Bonita Saunders 9/14/1986 New Jersery

Father Writes To AMW As A Last Hope To Find His Baby Girl

Abdul Salaam , seen here with Bonita's mother (also named Bonita) refuses to give up the search for his daughter

"My name is Abdul Salaam and I'm from Atlantic City, New Jersey...you host a show in which you continue to help a lot of people as well as families come to closure with those situations that have haunted and troubled them for so long..."
It was two days before young Bonita's second birthday. At about 6 p.m. on the evening of September 14, 1986, she was sucking on a popsicle in her stroller, while her mother cooked dinner inside. When her mother, also named Bonita, went out to check on her an hour later, she was surprised to see an empty stroller.


It was like the little girl had vanished into thin air.

Bonita went missing two days before her second birthday Bonita Sanders searched the neighborhood for her young daughter, but to no avail. A community-wide search ensued, but still no one found little Bonita. Police and dogs scoured the area, but found nothing. The dogs picked up a slight trail leading into the backyard, but that too went cold. It was like the little girl had vanished into thin air.

"The Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office are still and always have been in charge of handling the case. They have not come any closer to solving the case since the day it happened, even though they have put a great deal of effort into it and I am grateful for their work and help."


Mr. Salaam thinks about his child constantly, and carries a faded picture of her in his pocket. He refuses to give up hope that someone, somewhere, knows what happened to his baby.

Bonita has some traits that would make her fairly easy to identify. She has a scar on her abdomen, a scar on the joint of her left wrist, and a hand that is slightly deformed and curves inward. If you know anything about the whereabouts of Bonita Sanders, please call our hotline at 1-800-CRIME-TV or submit your tip online.

"My child does and always will mean the world to me, and I will never accept the fact my little girl just up and disappeared off the face of this earth without a trace; or anyone seeing, or hearing, or having knowledge of anything

COLD CASE BREAKTHROUGH 22 YEARS LATER
Phaedra Laird ( plaird@nbc40.net ) - 2/23/09 05:46 pm



PLEASANTVILLE--Authorities take to the woods in Pleasantville in search of new information about a more than 20-year old missing child case. Sources confirm that authorities are looking for new information as a crushed father speaks out exclusively to NBC nearly 23 years after his little girl disappeared.

"My daughter's dead and it's just a matter of time before they find the body." It was the worst case scenario authorities could deliver to 44 year-old Abdul Salaam, whose baby girl, Bonita Sanders, disappeared from his Atlantic City home more than 20 years ago, just days before her second birthday. "Who wants to believe in your heart that your child is dead," asked Salaam during an exclusive NBC interview, "You wake up everyday living with a prayer that one day, it's a possibility she'll be home and then to have somebody snatch that away from you? You know, that's what hurts more than anything."

Salaam says officials from the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office contacted him with the news last week. Today, authorities were digging in the wooded area just off of Rt. 9 in Pleasantville, between Wellington and Brighton Avenues. A cadaver sniffing dog ran through the woods as crews carefully sifted soil apparently looking for the remains of the little girl. "To know that all your life that you lived on a hope and a prayer and then to get the news that you know, your greatest fear has come true...and to now know that they're digging, you know, that's gonna be so disturbing. My mom went to her grave not knowing what happened," said Salaam from his Atlantic City home.

Sources say authorities recently received new information about the case, which led state, county and local officials to Pleasantville, in their search for answers.

And as grim as it may be, Salaam says at this point, he hopes they find the remains of the toddler, who was last seen in her stroller on their front porch back in September of 1986. "I would like to finally be able to just put closure to it," said Salaam, "and give her what she deserves, a proper burial."

The Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office is heading up the investigation, but would not comment on whether they found anything during the dig, or even what case it pertains to.