March 16, 2026
She Was 17. She Was Missing. They Called Her A Runaway And Kept It Moving.
On December 1st, 2025, seventeen-year-old T'Neya Tovar left and never came home. Her mother knew immediately something was wrong. Law enforcement had a different word for it. Runaway. And that one word changed everything about how fast the world moved for her daughter.
In this episode of No Tears For Black Girls, we go deep into the disappearance and death of T'Neya "TT" Tovar, a teenager from Hemet, California whose case exposes one of the most dangerous blind spots in the American missing persons system. What happens when a young Black girl in foster care goes missing and the system decides her history is more important than her safety? What happens when a mother drives seventy miles to a gate that never opens, begs for a search warrant, and gets told to wait? What happens when the internet starts talking before investigators start moving?
We trace the full timeline from December 1st through the arrest of fifty-one-year-old Abraham Feinbloom, the court proceedings that followed, and the questions that still have no answers. We separate the proven facts from the public speculation, the neighbor accounts from the internet rumors, and we do not sensationalize what does not need to be sensationalized because T'Neya's story is heavy enough on its own.
This is not just a missing persons case. This is a story about what the runaway label costs. About who gets treated like an emergency and who gets treated like a pattern. About the gap between a family's fear and a system's urgency. About what Black women and girls are up against before danger even finds them.
No Tears For Black Girls is Black true crime told with care, with truth, and without apology. We cover Black women stories that the mainstream news cycle picks up too late, covers too briefly, and moves on from too quickly. We stay.
SHOW NOTES:
Episode: The Cases They Ignored — T'Neya Tovar
T'Neya "TT" Tovar. Born October 6th, 2008. Reported missing December 1st, 2025 from Hemet, California in Riverside County. NCMEC Case Number 2072404.
NCIC Number M728779732.
On December 21st, 2025, partial human remains were discovered in the Vista Del Mar area near Salton City in Imperial County, near Portsmouth Avenue and Newhaven Court. DNA testing confirmed in February 2026 that the remains belonged to T'Neya.
On February 13th, 2026, Abraham Feinbloom, age 51, of Salton City, California was arrested on suspicion of murder and resisting a peace officer. He has been charged with one count of murder under California Penal Code 187a with a firearm enhancement. He has pleaded not guilty and remains in custody without bail. The case is ongoing.
If you have information related to this case, contact the FBI tip line at 1-800-CALL-FBI or submit a tip at tips.fbi.gov. A ten-thousand-dollar reward has been offered for information leading to a resolution of the case. You can also contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST.
If this episode brought up anything heavy for you, please reach out to the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741. You are not alone.
New episodes of No Tears For Black Girls drop every Tuesday. Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts so you never miss a case. Leave us a five-star review if this episode moved you. Share this episode with someone who needs to hear it. The more people who listen, the more cases we can cover, and the more families we can make sure are never forgotten.
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CREDITS:
Created, Written, & Produced by John Reedburg
Hosted & Narrated by Samantha Paul
Production Company: John Reedburg Media
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1
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Imagine this.
You are 17, and you've learned
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00:00:05,480 --> 00:00:08,920
the hard way that adulthood has
a shortcut word for kids like
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00:00:08,920 --> 00:00:10,720
you.
Run away.
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00:00:11,720 --> 00:00:16,840
Not a daughter, not a child in
danger, not a teenager whose
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00:00:16,840 --> 00:00:20,360
brain is still forming, whose
trust is still being shaped,
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00:00:20,680 --> 00:00:24,560
whose idea of safety can be
rewritten by the wrong adult in
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00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:27,200
the right moment.
Just run away.
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00:00:28,720 --> 00:00:30,480
A word that sounds like a
choice.
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00:00:31,440 --> 00:00:34,480
A word that quietly gives
everyone permission to wait.
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00:00:35,480 --> 00:00:38,000
Imagine the way waiting feels
when you're the one who's
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00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:41,760
vulnerable.
Imagine the sun going down in a
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00:00:41,760 --> 00:00:45,240
place that isn't yours.
A place where streets don't have
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00:00:45,240 --> 00:00:48,600
memories of you, where your name
doesn't mean anything to the
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00:00:48,600 --> 00:00:51,840
neighbors, where your face isn't
familiar enough for someone to
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00:00:51,840 --> 00:00:54,800
say, hey, you don't belong out
here with him.
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00:00:55,760 --> 00:00:59,200
Imagine how fast a bad situation
can tighten when you're far from
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00:00:59,200 --> 00:01:03,240
home and the only proof you
exist in that moment is a phone
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00:01:03,240 --> 00:01:06,640
in your hand.
Now imagine that phone goes
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00:01:06,640 --> 00:01:09,120
quiet.
Not the normal quiet of a
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00:01:09,120 --> 00:01:13,120
teenager ignoring a call.
The wrong kind of quiet.
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The kind that makes your skin
prickle before your mind can
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explain it.
The kind that turns a mother's
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00:01:19,200 --> 00:01:22,760
worry into something sharper,
something that doesn't go away
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when she tries to talk herself
down, something that doesn't let
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her sleep.
This is no tears for black
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girls.
I'm Samantha Paul.
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This story involves the
disappearance and death of a
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teenager and the recovery of
partial human remains.
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Please take care of yourself
while you listen.
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And one more thing, because we
live in an age where rumors
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travel faster than rescue, in
this episode, I'm going to keep
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00:01:48,880 --> 00:01:52,400
a clear line between what has
been publicly reported as fact,
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00:01:52,720 --> 00:01:56,040
what people said publicly as
witnesses or family members or
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attorneys, and what the Internet
tried to turn into certainty
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00:01:59,480 --> 00:02:02,960
without proof.
We're not here to build a myth.
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00:02:03,600 --> 00:02:06,680
We're here to honor a life with
the truth we actually have.
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00:02:07,440 --> 00:02:11,160
Her name was Tanaya Tovar.
People called her TT.
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She was 17 years old.
The people who loved her
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00:02:15,120 --> 00:02:18,920
described her as bright,
creative, full of personality.
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The kind of teenager who could
fill up a room without even
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trying.
A teenager still figuring
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herself out, still testing
limits, still learning what
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freedom really costs.
Public reporting also described
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00:02:31,360 --> 00:02:34,520
her as a youth involved in
systems that too often become
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00:02:34,520 --> 00:02:38,000
labels instead of life lines.
Foster care.
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Juvenile probation.
Prior runaway reports the kinds
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00:02:42,480 --> 00:02:45,720
of details that can be used to
explain someone away instead of
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to protect them.
Because the way a system sees
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you decides how urgently it
moves for you.
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00:02:51,680 --> 00:02:55,600
Tenea was reported missing on
December 1st, 2025.
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Her family said that was the day
communication stopped.
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That was the day the normal
things that kept her tethered to
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people who cared about her
suddenly didn't work anymore.
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Calls went unanswered.
Messages didn't get replies.
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Location sharing stopped.
That is what her family felt
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first, before they knew anything
else.
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Silence.
The specific silence.
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That doesn't feel like attitude.
That feels like a door shutting
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somewhere you can't reach.
In the early public descriptions
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of the case, she was connected
to the thermal in Salton City
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area in Southern California, out
near the Salton Sea.
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A landscape that can look open
from far away but still hold
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secrets close.
A place where distance can
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become an accomplice because
distance buys time for whoever
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wants time.
As the days unfolded, public
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reporting described a location
that became the center of the
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family's fear, a home on
Harlequin Court in Salton City.
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00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:02,440
The family said they learned
Tanaya had planned to meet an
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00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:04,800
adult man there, someone they
didn't know.
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00:04:05,520 --> 00:04:10,040
That man was identified publicly
as Abraham Fineblum, a Salton
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City resident, 51 years old at
the time of his arrest.
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When a missing teen is linked to
an adult man, the public mind
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goes to the same place quickly.
How did they meet?
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00:04:22,040 --> 00:04:23,680
How long did they know each
other?
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Who else knew?
Who else failed to stop it?
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00:04:28,040 --> 00:04:31,120
Those questions aren't gossip,
they're instinct.
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They're people trying to find
the first domino, the moment
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where this could have been
interrupted.
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Public reporting later stated
that investigators believe Tenea
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and Finebloom had been in
contact since at least October
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2025.
Friends of Tenea told reporters
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they had witnessed an encounter
between the two at a transit
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00:04:50,560 --> 00:04:52,520
station months before she
disappeared.
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That detail matters because it
suggests this did not begin on
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00:04:56,360 --> 00:05:00,360
December 1st.
It suggests a lead up, a slow
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00:05:00,360 --> 00:05:03,480
build, a runway.
Toward the moment the phone went
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quiet.
Her parents did not wait at home
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00:05:06,520 --> 00:05:09,760
and hope they drove over and
over.
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00:05:10,600 --> 00:05:14,040
Public reporting described Charo
Tovar and Josh Carter traveling
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00:05:14,040 --> 00:05:17,200
out to that Harlequin court
address, repeatedly requesting
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00:05:17,200 --> 00:05:20,400
welfare checks, pleading for
someone to search the property.
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00:05:20,920 --> 00:05:24,880
They described never seeing
Finebloom come outside, just a
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00:05:24,880 --> 00:05:28,800
gate that wouldn't open and a
wall that didn't answer, and the
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00:05:28,800 --> 00:05:32,360
feeling that every day the
system treated as ordinary was a
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00:05:32,360 --> 00:05:34,720
day their daughter could not
afford to lose.
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00:05:35,560 --> 00:05:38,360
This is what families of missing
teens know too well.
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00:05:39,040 --> 00:05:41,800
The way you can feel the danger
in your body, but you can't
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00:05:41,800 --> 00:05:44,840
translate it into the exact
legal language that forces a
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00:05:44,840 --> 00:05:48,000
door open.
The way you can have a name, an
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00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:51,400
address, a fear and still be
told to wait.
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00:05:52,200 --> 00:05:55,400
The way a teen's history becomes
a filter that makes people slow
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down when they should be
speeding up.
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00:05:58,200 --> 00:06:01,520
Because runaway is not a neutral
word in practice, it is a
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00:06:01,520 --> 00:06:04,280
posture.
It is a story the system tells
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00:06:04,280 --> 00:06:07,360
itself to justify why urgency
isn't necessary yet.
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00:06:07,840 --> 00:06:10,520
But danger doesn't wait for the
paperwork to catch up.
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00:06:11,960 --> 00:06:15,000
As the search continued, the
public pressure rose.
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00:06:15,440 --> 00:06:18,360
Her mother posted about the
disappearance and asked people
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to share her photo.
The community's attention grew.
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00:06:22,320 --> 00:06:26,280
And as always happens in cases
like this, social media became
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two different worlds at once.
In one world, people were trying
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to help, sharing information,
calling in tips, amplifying a
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00:06:35,200 --> 00:06:38,560
mother's plea.
In the other world, people were
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00:06:38,560 --> 00:06:41,760
treating it like content, like a
mystery built for their
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00:06:41,760 --> 00:06:44,680
entertainment.
When official information is
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00:06:44,680 --> 00:06:48,360
limited, rumor walks in and sits
down like it belongs there.
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00:06:49,640 --> 00:06:52,160
People online began to speculate
about grooming.
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00:06:52,560 --> 00:06:55,840
They talked about trafficking
because missing teen and older
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man is a combination that
triggers a very real and very
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00:06:59,520 --> 00:07:03,360
justified fear.
People suggested other victims,
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00:07:03,640 --> 00:07:07,680
other incidents, other girls
connected to that same house.
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00:07:08,120 --> 00:07:10,880
Some of those statements echoed
things neighbors would later say
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00:07:10,880 --> 00:07:14,000
publicly to reporters.
Some of them were Internet
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00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:17,320
smoke, the kind that spreads
because it feels familiar,
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00:07:17,720 --> 00:07:20,320
because it matches other
tragedies people have watched
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00:07:20,320 --> 00:07:24,080
from a safe distance.
The hardest part is that smoke
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00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:28,000
doesn't just cloud the truth.
It can make witnesses retreat.
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00:07:28,520 --> 00:07:31,880
It can create false confidence
where the public thinks they
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00:07:31,880 --> 00:07:35,760
already understand what happened
and stops paying close attention
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00:07:35,760 --> 00:07:37,600
to what is actually being
proven.
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00:07:38,360 --> 00:07:41,480
It turns a missing girl into a
narrative before she's even been
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found.
On December 21st, 2025, deputies
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00:07:46,880 --> 00:07:50,360
responded to a report of human
remains in the Vista Del Mar
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00:07:50,360 --> 00:07:54,360
area near Salton City, near
Portsmouth Ave. and New Haven
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00:07:54,360 --> 00:07:57,280
Court.
What was recovered was described
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00:07:57,280 --> 00:08:01,320
publicly as a human leg showing
signs of decomposition.
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00:08:02,560 --> 00:08:06,200
At that time, investigators
could not determine identifying
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characteristics from the
remains.
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00:08:08,840 --> 00:08:12,520
The remains were collected,
examined, and agencies work to
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00:08:12,520 --> 00:08:16,920
develop ADNA profile.
If you have never been close to
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00:08:16,920 --> 00:08:20,280
a missing person case, you might
not understand what that kind of
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00:08:20,280 --> 00:08:24,080
information does to a family.
It doesn't land as a clean
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00:08:24,080 --> 00:08:27,360
answer.
It lands as a door cracked open
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00:08:27,600 --> 00:08:30,360
just enough for your mind to run
somewhere terrible.
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00:08:30,960 --> 00:08:33,280
It lands as hope and dread at
the same time.
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00:08:34,120 --> 00:08:37,200
You can be a mother still
praying her child is alive while
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00:08:37,200 --> 00:08:40,480
hearing that a part of a human
body was found near where her
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child was last connected to
someone she'd never met.
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00:08:44,800 --> 00:08:46,760
And you still have to wake up
the next morning.
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00:08:47,560 --> 00:08:49,080
You still have to make phone
calls.
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00:08:49,640 --> 00:08:52,600
You still have to push.
You still have to live inside
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00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:55,560
the space between what you fear
and what you can prove.
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00:08:57,120 --> 00:09:01,040
Public reporting described Charo
Tovar repeatedly trying to get
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00:09:01,040 --> 00:09:04,440
answers, questioning why
confirmation took so long,
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00:09:04,800 --> 00:09:08,160
describing being given early
impressions that did not match
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00:09:08,160 --> 00:09:12,080
the truth that later emerged.
Whether those impressions came
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00:09:12,080 --> 00:09:16,480
from incomplete information or
miscommunication, the impact is
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00:09:16,480 --> 00:09:19,640
the same for a parent.
Time passed.
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00:09:20,280 --> 00:09:22,800
The family stayed in a limbo
that no one should have to
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00:09:22,800 --> 00:09:25,480
survive.
Weeks went by.
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00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:29,400
The holidays arrived.
The kind of season that is loud
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00:09:29,400 --> 00:09:32,880
for everyone else, lights and
music and gatherings.
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00:09:33,280 --> 00:09:36,760
And for a mother with a missing
child, that noise can feel like
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00:09:36,760 --> 00:09:39,120
the world moving on without her
permission.
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00:09:39,920 --> 00:09:43,280
During that time, neighbors
began to speak publicly about
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00:09:43,280 --> 00:09:47,000
the Harlequin Court property.
They described it as boarded up,
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00:09:47,600 --> 00:09:51,440
isolated, a place that felt
wrong in a way that was hard to
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00:09:51,440 --> 00:09:55,840
name but impossible to ignore.
Some neighbors described hearing
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00:09:55,840 --> 00:09:59,520
unsettling sounds at night.
Some described bright lights.
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00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:03,400
Some described screams.
These are public neighbor
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00:10:03,400 --> 00:10:06,320
accounts, not evidence proven in
court.
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00:10:06,920 --> 00:10:09,560
But they are part of what shaped
community fear.
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00:10:09,880 --> 00:10:12,080
And they are part of what made
the family's sense of
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00:10:12,080 --> 00:10:16,160
desperation feel grounded.
Because it wasn't just them.
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00:10:17,240 --> 00:10:19,080
The neighborhood had been
watching.
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00:10:19,840 --> 00:10:22,000
The neighborhood had been
afraid.
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00:10:23,240 --> 00:10:26,560
Public reporting also noted that
neighbors described noticing
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00:10:26,560 --> 00:10:29,720
security cameras being installed
around the property during the
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00:10:29,720 --> 00:10:33,280
investigation.
That detail lodged in the public
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00:10:33,280 --> 00:10:37,360
mind like a splinter.
Because if you are a parent
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00:10:37,360 --> 00:10:41,560
driving 70 miles at a time to
beg for a search, and you hear
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00:10:41,560 --> 00:10:44,720
that the person inside that gate
is reinforcing the walls while
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00:10:44,720 --> 00:10:48,920
your child is missing, the story
stops feeling like a mystery and
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00:10:48,920 --> 00:10:51,480
starts feeling like a countdown
you've already lost.
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00:10:52,080 --> 00:10:56,440
On February 6th, 2026,
investigators received a
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00:10:56,440 --> 00:11:00,760
positive female DNA match
connected to the remains and
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00:11:00,760 --> 00:11:04,160
contacted Charo Tovar for a
comparison sample.
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00:11:05,000 --> 00:11:08,080
Public reporting stated that
rapid testing confirmed the
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00:11:08,080 --> 00:11:11,680
remains belong to Tenaya.
That is the moment the case
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00:11:11,680 --> 00:11:16,200
changed shape entirely.
Because now it wasn't an unnamed
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00:11:16,200 --> 00:11:20,200
limb in evidence storage.
Now it was TT.
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00:11:20,960 --> 00:11:24,320
Now it was the girl whose face
had been shared thousands of
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00:11:24,320 --> 00:11:27,920
times online.
Now it was the daughter Charo
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00:11:27,920 --> 00:11:31,040
had been driving toward that
pink walled house to find.
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00:11:31,920 --> 00:11:35,440
Also on February 6th, public
reporting stated that
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00:11:35,440 --> 00:11:38,880
authorities executed a search
warrant at the Harlequin Court
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00:11:38,880 --> 00:11:41,680
property.
A search warrant is not a
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00:11:41,680 --> 00:11:44,920
welfare check.
It is a legal declaration that
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00:11:44,920 --> 00:11:48,600
investigators believe evidence
exists that the threshold has
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00:11:48,600 --> 00:11:52,360
been crossed, that waiting is no
longer the official posture.
201
00:11:53,080 --> 00:11:55,880
The public confirmation followed
on February 12th.
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00:11:56,680 --> 00:12:00,680
Authorities confirmed the
identification and then on
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00:12:00,680 --> 00:12:06,160
February 13th, 2026, a SWAT team
returned to that house on
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00:12:06,160 --> 00:12:09,480
Harlequin Court.
Public reporting stated that
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00:12:09,480 --> 00:12:12,800
Finebloom attempted to flee by
jumping a fence and was taken
206
00:12:12,800 --> 00:12:15,680
into custody.
He was arrested and booked on
207
00:12:15,680 --> 00:12:18,520
suspicion of murder and
resisting a peace officer.
208
00:12:19,040 --> 00:12:22,600
He was held without bail.
The case entered the court
209
00:12:22,600 --> 00:12:25,760
system in full.
Finebloom was formally charged
210
00:12:25,760 --> 00:12:27,720
with murder and a firearm
enhancement.
211
00:12:28,200 --> 00:12:31,720
He pleaded not guilty.
In public reporting of court
212
00:12:31,720 --> 00:12:35,200
proceedings, investigators
belief was stated that Tenea
213
00:12:35,200 --> 00:12:38,520
died from a gunshot wound and
that bullet fragments were
214
00:12:38,520 --> 00:12:40,840
recovered from the leg found in
that field.
215
00:12:41,560 --> 00:12:43,840
That detail does not offer
closure.
216
00:12:44,320 --> 00:12:47,120
It removes the last refuge of
uncertainty.
217
00:12:48,040 --> 00:12:51,360
It is the kind of fact that
makes grief collapse from hoping
218
00:12:51,360 --> 00:12:54,600
into knowing, even when the
family had already been bracing
219
00:12:54,600 --> 00:12:57,400
for it.
Public reporting also stated
220
00:12:57,400 --> 00:13:00,520
that when Finebloom was
detained, he had a passport and
221
00:13:00,520 --> 00:13:03,800
foreign currency on his person.
Online.
222
00:13:04,040 --> 00:13:06,000
Details like that don't sit
still.
223
00:13:06,880 --> 00:13:10,920
They start screaming.
But in a courtroom, a detail is
224
00:13:10,920 --> 00:13:13,600
only as loud as what it can be
proven to mean.
225
00:13:14,240 --> 00:13:17,720
And suspicion, no matter how
loud, is not a verdict.
226
00:13:18,480 --> 00:13:21,400
This is the tension families are
forced to live inside.
227
00:13:21,880 --> 00:13:25,600
The public wants resolution.
The legal process moves on its
228
00:13:25,600 --> 00:13:29,880
own timeline.
Hearings, discovery motions,
229
00:13:30,120 --> 00:13:33,400
challenges to warrants,
challenges to how evidence was
230
00:13:33,400 --> 00:13:35,960
obtained.
Defense side statements made
231
00:13:35,960 --> 00:13:39,240
publicly emphasize the
presumption of innocence and the
232
00:13:39,240 --> 00:13:42,640
argument that the case should be
resolved in court and not in
233
00:13:42,640 --> 00:13:45,640
headlines.
That is how the adversarial
234
00:13:45,640 --> 00:13:49,720
system is designed to work, but
it doesn't change what it feels
235
00:13:49,720 --> 00:13:53,480
like on the other side of it
because families aren't living
236
00:13:53,480 --> 00:13:56,960
in legal language, they are
living in absence.
237
00:13:57,680 --> 00:14:01,640
And in this case, public
reporting stated that only part
238
00:14:01,640 --> 00:14:04,920
of Tenaya's remains had been
recovered as these early
239
00:14:04,920 --> 00:14:09,040
proceedings unfolded.
That is a wound that doesn't
240
00:14:09,040 --> 00:14:12,000
seal.
It keeps a family in a search
241
00:14:12,000 --> 00:14:14,240
state even after an arrest has
been made.
242
00:14:15,360 --> 00:14:18,600
It keeps the story unfinished in
the deepest possible way.
243
00:14:20,200 --> 00:14:23,600
Now let's speak honestly about
the three things the public was
244
00:14:23,600 --> 00:14:27,560
most focused on online, because
each one tells us something
245
00:14:27,560 --> 00:14:30,240
real, even when the specifics
aren't proven.
246
00:14:31,200 --> 00:14:35,080
The first was the label.
People were angry about the idea
247
00:14:35,080 --> 00:14:38,200
that a teenager could be filed
under runaway and that this
248
00:14:38,200 --> 00:14:41,000
filing could slow the urgency of
a search.
249
00:14:41,920 --> 00:14:44,640
They asked whether the response
would have looked different for
250
00:14:44,640 --> 00:14:48,400
a different kind of teenager.
They questioned whether foster
251
00:14:48,400 --> 00:14:52,440
youth and system involved teens
are treated as less urgent, less
252
00:14:52,440 --> 00:14:57,040
protected, less believed.
That anger is not misplaced.
253
00:14:57,480 --> 00:15:00,600
It is rooted in a pattern that
advocates and researchers have
254
00:15:00,600 --> 00:15:04,120
documented for years.
The second was the contact
255
00:15:04,120 --> 00:15:07,920
history and the age gap.
Online conversation leaned
256
00:15:07,920 --> 00:15:11,480
heavily into grooming language
because it is a known pattern in
257
00:15:11,480 --> 00:15:14,720
teen victimization.
People asked how this
258
00:15:14,720 --> 00:15:18,440
relationship began.
What was offered, what was used
259
00:15:18,440 --> 00:15:21,600
to build trust with a teenager
who was already navigating A
260
00:15:21,600 --> 00:15:25,440
fractured support system.
Public reporting confirmed they
261
00:15:25,440 --> 00:15:27,640
were in contact before the
disappearance.
262
00:15:28,280 --> 00:15:31,120
How that contact developed is
something the courts will need
263
00:15:31,120 --> 00:15:34,960
to establish with evidence.
The third was the question of
264
00:15:34,960 --> 00:15:38,040
other victims.
The prior dismissed case in
265
00:15:38,040 --> 00:15:40,920
public records and neighbor
accounts about the property fed
266
00:15:40,920 --> 00:15:45,320
that speculation heavily.
Some people interpreted a prior
267
00:15:45,320 --> 00:15:49,560
dismissal as a system failure.
Others argued dismissal means
268
00:15:49,560 --> 00:15:52,960
exactly what it says legally,
which is that the charges were
269
00:15:52,960 --> 00:15:56,360
not proven.
Both reactions reveal the same
270
00:15:56,360 --> 00:15:59,840
underlying truth.
People do not trust that systems
271
00:15:59,840 --> 00:16:04,200
consistently protect girls, and
that distrust is not paranoia.
272
00:16:04,640 --> 00:16:07,360
It is pattern recognition.
It is memory.
273
00:16:08,200 --> 00:16:10,240
But here is the thing about
pattern recognition.
274
00:16:10,240 --> 00:16:13,960
When it runs ahead of evidence,
it can turn a victim into a
275
00:16:13,960 --> 00:16:17,280
placeholder for every injustice
instead of a person in her own
276
00:16:17,280 --> 00:16:20,240
right.
Tenaya's story doesn't need to
277
00:16:20,240 --> 00:16:23,160
borrow weight from other cases.
It carries its own.
278
00:16:23,640 --> 00:16:28,240
So hold what is confirmed.
December 1st, the silence.
279
00:16:28,600 --> 00:16:32,240
December 21st A discovery in a
field near where she was last
280
00:16:32,240 --> 00:16:35,640
known to be.
February 6th, the DNA match.
281
00:16:36,080 --> 00:16:38,720
February 12th, the public
confirmation.
282
00:16:39,120 --> 00:16:43,240
February 13th, the arrest.
Now hold what those dates feel
283
00:16:43,240 --> 00:16:46,720
like in a mother's body.
The 70 mile drive to a gate that
284
00:16:46,720 --> 00:16:49,600
never opened.
The welfare checks that knocked
285
00:16:49,600 --> 00:16:53,560
and left the weeks between a
limb in the ground and a name on
286
00:16:53,560 --> 00:16:57,000
a report.
The phone calls to the coroner
287
00:16:57,000 --> 00:17:00,560
trying to understand if what was
found could be her daughter.
288
00:17:01,520 --> 00:17:03,800
The Christmas that passed in the
middle of a search.
289
00:17:04,560 --> 00:17:07,119
The new year that arrived
without resolution.
290
00:17:08,040 --> 00:17:11,079
The way February 6th must have
felt like the world splitting
291
00:17:11,079 --> 00:17:14,160
open.
Both the confirmation of a match
292
00:17:14,200 --> 00:17:17,839
and the execution of a warrant
on the same day, As if
293
00:17:17,839 --> 00:17:20,560
everything that should have
happened earlier had finally,
294
00:17:20,800 --> 00:17:25,280
too late, found its footing.
This is where the systems
295
00:17:25,280 --> 00:17:28,920
critique lives.
Not as a footnote, not as a
296
00:17:28,920 --> 00:17:32,480
policy statement, as the thing
that the timeline itself is
297
00:17:32,480 --> 00:17:35,680
telling you.
When a teen is in foster care,
298
00:17:35,920 --> 00:17:38,920
too many people treat their
absence as administrative rather
299
00:17:38,920 --> 00:17:41,680
than urgent.
When a teen has a history of
300
00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:45,480
running, too many people decide
the next disappearance is more
301
00:17:45,480 --> 00:17:48,000
of the same.
When a teen is labeled
302
00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:51,560
difficult, too many people
believe difficulty cancels out
303
00:17:51,560 --> 00:17:54,760
victimhood.
But a complicated history does
304
00:17:54,760 --> 00:17:56,680
not protect a child from
violence.
305
00:17:57,400 --> 00:18:01,360
A probation status does not
reduce the obligation to search.
306
00:18:01,920 --> 00:18:05,320
And a teenager who has run
before can still be running
307
00:18:05,320 --> 00:18:07,720
toward danger, not away from
home.
308
00:18:08,680 --> 00:18:11,600
The response to a missing child
should not be calibrated to how
309
00:18:11,600 --> 00:18:13,720
perfect the victim appears on
paper.
310
00:18:14,640 --> 00:18:17,200
It should be calibrated to the
fact that a human being is
311
00:18:17,200 --> 00:18:20,120
missing.
That is the only number that
312
00:18:20,120 --> 00:18:23,920
should matter, because predators
do not target the most protected
313
00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:26,680
kids.
They target the kids the world
314
00:18:26,680 --> 00:18:30,120
is already used to overlooking.
They look for the ones the
315
00:18:30,120 --> 00:18:33,520
system has already categorized,
the ones whose disappearances
316
00:18:33,520 --> 00:18:36,760
will be explained before they
are investigated, the ones whose
317
00:18:36,760 --> 00:18:39,960
mothers will be made to feel
like they are overreacting right
318
00:18:39,960 --> 00:18:43,640
up until they aren't.
Tanea Tavar was 17.
319
00:18:43,920 --> 00:18:47,600
She was a daughter.
She was TT the girl with energy
320
00:18:47,600 --> 00:18:51,040
through the roof, the creative
spirit, the force her uncle
321
00:18:51,040 --> 00:18:53,960
described as giving even him a
run for his money.
322
00:18:54,760 --> 00:18:57,960
She was not a file.
She was not a pattern.
323
00:18:58,840 --> 00:19:01,800
She was not a lesson that should
have cost this much to learn.
324
00:19:03,120 --> 00:19:06,360
As this case continues through
the courts, hold the line
325
00:19:06,360 --> 00:19:08,760
between what is confirmed and
what is claimed.
326
00:19:09,520 --> 00:19:12,920
Let the legal process do what it
was designed to do, while
327
00:19:12,920 --> 00:19:16,280
holding the family in the kind
of attention that doesn't expire
328
00:19:16,280 --> 00:19:19,480
after the arrest.
Because the arrest is not the
329
00:19:19,480 --> 00:19:22,400
end of the story.
The rest of Tenaya has not been
330
00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:24,960
recovered.
The family is still waiting.
331
00:19:25,520 --> 00:19:27,360
The court proceedings are still
ahead.
332
00:19:28,200 --> 00:19:32,720
And justice, real justice, moves
slower than news cycles and
333
00:19:32,720 --> 00:19:35,080
cares nothing about how ready we
are for it.
334
00:19:35,880 --> 00:19:38,760
If you have information about
this case, you can contact the
335
00:19:38,760 --> 00:19:42,880
FBI at 1800 Call FBI.
You can also contact the
336
00:19:42,880 --> 00:19:46,520
National Center for Missing and
Exploited Children at 1800.
337
00:19:46,520 --> 00:19:49,320
The lost.
This is no tears for black
338
00:19:49,320 --> 00:19:51,600
girls.
I'm Samantha Paul.
339
00:19:52,080 --> 00:19:57,000
Stay loved, stay safe, and
remember, whenever you're
340
00:19:57,000 --> 00:20:00,760
trapped in a World of Darkness,
never allow fear to overwhelm
341
00:20:00,760 --> 00:20:03,520
you.
Believe in your inner spirit and
342
00:20:03,520 --> 00:20:06,040
remind yourself of God's first
words.
343
00:20:06,880 --> 00:20:07,880
Let there be light.
00:00:01,040 --> 00:00:05,480
Imagine this.
You are 17, and you've learned
2
00:00:05,480 --> 00:00:08,920
the hard way that adulthood has
a shortcut word for kids like
3
00:00:08,920 --> 00:00:10,720
you.
Run away.
4
00:00:11,720 --> 00:00:16,840
Not a daughter, not a child in
danger, not a teenager whose
5
00:00:16,840 --> 00:00:20,360
brain is still forming, whose
trust is still being shaped,
6
00:00:20,680 --> 00:00:24,560
whose idea of safety can be
rewritten by the wrong adult in
7
00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:27,200
the right moment.
Just run away.
8
00:00:28,720 --> 00:00:30,480
A word that sounds like a
choice.
9
00:00:31,440 --> 00:00:34,480
A word that quietly gives
everyone permission to wait.
10
00:00:35,480 --> 00:00:38,000
Imagine the way waiting feels
when you're the one who's
11
00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:41,760
vulnerable.
Imagine the sun going down in a
12
00:00:41,760 --> 00:00:45,240
place that isn't yours.
A place where streets don't have
13
00:00:45,240 --> 00:00:48,600
memories of you, where your name
doesn't mean anything to the
14
00:00:48,600 --> 00:00:51,840
neighbors, where your face isn't
familiar enough for someone to
15
00:00:51,840 --> 00:00:54,800
say, hey, you don't belong out
here with him.
16
00:00:55,760 --> 00:00:59,200
Imagine how fast a bad situation
can tighten when you're far from
17
00:00:59,200 --> 00:01:03,240
home and the only proof you
exist in that moment is a phone
18
00:01:03,240 --> 00:01:06,640
in your hand.
Now imagine that phone goes
19
00:01:06,640 --> 00:01:09,120
quiet.
Not the normal quiet of a
20
00:01:09,120 --> 00:01:13,120
teenager ignoring a call.
The wrong kind of quiet.
21
00:01:13,720 --> 00:01:16,400
The kind that makes your skin
prickle before your mind can
22
00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:19,200
explain it.
The kind that turns a mother's
23
00:01:19,200 --> 00:01:22,760
worry into something sharper,
something that doesn't go away
24
00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:26,080
when she tries to talk herself
down, something that doesn't let
25
00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:29,000
her sleep.
This is no tears for black
26
00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:31,200
girls.
I'm Samantha Paul.
27
00:01:31,920 --> 00:01:34,360
This story involves the
disappearance and death of a
28
00:01:34,360 --> 00:01:37,800
teenager and the recovery of
partial human remains.
29
00:01:38,320 --> 00:01:40,440
Please take care of yourself
while you listen.
30
00:01:41,120 --> 00:01:44,480
And one more thing, because we
live in an age where rumors
31
00:01:44,480 --> 00:01:48,880
travel faster than rescue, in
this episode, I'm going to keep
32
00:01:48,880 --> 00:01:52,400
a clear line between what has
been publicly reported as fact,
33
00:01:52,720 --> 00:01:56,040
what people said publicly as
witnesses or family members or
34
00:01:56,040 --> 00:01:59,480
attorneys, and what the Internet
tried to turn into certainty
35
00:01:59,480 --> 00:02:02,960
without proof.
We're not here to build a myth.
36
00:02:03,600 --> 00:02:06,680
We're here to honor a life with
the truth we actually have.
37
00:02:07,440 --> 00:02:11,160
Her name was Tanaya Tovar.
People called her TT.
38
00:02:11,800 --> 00:02:15,120
She was 17 years old.
The people who loved her
39
00:02:15,120 --> 00:02:18,920
described her as bright,
creative, full of personality.
40
00:02:19,240 --> 00:02:21,720
The kind of teenager who could
fill up a room without even
41
00:02:21,720 --> 00:02:24,200
trying.
A teenager still figuring
42
00:02:24,200 --> 00:02:27,600
herself out, still testing
limits, still learning what
43
00:02:27,600 --> 00:02:31,360
freedom really costs.
Public reporting also described
44
00:02:31,360 --> 00:02:34,520
her as a youth involved in
systems that too often become
45
00:02:34,520 --> 00:02:38,000
labels instead of life lines.
Foster care.
46
00:02:38,280 --> 00:02:42,480
Juvenile probation.
Prior runaway reports the kinds
47
00:02:42,480 --> 00:02:45,720
of details that can be used to
explain someone away instead of
48
00:02:45,720 --> 00:02:48,640
to protect them.
Because the way a system sees
49
00:02:48,640 --> 00:02:50,760
you decides how urgently it
moves for you.
50
00:02:51,680 --> 00:02:55,600
Tenea was reported missing on
December 1st, 2025.
51
00:02:56,440 --> 00:02:59,400
Her family said that was the day
communication stopped.
52
00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:02,880
That was the day the normal
things that kept her tethered to
53
00:03:02,880 --> 00:03:05,800
people who cared about her
suddenly didn't work anymore.
54
00:03:06,600 --> 00:03:10,480
Calls went unanswered.
Messages didn't get replies.
55
00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:14,840
Location sharing stopped.
That is what her family felt
56
00:03:14,840 --> 00:03:17,400
first, before they knew anything
else.
57
00:03:18,480 --> 00:03:21,720
Silence.
The specific silence.
58
00:03:21,720 --> 00:03:25,480
That doesn't feel like attitude.
That feels like a door shutting
59
00:03:25,480 --> 00:03:29,320
somewhere you can't reach.
In the early public descriptions
60
00:03:29,320 --> 00:03:32,640
of the case, she was connected
to the thermal in Salton City
61
00:03:32,640 --> 00:03:36,080
area in Southern California, out
near the Salton Sea.
62
00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:41,040
A landscape that can look open
from far away but still hold
63
00:03:41,040 --> 00:03:44,600
secrets close.
A place where distance can
64
00:03:44,600 --> 00:03:48,320
become an accomplice because
distance buys time for whoever
65
00:03:48,320 --> 00:03:52,080
wants time.
As the days unfolded, public
66
00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:55,000
reporting described a location
that became the center of the
67
00:03:55,000 --> 00:03:59,200
family's fear, a home on
Harlequin Court in Salton City.
68
00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:02,440
The family said they learned
Tanaya had planned to meet an
69
00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:04,800
adult man there, someone they
didn't know.
70
00:04:05,520 --> 00:04:10,040
That man was identified publicly
as Abraham Fineblum, a Salton
71
00:04:10,040 --> 00:04:13,880
City resident, 51 years old at
the time of his arrest.
72
00:04:14,720 --> 00:04:18,200
When a missing teen is linked to
an adult man, the public mind
73
00:04:18,200 --> 00:04:21,440
goes to the same place quickly.
How did they meet?
74
00:04:22,040 --> 00:04:23,680
How long did they know each
other?
75
00:04:24,200 --> 00:04:27,160
Who else knew?
Who else failed to stop it?
76
00:04:28,040 --> 00:04:31,120
Those questions aren't gossip,
they're instinct.
77
00:04:31,520 --> 00:04:34,720
They're people trying to find
the first domino, the moment
78
00:04:34,720 --> 00:04:36,280
where this could have been
interrupted.
79
00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:40,520
Public reporting later stated
that investigators believe Tenea
80
00:04:40,520 --> 00:04:43,880
and Finebloom had been in
contact since at least October
81
00:04:43,880 --> 00:04:47,720
2025.
Friends of Tenea told reporters
82
00:04:47,720 --> 00:04:50,560
they had witnessed an encounter
between the two at a transit
83
00:04:50,560 --> 00:04:52,520
station months before she
disappeared.
84
00:04:53,360 --> 00:04:56,360
That detail matters because it
suggests this did not begin on
85
00:04:56,360 --> 00:05:00,360
December 1st.
It suggests a lead up, a slow
86
00:05:00,360 --> 00:05:03,480
build, a runway.
Toward the moment the phone went
87
00:05:03,480 --> 00:05:06,520
quiet.
Her parents did not wait at home
88
00:05:06,520 --> 00:05:09,760
and hope they drove over and
over.
89
00:05:10,600 --> 00:05:14,040
Public reporting described Charo
Tovar and Josh Carter traveling
90
00:05:14,040 --> 00:05:17,200
out to that Harlequin court
address, repeatedly requesting
91
00:05:17,200 --> 00:05:20,400
welfare checks, pleading for
someone to search the property.
92
00:05:20,920 --> 00:05:24,880
They described never seeing
Finebloom come outside, just a
93
00:05:24,880 --> 00:05:28,800
gate that wouldn't open and a
wall that didn't answer, and the
94
00:05:28,800 --> 00:05:32,360
feeling that every day the
system treated as ordinary was a
95
00:05:32,360 --> 00:05:34,720
day their daughter could not
afford to lose.
96
00:05:35,560 --> 00:05:38,360
This is what families of missing
teens know too well.
97
00:05:39,040 --> 00:05:41,800
The way you can feel the danger
in your body, but you can't
98
00:05:41,800 --> 00:05:44,840
translate it into the exact
legal language that forces a
99
00:05:44,840 --> 00:05:48,000
door open.
The way you can have a name, an
100
00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:51,400
address, a fear and still be
told to wait.
101
00:05:52,200 --> 00:05:55,400
The way a teen's history becomes
a filter that makes people slow
102
00:05:55,400 --> 00:05:57,200
down when they should be
speeding up.
103
00:05:58,200 --> 00:06:01,520
Because runaway is not a neutral
word in practice, it is a
104
00:06:01,520 --> 00:06:04,280
posture.
It is a story the system tells
105
00:06:04,280 --> 00:06:07,360
itself to justify why urgency
isn't necessary yet.
106
00:06:07,840 --> 00:06:10,520
But danger doesn't wait for the
paperwork to catch up.
107
00:06:11,960 --> 00:06:15,000
As the search continued, the
public pressure rose.
108
00:06:15,440 --> 00:06:18,360
Her mother posted about the
disappearance and asked people
109
00:06:18,360 --> 00:06:21,600
to share her photo.
The community's attention grew.
110
00:06:22,320 --> 00:06:26,280
And as always happens in cases
like this, social media became
111
00:06:26,280 --> 00:06:30,480
two different worlds at once.
In one world, people were trying
112
00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:35,200
to help, sharing information,
calling in tips, amplifying a
113
00:06:35,200 --> 00:06:38,560
mother's plea.
In the other world, people were
114
00:06:38,560 --> 00:06:41,760
treating it like content, like a
mystery built for their
115
00:06:41,760 --> 00:06:44,680
entertainment.
When official information is
116
00:06:44,680 --> 00:06:48,360
limited, rumor walks in and sits
down like it belongs there.
117
00:06:49,640 --> 00:06:52,160
People online began to speculate
about grooming.
118
00:06:52,560 --> 00:06:55,840
They talked about trafficking
because missing teen and older
119
00:06:55,840 --> 00:06:59,520
man is a combination that
triggers a very real and very
120
00:06:59,520 --> 00:07:03,360
justified fear.
People suggested other victims,
121
00:07:03,640 --> 00:07:07,680
other incidents, other girls
connected to that same house.
122
00:07:08,120 --> 00:07:10,880
Some of those statements echoed
things neighbors would later say
123
00:07:10,880 --> 00:07:14,000
publicly to reporters.
Some of them were Internet
124
00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:17,320
smoke, the kind that spreads
because it feels familiar,
125
00:07:17,720 --> 00:07:20,320
because it matches other
tragedies people have watched
126
00:07:20,320 --> 00:07:24,080
from a safe distance.
The hardest part is that smoke
127
00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:28,000
doesn't just cloud the truth.
It can make witnesses retreat.
128
00:07:28,520 --> 00:07:31,880
It can create false confidence
where the public thinks they
129
00:07:31,880 --> 00:07:35,760
already understand what happened
and stops paying close attention
130
00:07:35,760 --> 00:07:37,600
to what is actually being
proven.
131
00:07:38,360 --> 00:07:41,480
It turns a missing girl into a
narrative before she's even been
132
00:07:41,480 --> 00:07:46,880
found.
On December 21st, 2025, deputies
133
00:07:46,880 --> 00:07:50,360
responded to a report of human
remains in the Vista Del Mar
134
00:07:50,360 --> 00:07:54,360
area near Salton City, near
Portsmouth Ave. and New Haven
135
00:07:54,360 --> 00:07:57,280
Court.
What was recovered was described
136
00:07:57,280 --> 00:08:01,320
publicly as a human leg showing
signs of decomposition.
137
00:08:02,560 --> 00:08:06,200
At that time, investigators
could not determine identifying
138
00:08:06,200 --> 00:08:08,320
characteristics from the
remains.
139
00:08:08,840 --> 00:08:12,520
The remains were collected,
examined, and agencies work to
140
00:08:12,520 --> 00:08:16,920
develop ADNA profile.
If you have never been close to
141
00:08:16,920 --> 00:08:20,280
a missing person case, you might
not understand what that kind of
142
00:08:20,280 --> 00:08:24,080
information does to a family.
It doesn't land as a clean
143
00:08:24,080 --> 00:08:27,360
answer.
It lands as a door cracked open
144
00:08:27,600 --> 00:08:30,360
just enough for your mind to run
somewhere terrible.
145
00:08:30,960 --> 00:08:33,280
It lands as hope and dread at
the same time.
146
00:08:34,120 --> 00:08:37,200
You can be a mother still
praying her child is alive while
147
00:08:37,200 --> 00:08:40,480
hearing that a part of a human
body was found near where her
148
00:08:40,480 --> 00:08:43,320
child was last connected to
someone she'd never met.
149
00:08:44,800 --> 00:08:46,760
And you still have to wake up
the next morning.
150
00:08:47,560 --> 00:08:49,080
You still have to make phone
calls.
151
00:08:49,640 --> 00:08:52,600
You still have to push.
You still have to live inside
152
00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:55,560
the space between what you fear
and what you can prove.
153
00:08:57,120 --> 00:09:01,040
Public reporting described Charo
Tovar repeatedly trying to get
154
00:09:01,040 --> 00:09:04,440
answers, questioning why
confirmation took so long,
155
00:09:04,800 --> 00:09:08,160
describing being given early
impressions that did not match
156
00:09:08,160 --> 00:09:12,080
the truth that later emerged.
Whether those impressions came
157
00:09:12,080 --> 00:09:16,480
from incomplete information or
miscommunication, the impact is
158
00:09:16,480 --> 00:09:19,640
the same for a parent.
Time passed.
159
00:09:20,280 --> 00:09:22,800
The family stayed in a limbo
that no one should have to
160
00:09:22,800 --> 00:09:25,480
survive.
Weeks went by.
161
00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:29,400
The holidays arrived.
The kind of season that is loud
162
00:09:29,400 --> 00:09:32,880
for everyone else, lights and
music and gatherings.
163
00:09:33,280 --> 00:09:36,760
And for a mother with a missing
child, that noise can feel like
164
00:09:36,760 --> 00:09:39,120
the world moving on without her
permission.
165
00:09:39,920 --> 00:09:43,280
During that time, neighbors
began to speak publicly about
166
00:09:43,280 --> 00:09:47,000
the Harlequin Court property.
They described it as boarded up,
167
00:09:47,600 --> 00:09:51,440
isolated, a place that felt
wrong in a way that was hard to
168
00:09:51,440 --> 00:09:55,840
name but impossible to ignore.
Some neighbors described hearing
169
00:09:55,840 --> 00:09:59,520
unsettling sounds at night.
Some described bright lights.
170
00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:03,400
Some described screams.
These are public neighbor
171
00:10:03,400 --> 00:10:06,320
accounts, not evidence proven in
court.
172
00:10:06,920 --> 00:10:09,560
But they are part of what shaped
community fear.
173
00:10:09,880 --> 00:10:12,080
And they are part of what made
the family's sense of
174
00:10:12,080 --> 00:10:16,160
desperation feel grounded.
Because it wasn't just them.
175
00:10:17,240 --> 00:10:19,080
The neighborhood had been
watching.
176
00:10:19,840 --> 00:10:22,000
The neighborhood had been
afraid.
177
00:10:23,240 --> 00:10:26,560
Public reporting also noted that
neighbors described noticing
178
00:10:26,560 --> 00:10:29,720
security cameras being installed
around the property during the
179
00:10:29,720 --> 00:10:33,280
investigation.
That detail lodged in the public
180
00:10:33,280 --> 00:10:37,360
mind like a splinter.
Because if you are a parent
181
00:10:37,360 --> 00:10:41,560
driving 70 miles at a time to
beg for a search, and you hear
182
00:10:41,560 --> 00:10:44,720
that the person inside that gate
is reinforcing the walls while
183
00:10:44,720 --> 00:10:48,920
your child is missing, the story
stops feeling like a mystery and
184
00:10:48,920 --> 00:10:51,480
starts feeling like a countdown
you've already lost.
185
00:10:52,080 --> 00:10:56,440
On February 6th, 2026,
investigators received a
186
00:10:56,440 --> 00:11:00,760
positive female DNA match
connected to the remains and
187
00:11:00,760 --> 00:11:04,160
contacted Charo Tovar for a
comparison sample.
188
00:11:05,000 --> 00:11:08,080
Public reporting stated that
rapid testing confirmed the
189
00:11:08,080 --> 00:11:11,680
remains belong to Tenaya.
That is the moment the case
190
00:11:11,680 --> 00:11:16,200
changed shape entirely.
Because now it wasn't an unnamed
191
00:11:16,200 --> 00:11:20,200
limb in evidence storage.
Now it was TT.
192
00:11:20,960 --> 00:11:24,320
Now it was the girl whose face
had been shared thousands of
193
00:11:24,320 --> 00:11:27,920
times online.
Now it was the daughter Charo
194
00:11:27,920 --> 00:11:31,040
had been driving toward that
pink walled house to find.
195
00:11:31,920 --> 00:11:35,440
Also on February 6th, public
reporting stated that
196
00:11:35,440 --> 00:11:38,880
authorities executed a search
warrant at the Harlequin Court
197
00:11:38,880 --> 00:11:41,680
property.
A search warrant is not a
198
00:11:41,680 --> 00:11:44,920
welfare check.
It is a legal declaration that
199
00:11:44,920 --> 00:11:48,600
investigators believe evidence
exists that the threshold has
200
00:11:48,600 --> 00:11:52,360
been crossed, that waiting is no
longer the official posture.
201
00:11:53,080 --> 00:11:55,880
The public confirmation followed
on February 12th.
202
00:11:56,680 --> 00:12:00,680
Authorities confirmed the
identification and then on
203
00:12:00,680 --> 00:12:06,160
February 13th, 2026, a SWAT team
returned to that house on
204
00:12:06,160 --> 00:12:09,480
Harlequin Court.
Public reporting stated that
205
00:12:09,480 --> 00:12:12,800
Finebloom attempted to flee by
jumping a fence and was taken
206
00:12:12,800 --> 00:12:15,680
into custody.
He was arrested and booked on
207
00:12:15,680 --> 00:12:18,520
suspicion of murder and
resisting a peace officer.
208
00:12:19,040 --> 00:12:22,600
He was held without bail.
The case entered the court
209
00:12:22,600 --> 00:12:25,760
system in full.
Finebloom was formally charged
210
00:12:25,760 --> 00:12:27,720
with murder and a firearm
enhancement.
211
00:12:28,200 --> 00:12:31,720
He pleaded not guilty.
In public reporting of court
212
00:12:31,720 --> 00:12:35,200
proceedings, investigators
belief was stated that Tenea
213
00:12:35,200 --> 00:12:38,520
died from a gunshot wound and
that bullet fragments were
214
00:12:38,520 --> 00:12:40,840
recovered from the leg found in
that field.
215
00:12:41,560 --> 00:12:43,840
That detail does not offer
closure.
216
00:12:44,320 --> 00:12:47,120
It removes the last refuge of
uncertainty.
217
00:12:48,040 --> 00:12:51,360
It is the kind of fact that
makes grief collapse from hoping
218
00:12:51,360 --> 00:12:54,600
into knowing, even when the
family had already been bracing
219
00:12:54,600 --> 00:12:57,400
for it.
Public reporting also stated
220
00:12:57,400 --> 00:13:00,520
that when Finebloom was
detained, he had a passport and
221
00:13:00,520 --> 00:13:03,800
foreign currency on his person.
Online.
222
00:13:04,040 --> 00:13:06,000
Details like that don't sit
still.
223
00:13:06,880 --> 00:13:10,920
They start screaming.
But in a courtroom, a detail is
224
00:13:10,920 --> 00:13:13,600
only as loud as what it can be
proven to mean.
225
00:13:14,240 --> 00:13:17,720
And suspicion, no matter how
loud, is not a verdict.
226
00:13:18,480 --> 00:13:21,400
This is the tension families are
forced to live inside.
227
00:13:21,880 --> 00:13:25,600
The public wants resolution.
The legal process moves on its
228
00:13:25,600 --> 00:13:29,880
own timeline.
Hearings, discovery motions,
229
00:13:30,120 --> 00:13:33,400
challenges to warrants,
challenges to how evidence was
230
00:13:33,400 --> 00:13:35,960
obtained.
Defense side statements made
231
00:13:35,960 --> 00:13:39,240
publicly emphasize the
presumption of innocence and the
232
00:13:39,240 --> 00:13:42,640
argument that the case should be
resolved in court and not in
233
00:13:42,640 --> 00:13:45,640
headlines.
That is how the adversarial
234
00:13:45,640 --> 00:13:49,720
system is designed to work, but
it doesn't change what it feels
235
00:13:49,720 --> 00:13:53,480
like on the other side of it
because families aren't living
236
00:13:53,480 --> 00:13:56,960
in legal language, they are
living in absence.
237
00:13:57,680 --> 00:14:01,640
And in this case, public
reporting stated that only part
238
00:14:01,640 --> 00:14:04,920
of Tenaya's remains had been
recovered as these early
239
00:14:04,920 --> 00:14:09,040
proceedings unfolded.
That is a wound that doesn't
240
00:14:09,040 --> 00:14:12,000
seal.
It keeps a family in a search
241
00:14:12,000 --> 00:14:14,240
state even after an arrest has
been made.
242
00:14:15,360 --> 00:14:18,600
It keeps the story unfinished in
the deepest possible way.
243
00:14:20,200 --> 00:14:23,600
Now let's speak honestly about
the three things the public was
244
00:14:23,600 --> 00:14:27,560
most focused on online, because
each one tells us something
245
00:14:27,560 --> 00:14:30,240
real, even when the specifics
aren't proven.
246
00:14:31,200 --> 00:14:35,080
The first was the label.
People were angry about the idea
247
00:14:35,080 --> 00:14:38,200
that a teenager could be filed
under runaway and that this
248
00:14:38,200 --> 00:14:41,000
filing could slow the urgency of
a search.
249
00:14:41,920 --> 00:14:44,640
They asked whether the response
would have looked different for
250
00:14:44,640 --> 00:14:48,400
a different kind of teenager.
They questioned whether foster
251
00:14:48,400 --> 00:14:52,440
youth and system involved teens
are treated as less urgent, less
252
00:14:52,440 --> 00:14:57,040
protected, less believed.
That anger is not misplaced.
253
00:14:57,480 --> 00:15:00,600
It is rooted in a pattern that
advocates and researchers have
254
00:15:00,600 --> 00:15:04,120
documented for years.
The second was the contact
255
00:15:04,120 --> 00:15:07,920
history and the age gap.
Online conversation leaned
256
00:15:07,920 --> 00:15:11,480
heavily into grooming language
because it is a known pattern in
257
00:15:11,480 --> 00:15:14,720
teen victimization.
People asked how this
258
00:15:14,720 --> 00:15:18,440
relationship began.
What was offered, what was used
259
00:15:18,440 --> 00:15:21,600
to build trust with a teenager
who was already navigating A
260
00:15:21,600 --> 00:15:25,440
fractured support system.
Public reporting confirmed they
261
00:15:25,440 --> 00:15:27,640
were in contact before the
disappearance.
262
00:15:28,280 --> 00:15:31,120
How that contact developed is
something the courts will need
263
00:15:31,120 --> 00:15:34,960
to establish with evidence.
The third was the question of
264
00:15:34,960 --> 00:15:38,040
other victims.
The prior dismissed case in
265
00:15:38,040 --> 00:15:40,920
public records and neighbor
accounts about the property fed
266
00:15:40,920 --> 00:15:45,320
that speculation heavily.
Some people interpreted a prior
267
00:15:45,320 --> 00:15:49,560
dismissal as a system failure.
Others argued dismissal means
268
00:15:49,560 --> 00:15:52,960
exactly what it says legally,
which is that the charges were
269
00:15:52,960 --> 00:15:56,360
not proven.
Both reactions reveal the same
270
00:15:56,360 --> 00:15:59,840
underlying truth.
People do not trust that systems
271
00:15:59,840 --> 00:16:04,200
consistently protect girls, and
that distrust is not paranoia.
272
00:16:04,640 --> 00:16:07,360
It is pattern recognition.
It is memory.
273
00:16:08,200 --> 00:16:10,240
But here is the thing about
pattern recognition.
274
00:16:10,240 --> 00:16:13,960
When it runs ahead of evidence,
it can turn a victim into a
275
00:16:13,960 --> 00:16:17,280
placeholder for every injustice
instead of a person in her own
276
00:16:17,280 --> 00:16:20,240
right.
Tenaya's story doesn't need to
277
00:16:20,240 --> 00:16:23,160
borrow weight from other cases.
It carries its own.
278
00:16:23,640 --> 00:16:28,240
So hold what is confirmed.
December 1st, the silence.
279
00:16:28,600 --> 00:16:32,240
December 21st A discovery in a
field near where she was last
280
00:16:32,240 --> 00:16:35,640
known to be.
February 6th, the DNA match.
281
00:16:36,080 --> 00:16:38,720
February 12th, the public
confirmation.
282
00:16:39,120 --> 00:16:43,240
February 13th, the arrest.
Now hold what those dates feel
283
00:16:43,240 --> 00:16:46,720
like in a mother's body.
The 70 mile drive to a gate that
284
00:16:46,720 --> 00:16:49,600
never opened.
The welfare checks that knocked
285
00:16:49,600 --> 00:16:53,560
and left the weeks between a
limb in the ground and a name on
286
00:16:53,560 --> 00:16:57,000
a report.
The phone calls to the coroner
287
00:16:57,000 --> 00:17:00,560
trying to understand if what was
found could be her daughter.
288
00:17:01,520 --> 00:17:03,800
The Christmas that passed in the
middle of a search.
289
00:17:04,560 --> 00:17:07,119
The new year that arrived
without resolution.
290
00:17:08,040 --> 00:17:11,079
The way February 6th must have
felt like the world splitting
291
00:17:11,079 --> 00:17:14,160
open.
Both the confirmation of a match
292
00:17:14,200 --> 00:17:17,839
and the execution of a warrant
on the same day, As if
293
00:17:17,839 --> 00:17:20,560
everything that should have
happened earlier had finally,
294
00:17:20,800 --> 00:17:25,280
too late, found its footing.
This is where the systems
295
00:17:25,280 --> 00:17:28,920
critique lives.
Not as a footnote, not as a
296
00:17:28,920 --> 00:17:32,480
policy statement, as the thing
that the timeline itself is
297
00:17:32,480 --> 00:17:35,680
telling you.
When a teen is in foster care,
298
00:17:35,920 --> 00:17:38,920
too many people treat their
absence as administrative rather
299
00:17:38,920 --> 00:17:41,680
than urgent.
When a teen has a history of
300
00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:45,480
running, too many people decide
the next disappearance is more
301
00:17:45,480 --> 00:17:48,000
of the same.
When a teen is labeled
302
00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:51,560
difficult, too many people
believe difficulty cancels out
303
00:17:51,560 --> 00:17:54,760
victimhood.
But a complicated history does
304
00:17:54,760 --> 00:17:56,680
not protect a child from
violence.
305
00:17:57,400 --> 00:18:01,360
A probation status does not
reduce the obligation to search.
306
00:18:01,920 --> 00:18:05,320
And a teenager who has run
before can still be running
307
00:18:05,320 --> 00:18:07,720
toward danger, not away from
home.
308
00:18:08,680 --> 00:18:11,600
The response to a missing child
should not be calibrated to how
309
00:18:11,600 --> 00:18:13,720
perfect the victim appears on
paper.
310
00:18:14,640 --> 00:18:17,200
It should be calibrated to the
fact that a human being is
311
00:18:17,200 --> 00:18:20,120
missing.
That is the only number that
312
00:18:20,120 --> 00:18:23,920
should matter, because predators
do not target the most protected
313
00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:26,680
kids.
They target the kids the world
314
00:18:26,680 --> 00:18:30,120
is already used to overlooking.
They look for the ones the
315
00:18:30,120 --> 00:18:33,520
system has already categorized,
the ones whose disappearances
316
00:18:33,520 --> 00:18:36,760
will be explained before they
are investigated, the ones whose
317
00:18:36,760 --> 00:18:39,960
mothers will be made to feel
like they are overreacting right
318
00:18:39,960 --> 00:18:43,640
up until they aren't.
Tanea Tavar was 17.
319
00:18:43,920 --> 00:18:47,600
She was a daughter.
She was TT the girl with energy
320
00:18:47,600 --> 00:18:51,040
through the roof, the creative
spirit, the force her uncle
321
00:18:51,040 --> 00:18:53,960
described as giving even him a
run for his money.
322
00:18:54,760 --> 00:18:57,960
She was not a file.
She was not a pattern.
323
00:18:58,840 --> 00:19:01,800
She was not a lesson that should
have cost this much to learn.
324
00:19:03,120 --> 00:19:06,360
As this case continues through
the courts, hold the line
325
00:19:06,360 --> 00:19:08,760
between what is confirmed and
what is claimed.
326
00:19:09,520 --> 00:19:12,920
Let the legal process do what it
was designed to do, while
327
00:19:12,920 --> 00:19:16,280
holding the family in the kind
of attention that doesn't expire
328
00:19:16,280 --> 00:19:19,480
after the arrest.
Because the arrest is not the
329
00:19:19,480 --> 00:19:22,400
end of the story.
The rest of Tenaya has not been
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00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:24,960
recovered.
The family is still waiting.
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00:19:25,520 --> 00:19:27,360
The court proceedings are still
ahead.
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00:19:28,200 --> 00:19:32,720
And justice, real justice, moves
slower than news cycles and
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00:19:32,720 --> 00:19:35,080
cares nothing about how ready we
are for it.
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00:19:35,880 --> 00:19:38,760
If you have information about
this case, you can contact the
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00:19:38,760 --> 00:19:42,880
FBI at 1800 Call FBI.
You can also contact the
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00:19:42,880 --> 00:19:46,520
National Center for Missing and
Exploited Children at 1800.
337
00:19:46,520 --> 00:19:49,320
The lost.
This is no tears for black
338
00:19:49,320 --> 00:19:51,600
girls.
I'm Samantha Paul.
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00:19:52,080 --> 00:19:57,000
Stay loved, stay safe, and
remember, whenever you're
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00:19:57,000 --> 00:20:00,760
trapped in a World of Darkness,
never allow fear to overwhelm
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00:20:00,760 --> 00:20:03,520
you.
Believe in your inner spirit and
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00:20:03,520 --> 00:20:06,040
remind yourself of God's first
words.
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00:20:06,880 --> 00:20:07,880
Let there be light.
