have someone snatch it from you it's painful," Salaam said. "All we hoped was to find her and it's painful."
