Amber Alert Issued for Missing 9-Year-Old NC Girl; Father Wanted in Death Investigation

PEMBROKE, NC – An Amber Alert has been issued as authorities search for 9-year-old Mekiya Werrell Strickland, who was last seen with her father early Wednesday, October 30. The North Carolina Center for Missing Persons issued the alert around 3 a.m., stating that Mekiya may be in imminent danger.

Mekiya is described as a Black female, approximately 4 feet 10 inches tall, weighing 160 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. Officials believe she is with her father, 50-year-old Claude Leslie Werrell, who is wanted for questioning in a separate death investigation.

Werrell is described as a Black male, approximately 6 feet 5 inches tall and weighing 280 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. Authorities report that the two may be traveling in a blue 2011 Chevrolet Traverse with North Carolina license plate number LBL1909. Their last known location was near 200 Cornith Road, Lot 13, in Pembroke, NC.

Anyone with information on Mekiya’s whereabouts or her father’s is urged to contact the Pembroke Police Department at (910) 521-4333 or call 911 immediately.

This alert remains active as authorities continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding Mekiya’s disappearance and her father’s potential connection to the ongoing death investigation.

 (Photos: N.C. Center for Missing Persons)