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[Music] when your sister annaya dropped you off that evening she did indicate that she
00:00:18
would give you a call when she got home correct yes sure she did and [Music] pure
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hell just the worst feeling ever to not know where your child [Music] is I mean we were doing everything we
00:00:46
could as parents in that moment to try to find her 19-year-old anniah Haley Blancher disappeared last week annia
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Blanchard was reported missing 11 days ago there has been no trace of her Blanchard is the stepdaughter of UFC
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fighter Walt Harris Walt Harris when she was missing fighting was the furest thing
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from my mind at that [Music] point we just want our daughter home we want her family
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if you have any information please please come forward I was almost a shell myself you know honestly I didn't even
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know if I'd fight again but she always was the one that was like don't stop that's it keep
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pushing you know keep pushing keep pushing I know it's hard everything for me moving forward is
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about making her proud I'm going always fight for my baby [Music] girl she was a very happy girl that
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loved life very loving and giving she always put others before herself people could just really tell
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like that she had something about her that was special there is nothing in my mind
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other than finding an [Music] ey you don't sleep you don't eat you're constantly thinking about where she is
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what has happened and it does not go away we were just trying to keep each other say so we
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could keep moving forward so it was a constant go go go we're not stopping J I love you and the mommy is
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not going to give up till I find you we're going to bring you home an you're coming home so don't worry
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[Music] [Music] I had an ey on my birthday June 22nd that was just going to be something so
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special in life for she and I to share the same birthday happy birthday to you [Laughter]
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her laugh infectious her spirit irrepressible Ania Blanchard was just 19 when she
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vanished her vibrant presence replaced by the terrifying Silence of her absence annah's mother Angela Harris she
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just embraced people she just loved people she would walk in and no matter how you felt how down you were she could
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pick you up annah's stepfather UFC heavyweight Walt Harris was a rising star ranked ninth in
00:04:47
the world in the fall of [Music] 2019 he says annaya constantly inspired him you know after wins we celebrate if
00:04:56
it's a loss she'd always pick me up and she was always that rock that voice that
00:05:01
kept me going annah grew up in Homewood Alabama near Birmingham number 22an it's practically local folklore
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that after every school softball game annia invited the opposing team to join hers on the pitcher mound to share high
00:05:22
fives and the Lord's Prayer and even if we lost the other team lost no matter what no hard feelings I think that was
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her whole thing this is a way to connect people longtime friend Hannah Crocker met annia in the sixth
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grade she was one of those people that just wanted to make sure that hey you're doing okay if not let me help you out
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did folks ever think you two might be boyfriend and girlfriend all the time is this your girlfriend I'm like no this is
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my sister they were nearly Inseparable say aniah's older brother Elijah Blanchard we grew up you know 17 months
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apart we were always together and she even followed me to college Elijah headed off to Auburn University in 2017
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anniah enrolled at nearby Southern Union State Community College a year later finding an apartment just minutes from
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her brother I would call her every morning um sorry it gets kind of rough sometimes
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uh October 23rd 2019 annah Elijah and their mom Angela attended the funeral of a family friend
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in Northern Alabama immediately after the service the siblings had to leave both had to
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work the next morning back in Auburn 18 185 miles away she looked over at me she
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said hey Mom we really need to leave now because it's getting late I said yeah you're right it's it's 7:00 you got a
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4-Hour drive and then she hugged me and I kissed her on my cheek and I told her I loved her
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driving right past Birmingham annah and Elijah made a pit stop at home to see their stepfather
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Walt he was training for his next fight one go I didn't never call them step kids
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they were my children it's just the way I saw it you know I loved them like my own the children's biological father
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Elijah Blanchard senior a local pastor and businessman remained a close presence in their lives he and Angela
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divorced in 2004 soon she started dating Walt Harris and then he met anniah and Elijah Jr for the first time you came
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into her life around age3 tell us about how that bonding process went I think it
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started day one man we did everything together [Music] it was beautiful for me to watch their
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bond grow over the years they loved me like they knew me their whole lives we just felt like a little family Walt and
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Angela made it official getting married in January 2010 they eventually had two children of their own ASA and Aya he was
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with them more than I was because I worked a lot Angela a pediatric emergency room nurse worked nights at a
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Birmingham hospital so it was anayia who helped Walt with the younger children it
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was me and the I she helped me basically raise her little brother and sister coming from a strong Christian
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background I wanted to be a good influence in their lives the kids certainly look up to their dad at
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65250 pounds Walt Harris has been a towering presence in their lives WT the big tick and in the bruising octagon cage of
00:08:57
the Ultimate Fighting Championship the UFC man everything he throws is hard Win Lose or Draw Walt's family has
00:09:10
always been in his Corner my family's always been the reason why I fight and they've always been the reason why I get
00:09:16
back up in anah she was the main catalyst for that after the funeral annaya and Elijah's visit with Walt was all too
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short a brief talk a long hug and they were back on the road to Auburn still about 2 hours away when they left Walt
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says he was left with a growing sense of regret I struggle with it every day um I should have just told him to stay
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cuz I felt like she was tired I remember she said uh no I'm find that out I'll be
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fine man I hugged her and I told her I love her and that was it they made the dve without incident
00:10:01
arriving in Auburn around 11:00 p.m. anayia dropped off Elijah at his apartment so I just said L be careful
00:10:11
and just make sure you get home [Music] safe so at 11:09 p.m. I texted her and said are you close to being home she
00:10:21
responded right back yeah annia's college roommate Sarah O'Brien she always let me know where she was at and
00:10:29
when she would be home we actually shared each other's location on our iPhone that's because Sarah says annia
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had a deep rooted fear since the day I met annia She always told me that that was her biggest fear to be kidnapped or
00:10:48
murdered like as soon as she walked in she would check every room she would tell me multiple times like she had
00:10:54
nightmares about it happening to her you don't she really never went anywhere by
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herself at night but that night after dropping off her brother she was alone with just 3 miles
00:11:09
to go that's how far away she and Sarah lived from Elijah 3 miles normally a 10-minute
00:11:18
drive but nearly 30 minutes later annia had not come home Sarah texted again did
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you go out without me about a minute later came the reply I'm smoking a blunt lol it was the word
00:11:35
blunt Sarah says that stopped her she had never heard annia use it I said who are you smoking with Eric I say who is
00:11:46
that I just met him and I responded with where it was 11:43 p.m. there would not
00:11:56
be another response Sarah check cheed her cell phone one last time for annia's location she appeared to be at a nearby
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apartment complex where lots of students lived Sarah went to bed she says thinking annaya was hanging out with
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friends [Music] the next morning October 24th Angela Harris took her children to school and
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reached out to annah to talk it was their early morning ritual we facetimed every morning that was kind of our thing
00:12:49
like good morning what are you doing what do you got to plan for the day so when I called her at 8:00 a.m. and she
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didn't answer the FaceTime I thought okay well you know she's busy so I'll give her a little bit longer Sarah was
00:13:01
eager to hear about Eric the mystery man annah met the night before she went straight to annah's
00:13:09
bedroom and she wasn't there she would always come home she wouldn't spend the night with anyone she
00:13:18
just met Sarah glanced at her cell phone looking for annah's latest location but
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there was none annia's phone had gone dark when did concern turn to worry for you Sarah
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when I called her the lady that she babysat for and she hadn't shown up that morning
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because she never misses a day to babysit those kids she loved them she was like a mother to my
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[Music] kids kinaa Thomas the working mother who depended on anayia said she was the most
00:14:01
reliable Nanny she ever had amazing I I don't know how else to explain it like every good quality that you want in a
00:14:10
person she had like every everything she never once never once didn't show up to take care of those
00:14:23
kids and that's when I hopped in the car to look for a niest car the longer I drove the more worried I got I didn't
00:14:31
see any trace of her at all Sarah decided to get annah's brother and take a second
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look her roommate calls me and tells me that anai never even came home last night and now he's
00:14:51
missing and then I told him what she said about Eric and that she was with him and he was like no she didn't didn't
00:14:59
tell me anything about that my heart kind of just sank and this was completely out of her
00:15:06
character this isn't annia Ania wouldn't have run away immediately I was call my parents
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and was like ania's missing and he says mom we can't find anayia and I said son what
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are you talking about you can't find her like he said no Mom I'm I'm in her apartment and we can't find an
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immediately alarmed and Angela and Walt took off for ania's apartment two excruciating hours away we
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just got in his truck and just flew to Auburn all types of things are going through our head what's happened what's
00:15:46
going on in pure hell well how did you process all of this when you found out that your daughter was missing that
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drive to Auburn was um the hardest the hardest thing I've ever been through in my life because I
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knew something wasn't right Elijah decided to check with Karina Thomas again maybe annia showed up I wasn't
00:16:13
worried until um until her brother messaged me hey I'm an's brother I was wondering if you heard from my sister
00:16:20
today no I haven't I called her a bunch of times this morning and she missed picking up the kids this morning yes I'm
00:16:27
at her apartment right now we have been looking everywhere for her and can't find
00:16:31
her and annaya never left her dog blue alone overnight that was her baby we just knew when we got to her apartment
00:16:40
that wait there there's something really bad wrong here word quickly spread to annah's friends and I was like what I
00:16:47
was just talking to her last night what are you talking about I mean I live 3 hours away from her I was like I don't
00:16:53
know where she is Hannah Crocker dropped everything and headed to annia's apartment once it was 2 hours I was like
00:16:59
that's not an ni in my heart I was like she's a female something happened yeah alurn is a college
00:17:09
town and it's a very safe place former Lee County district attorney Brandon Hughes this from the
00:17:16
very beginning just felt differently you know based on the information we had it
00:17:20
just didn't feel like this was a college student who decided to leave and blow off some steam that just wasn't her
00:17:25
personality that's just not something she would have done Anni disappearance was breaking news right now the search
00:17:32
continues for a missing 19-year-old they're looking for a Nia Blancher if you have any information on where she is
00:17:38
call Auburn police if you have any leads on where our daughter is and N Blanchard
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please please please go to the authorities tell someone she was last seen in a black Honda CRV 2017 please if
00:17:52
you know anything we have to have her back we have to have her back October 25th with Anaya gone for 2 days
00:18:03
her Honda was spotted in an apartment complex in mtgy Alabama 55 miles from Auburn and it was badly
00:18:15
damaged worse still there was no sign of anayia karinaa Thomas had to break the news to her children and they said
00:18:26
anayia is missing and and then they cried and then they came up with their own plan to help find her they got their
00:18:41
tablets hey Google how many houses are in Montgomery and I was like why are you looking that up and he said cuz we got
00:18:48
to go see how many houses we have to go look for her at they they just wanted to
00:18:52
find her but nothing anyone did led to ananiah sighing then a few days after she disappeared
00:19:03
police discovered that after annia dropped off her brother she stopped at this gas station just 2 minutes from her
00:19:12
home it's a uh Chevron gas station on College Street Nia entered the Chevron gas
00:19:20
station approximately 11:21 in the evening on the night of October 23rd and she stayed there approximately a minute
00:19:26
and a half to two minutes before she left annaya bought a bag of sour cream and onion potato chips and a drink that was
00:19:35
her thing every night even at home growing up she would snack right before bed we needed to know if anybody saw
00:19:44
anything what was she doing did she leave with anybody investigators zeroed in on the Chevron
00:20:05
gas station where annia was last seen on video before she disappeared they were looking for any
00:20:14
leavs to where she might [Music] be the community of Homewood where she grew up prayed for a night his safe
00:20:33
[Music] return ribbons and bows in Anaya's favorite color appeared everywhere it has rocked us to our core
00:20:47
it's one of ours come home anayia and when they weren't praying for her they were out trying to find her
00:20:59
pretty quickly people came together and like hey let's do searches here let's do
00:21:03
searches there we would go in the woods we would go behind people's houses we would go in
00:21:13
Alleyways we drove my truck in Backwoods we were all in people's yards we must have canvased from Auburn to Tusk just
00:21:23
me and her within the first two or three days the investigation quickly expanded
00:21:29
across several counties especially after annah's car was found 55 miles away in Montgomery you have to imagine we there
00:21:39
were just massive areas that we had to search there were dozens of agencies state agencies County agencies local
00:21:46
agencies federal agencies huge task force and reward money poured in UFC president Dana White and light
00:21:55
heavyweight champion Jon Jones each contributed $25,000 it's a pain it's a anxiety and
00:22:04
it's just so many emotions you're trying to hold hope that something positive is going to come out
00:22:11
of it but as the days go on you your Hope just starts to dwindling dwindling now missing eight days hope
00:22:21
was dealt a major blow tonight police in Auburn Alabama say there's evidence that
00:22:26
a missing college student is a victim a foul play evidence you know from within her vehicle is the reason that we are
00:22:33
aware that you know she was harmed and we do consider this a a case where there's fou play
00:22:45
involved police would not say what they found but annah's biological father Elijah Blanchard Senor was not ready to
00:22:53
give up that was hard for us I'm a man of faith and regardless of what the police say I still have hope that my
00:22:59
annia is out there waiting on her father to get her annah's disappearance was taking
00:23:05
more than an emotional toll on Walt [Music] Harris he immediately canceled his upcoming fight anniah was the only thing
00:23:16
on everyone's mind I wasn't able to focus at all it was chaos so that was [Music]
00:23:39
sadness I just wanted to be there for my family it's like a dark abyss you're fighting that
00:23:50
off then after 14 days the police announced they wanted this man he was was seen at the gas station store at the
00:24:00
same time Ania was there an eyewitness said he thought he saw him Force annia into her car before
00:24:10
they drove off together this is a person of interest anyone who sees him is asked to call
00:24:21
911 someone did and the man the police were looking for was not named Eric he was Ibrahim yazid a 30-year-old from
00:24:32
Montgomery and he had a lengthy arrest record he should be considered dangerous and would be potentially armed police
00:24:42
said yazid was charged earlier that year with kidnapping robbing and nearly beating a 77y old man to
00:24:51
death he was also accused of robbing and beating a second man despite the serious
00:24:58
charges he was free on Bond and had been staying in a hotel near the Chevron gas
00:25:05
station how is this person free to walk into a gas station how is he just minutes down the road from me how is he
00:25:13
in the same gas station as my best friend but he was and that was at 11:22 p.m. annah's car was next seen a few
00:25:25
minutes later at another nearby gas station where yazid bought a small cigar it would be a little more than an
00:25:36
hour before a license plate reader picked up annias Honda near the entrance to I 85 heading south towards
00:25:47
Montgomery annah's parents clung to Hope and they had faith that their daughter would be found alive they even prayed
00:25:56
for yazid you can stop now you can you can change this you can let her go God will forgive
00:26:03
[Music] you police captured yazid the following day hiding in the woods 145 miles away
00:26:13
in another state police say he did not surrender peacefully 30-year-old Ibrahim yazid was
00:26:24
arrested overnight in Florida on the charge of kidnapping in the first degree yazid appeared in the Florida Court the
00:26:30
next day with a swollen left eye and court documents Finally Revealed what police found in the car it was blood and
00:26:41
a lot of it court documents today say blood that was discovered in Ania Blanchard's car was quote indicative of
00:26:47
someone suffering a life-threatening injury yazid waved extradition to Lee County Alabama where Angela and Walt
00:26:55
Harris would be waiting Hing to find out where their daughter [Applause] was do you think someone accused of
00:27:07
kidnapping should be allowed out on bond chat now on Facebook and [Music] X the harrises were committed to facing
00:27:29
yazid whenever he appeared in court and each time felt like the first time as a father as a guy I'm imagining
00:27:39
as well what might have been coursing through your veins then you see him Mr yazid looking
00:27:46
back at you guys anger I remember shaking I wanted to climb across the the barricade it made me really angry cuz he
00:27:57
was just kind of smug like you you you're tough I'm tough too you know like he was challenging me
00:28:04
almost it took all of Walt's training in the ring and Angela's Steady Hand to keep him from ripping into yazid she
00:28:13
grabbed me and she said just breathe and I just started trying to hear her voice
00:28:19
because I could not I wouldn't take my eyes off of them like okay who's going to look away first type of deal Angela
00:28:26
how did you stay composed post I wanted him to know that I'm representing my daughter and that I'm not going anywhere
00:28:35
we're right here and we're going to fight this all the way through yazid maintained his innocence and the burden
00:28:42
to find anayah mounted everybody was on edge because there's a lot of pressure there's
00:28:49
pressure to find this little girl Angela and Walt Harris publicized their daughter's disappearance on Dr
00:28:57
Phil I love you baby girl um we're looking for you um we're doing everything that we can and we're
00:29:06
going to get you I promise and they're on television you're doing everything you can but up to this point it hasn't
00:29:13
been enough by then the da Angela and Walt had grown close if you want to call up get
00:29:25
frustrated and yell at me for an hour cry with me for an hour I'm there and that's what we were
00:29:32
doing a month after anayia went missing the da had news authorities now believed
00:29:39
that this man Antoine fiser who once served time for murder helped yazid dispose of
00:29:46
evidence he was charged with kidnapping he soon cooperated providing a road map to
00:29:56
anayia and I remains were located in mon County Alabama which is between Auburn and
00:30:06
Montgomery obviously we didn't know to a 100% certainty that that's who it was you know there were several items of
00:30:13
clothing out there I saw a boot I took a photograph of it Hughes asked the harrises to meet at the DA's
00:30:22
office and they don't know why they're there I showed the harrises the photograph
00:30:28
the sell boots like this one were a gift from Walt when the family visited New York City Walt looked at the
00:30:39
phone he just dropped it on the table and said y'all excuse me my wife had come up there and she was
00:30:47
came up the back stairwell she said she saw a Walt just punching the wall I me this is a
00:30:58
concrete wall he's screaming and just punching this wall that's hard talk about a parent worst nightmare
00:31:12
when her body was found immediately I just wanted to actually know if I could see my child I
00:31:22
just want to see her um you know we were told no I just didn't want to go on anymore Walt
00:31:32
broken confused angry um I just wanted to know why and what happened Hughes and the police returned
00:31:48
to the woods to search for more evidence just literally crawling on hands and knees looking for evidence
00:31:57
looking for anything that we could find and what they found helped the harrises finally learn what happened to their
00:32:05
beloved anay how would you react if you came face to face with your loved one suspected killer take an in-depth look
00:32:16
at the case at 48 hours.com a blood soaked passenger seat a bullet hole in the door the evidence tells a story of what
00:32:37
happened to anayia that night investigators aren't certain how yazid ended up inside the car with annah did
00:32:44
he ask for a ride did he force her but the damage outside suggests there was a struggle at some point as the car was
00:32:54
moving investigators say yazid shot an as she tried to escape and I Blanchard was killed in a
00:33:03
manner of homicide cause of death was a gunshot wound was your faith shaken rocked to have our Angel taken
00:33:17
like that I didn't know why God would allow it but Walt ultimately found comfort in his faith it brought me back
00:33:26
it helped me understand that God didn't do this and on December 2nd 2019 then district attorney Hughes
00:33:35
announced the person responsible was Ibrahim yazid he was now being charged with capital
00:33:43
murder we also be seeking the death penalty two days later the harrises were in court when yazid fought back I got
00:33:52
right too but they don't have no video no audio of me shooting anyone that's why I'm trying to see how y'all want buy
00:34:00
me over on heay but y'all ain't presenting no evidence yazid seemed pleased when he
00:34:08
was done the attitude the smirks the the looks wow but maybe the most damning evidence
00:34:20
against yuzed comes from Antoine fiser remember he was facing charges of helping yazid those charges were dropped
00:34:29
Fisher told police that just hours after anayah disappeared yazid showed up in Montgomery looking for
00:34:37
help and he was driving what looked like annah's black Honda fiser said he followed yazid to an
00:34:47
apartment complex the same complex where police would find Anaya's Honda yazid then got into the truck Fisher was
00:34:55
driving says lead Detective Josh Mixon they ended up behind a church near a cemetery and when he looked in the
00:35:04
rearview mirror he saw yazid dragging something wrapped in a comforter it appeared to be two legs he dragg it in
00:35:12
the woods come back got in the vehicle and he said tell me that's not a body fiser says yazid told him he shot a girl
00:35:21
quote when she went for the gun wow it's Indescribable how someone could actually
00:35:27
do those things to my beautiful daughter and I'm so traumatizing to think about what she went through and hearing it in
00:35:36
grave detail it was painful and then the harrises would learn that yazid in addition to being
00:35:44
charged with nearly beating an elderly man to death was also being charged with shooting two other people the year
00:35:52
before he's accused of killing annaya what would you like to see happen Justice definitely Justice I want
00:36:02
Justice for my daughter but justice has been delayed the pandemic has slowed all
00:36:07
of yaz's criminal cases and his lawyer declined to be interviewed Walt who had considered
00:36:19
ending his career found inspiration when annaya came to him in a dream she was sitting in our living room and and there
00:36:28
was just a beam of light on her and she had her arms out and I hugged her and she said keep going and I just woke up
00:36:37
like with a renewed Vigor I felt fresh one two three keep pushing four inspired by annah Walt Harris bravely returned to
00:36:48
the ring incredibly a fight was scheduled for October 24th the anniversary of annah's murder
00:36:58
when he first told me I said are you sure he said I'm sure and so I knew how important that this was to him and how
00:37:06
important that this would be to her to annia and that she would want him to do it Walt flew to Abu Dhabi and spent two
00:37:14
weeks in quarantine training in a hotel we love you na Angela meanwhile remained home caring for their family I
00:37:25
miss her so bad and holding a vigil the night before Walt's fight marking the anniversary for the last time they saw
00:37:33
annia alive your daddy the following day the harrises were on the edge of their seats to watch
00:37:44
Walt fight Halfway Around the [Applause] [Music] [Applause] World perhaps Harris playing POS him a
00:37:54
little bit wal started out strong as Harris attacks the body and now goes up top but
00:38:02
in an instant the fight was over Walt's actually grabbing his stomach in retrospect Walt told us he
00:38:10
needed more mental strength he returned home and a few days later he released all that pent up emotion he just broke
00:38:20
down and fell out in the floor [Music] crying and through all of her pain Angela found her new calling she started
00:38:32
a nonprofit annah's heart to teach safety and help search for missing people I've done group sessions for
00:38:41
education I just did one with some sophomores from an High School a group of like 20 girls teaching them about
00:38:48
education and safety it was amazing this is a a must we have to have this law it
00:38:53
and she's campaigning for annah's law a bill which if enacted allows judges to deny bond to Serious violent offenders
00:39:04
you have people committing multiple violent crimes and they just get out on bond it's it's just not
00:39:14
okay I know one thing that I will not stop fighting for her around Christmas 2019 nearly 2,000
00:39:25
people came together to cele Cate annah's life that beautiful smile she had could just light up a
00:39:35
room anayia was light when you looked at her in her eyes the way the way she made
00:39:40
you feel she just made you feel like you was okay we will miss you we are so happy
00:39:50
you were our [Applause] Ania has the my best friend since I met her in sixth grade she left me
00:40:05
with the best memories ever of course she was a leader she would put people first even when she was sad or
00:40:15
needed anything I love you anayia you are truly My Sunshine on rainy days all this stuff is true she was
00:40:28
really truly a special human being December 21st 2019 be forever known as a night Haley
00:40:40
Blanchard day in the city of H [Applause] [Music]