Episode Summary
Celina Mays was 12 years old and nine months pregnant when she vanished from her bedroom in the middle of the night back in 1996. Her disappearance helped peel back the curtain on a small controversial church where an environment of shame, isolation and fear allowed sexual abuse to flourish.
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Episode Info
If you have any information about Celina Mays, please contact the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children 24-hours a day, 7 days a week by calling 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678). You can also call the Willingboro Police Department at (609) 877-3001 or the Citizen Tip Hotline at (609) 877-6958.
If you or a loved one need help or want to find resources on how to detach from a destructive group, cult or leader, check out the following websites:
Freedom of Mind Resource Center
The Cult Education Institute
Cult Escape
Dare to Doubt
EnCourage Survivors of Cults and Abuse
Celina Mays
Celina Mays' Missing Person Poster
An age-progressed photo of Celina shows what she may look like as a 19-year-old.
An age-progressed photo of Celina shows what she may look like as a 26-year-old.
An age-progressed photo of Celina shows what she may look like as a 33-year-old.
Mugshot of Sean Smith, the son of Pastor Cerita Smith
Cerita Smith (née Mays) in her junior year of high school
Cerita Smith
Crezonzo “C.J.” Mays holding a portrait of Celina for Courier-Post photographer Paris L. Gray on Wednesday, January 8th, 1997
Crezonzo “C.J.” Mays
Celina and Norael
Celina and her parents
The house on Crestview Drive in Willingboro, NJ, where Celina lived with family and others
Photo Source: Google Maps
The church building that housed Gospel of Christ Ministries Inc. in Mount Holly, NJ
Photo Source: Google Maps
Episode Source Material
- Pregnant girl, 12, remains missing by Richard Pearsall
- Pregnant teen missing by Peter Aseltine
- Dad thinks pregnant girl, 12, was scared by Jim Nolan
- Missing N. J. girl’s relatives say childhood was difficult for her by Deborah Kong
- Urgency grows as pregnant girl might need medical help by Richard Pearsall
- Church inquiry widens by Peter Aseltine
- Life Of Missing 12-year-old Girl Was Shaped By Years Of Extremes by Monica Rhor
- Police continuing search for 12-year-old girl
- Girl’s disappearance puts church under scrutiny by Monica Rhor & Karon Auerbach
- Doctor: Missing girl ‘wise beyond her 12 years’ by Richard Pearsall
- Aunt: Missing girl deceived family about pregnancy by Richard Pearsall
- P.O. box opened for missing girl by Richard Pearsall
- Sighting raises hopes of girl’s kin by Karen Auerbach & John Way Jennings
- Still missing, a year later by Nicole Weisensee
- Man faces sex-assault charges by Lillian Weis
- Relatives say they fear Mays is dead by Lillian Weis
- “Tabloid from Hell: The Rise & Fall of a Beloved Newspaper” by Michael A. Raffaele
- Sects Education
- Missing girl sighting proves unfounded by John T. Oliver & Kevin Shea
- Must Doctors Report Underage Sex as Abuse? by Kate Karas
- Department of Justice press release
- Season 4, Episode 4: Unforgotten; In Pursuit with John Walsh
- Child Find of America: Facts & Stats on Missing Children
- Statutory Rape: A Guide to State Laws and Reporting Requirements
- L.A. v. D.Y.F.S. (New Jersey Division of Youth and Family Services)