COVINGTON, Ga. — The Atlanta Police Department is admitting it mishandled the missing persons case of an airport worker with autism later found dead in the Yellow River.
The last known video of Shanequa Sullivan alive shows her apparently trying, but failing, to enter the airport MARTA station at the end of her shift at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport on March 3 – then walking away.
The 23-year-old was found dead in the Yellow River in Newton County a month later.
APD is now saying that they indeed did not secure all of the video showing Sullivan's final moments at the station.
"Our investigators should have secured all surveillance video of Ms. Sullivan once she returned back to the airport but that did not happen," a statement to 11Alive read.
Investigators explained that the parts of the surveillance video they do have does not track all of Sullivan's movements. They say they are now opening an investigation into why the full version of was never secured. They also added they are working to provide what video they do have to Newton County investigators.
Sullivan's family told 11Alive they asked police for the the full clip of surveillance video from inside the airport station within 48 hours of her going missing. However, investigators only released still photos from the surveillance video.
Weeks later, MARTA released clips of the video showing Sullivan inside the airport station. In it, Sullivan is seen entering from the left, wearing black, carrying a red bad and toting a purple umbrella. She had completed her work shift and was apparently headed home.
Investigators say she couldn’t get her Breeze card to work that day, and the video shows her spending about two minutes by the entrance gates – unable to get past them. She then left the area, spoke to a coworker and then she disappeared into the airport.
Family said Sullivan had autism that allowed her to function at the level of a 10-year-old. They said she was able to hold a job as a janitorial contractor at the airport and rode MARTA every day. Investigators are now trying to figure out how she left the airport that day, given that her family told them she rode MARTA "religiously," said Investigator Jeff Alexander of the Newton County Sheriff's Office.
PHOTOS: Shanequa Quanee Sullivan
Investigators revealed last Tuesday that when a fisherman found her body in the Yellow River March 9, she was not wearing the uniform she’d had on when she left the airport – but declined to elaborate.
Medical examiners have not determined her cause of death. Investigators hope the release of the video will jar some memories and produce some clues from the public.
MORE COVERAGE
