The mother of a 10-year-old girl who hasn’t been seen in four months is being held in a Broward jail on a child neglect charge as authorities continue to search for her daughter.
The search for Gabrielle Patricia Terrelonge began after a relative called Margate Police on Oct. 29, concerned about where she could be since the girl’s mother and only caretaker, Passha Davis, had been arrested several days earlier, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Gabrielle is considered an “at-risk” girl and is known to travel between Central and South Florida with relatives, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said in a news release Monday asking for the public’s help finding her.
Davis, 34, was initially arrested on Oct. 17 by Margate Police after allegedly shoplifting from a Dollar Tree and refusing to give police her name and information, according to court records in that case.
Davis was held in the Paul Rein Detention Facility at the time the relative called police asking about Gabrielle. Detectives met with Davis in the jail two days after the relative reported Gabrielle missing. She told them she didn’t know where her daughter is and that she should be with her father, the affidavit said.
The last sighting of Gabrielle was June 21 at a Walmart at 301 S. State Road 7 in Hollywood. The affidavit does not provide further information about the sighting, referred to as her “last known proof of life.”
Davis is homeless and has mental illness and substance abuse issues, the affidavit said. Family members told detectives the girl had been with her mother since birth, but no one had been in touch with them or seen them since December 2024.
At the time the affidavit was written on Tuesday, investigators had not found Gabrielle, “despite law enforcement exhausting all family members, locations, associates and areas” that she was known to be while with her mother, the document said.
“The defendant has failed to provide any reasonable explanation as to the whereabouts of her minor child,” the affidavit said.
Davis is facing one count of child neglect without great bodily harm. Attorney information is not available.
She has been ordered to have no contact with Gabrielle and to receive a mental health screening, court records show.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement issued a missing child alert on Monday. Gabrielle is 4 feet 8 inches tall, weighs 100 pounds and has brown hair and brown eyes, according to the alert. She was wearing a white T-shirt, black long pants and white Crocs when she was last seen in Hollywood.
An FBI spokesperson referred a request on Thursday for further information on the investigation to Margate Police. A Margate Police spokesperson did not immediately respond.
Authorities ask anyone who has seen Gabrielle to call Margate Police’s Criminal Investigations Division at 954-972-7111 or the FBI at 1-800-225-5324 or go to tips.fbi.gov.
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