Teen Vanished During Cross Country Trip in 2012. Her Remains Were Just ID'd at N.Y.C. Construction Site

Mar. 15, 2025

Stevie Bates.Photo: NYPD

Skeletal remains found during an excavation at a New York City construction in 2020 have been identified as belonging to a teen who vanished during a cross-country trip a decade earlier, authorities say.

Now the New York City Police Department is asking for information in connection to the 2012 disappearance and death of Stevie Bates, 19, of Brooklyn.

On Friday, the New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner positively identified the remains as those of Bates, the NYPD confirmed in an email to PEOPLE.

The remains were found on Sept. 18, 2020, during an excavation at a construction site at 80-97 Cypress Avenue in Queens, according to the NYPD.

Her body was wrapped in a blanket,AMNYreports.

Bates had taken part in Occupy Wall Street protests in 2011 and 2012, according to the missing persons report, the outlet reports.

“The cause of death remains part of the ongoing investigation,” the NYPD said in the email.

In April of 2012, Bates vanished while traveling back to New York City after a cross-country trip, her mother, Vivian Jones, wrote on theFindStevieBateswebsite in 2013.

Jones last spoke to her daughter at 7:52 p.m. on April 27, 2012, when she was on a layover at a bus stop in Pittsburgh, she wrote.

Bates told her that when she got to New York City, she planned to meet up with her ex-boyfriend “at his Queens, N.Y. address” before coming to see her mother in Yonkers, she wrote in aGoFundMeshe set up calledHelp Stevie Bates Family Find Peace: Sad Update.

On April 26, 2012, Bates had Facebook conversations with her ex-boyfriend, high school friends and her best friend — with whom she had made plans to meet up with for spring break, Jones wrote.

Her ex-boyfriend “claimed he hadn’t seen her since before she left NYC on April 19, 2012, to begin her travels,” Jones wrote.

She didn’t have any activity “on her card since April 26, 2012,” she wrote.

She added, “Stevie NEVER goes without calling me.”

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up forPEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletterfor breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.

The OCME positively identified the remains on Friday, but Jonesnoted on March 30, 2021, on the FindStevieBates websitethat she and her family had learned that Bates' remains had been discovered.

“It is with deepest sorrow that we announce after nine long years of suffering the unknown our greatest fear has been confirmed,” Jones wrote. “Through the recent discovery of our beloved Stevie’s remains, we now know that her precious life was taken in April of 2012.

“We the family of Stevie Bates would like to thank you for your unwavering support and prayers throughout this catastrophic and unimaginable tragedy. Funeral arrangements and details will be posted shortly.”

Bates took part in gifted programs from preschool through high school, Jones wrote in the GoFundMe that her daughter “graduated from Bronx High School of Science as a National Achievement Scholar and a recipient of several awards and scholarships for her academic excellence.”

“Her talents eventually took her to Hunter College of NYC to study Architectural Design on a full scholarship,” she wrote. According to Jones, Bates “was a passionate soul who loved to laugh and bring joy. She lived her life to the fullest always.”

All calls are strictly confidential.

source: people.com