Memphis Police set up command unit near river as search for Tamia Taylor continues
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Police set up a command unit on Riverside Drive and crews appeared to be searching the water Thursday for a woman who disappeared during a late night booze cruise.
The search for Tamia Taylor is gaining national attention. The 21-year-old Covington mother of two was celebrating her milestone birthday Saturday night with three friends from Jackson, Tennessee on a Midnight Booze Cruise in Memphis.
An employee confirmed Thursday there were no surveillance cameras on the Memphis riverboat Tamia Taylor was on before she was reported missing, but others on the boat shared video recordings of that night.
Mother holds on to hope as search for missing woman continues
A police report outlines the timeline of events.
At 5 a.m. Sunday, her mother, Debra Taylor, told officers she received a text the night before around 9:30 p.m. that Tamia had made it to Memphis. Then at 11:39 p.m., she says Tamia told her she was on the boat.
When the boat docked at 1:30 a.m., her friends said Tamia was nowhere to be found. It’s a story her mother is questioning.
“The only thing they told me was she went upstairs on the second floor to use the bathroom. She put her phone down on the table, we picked her phone up, we went and waited by the door for her to come out and then we left. Why would you leave? That makes no sense. Y’all came together, y’all stick together,” Debra said.
WREG spoke with a woman who saw Tamia on the boat. She told us Tamia was extremely intoxicated standing by herself near the bar.
We obtained new video from the midnight booze cruise Tamia Taylor was aboard with three friends hours before she was reported missing.
Memphis Riverboats did not respond to our request for an on-camera interview on Thursday, but an employee did say the boat did not have cameras. They shared earlier this week on Facebook that after reviewing social media videos they believe Tamia did return to the harbor.
Riverboat cruise company says missing woman made it back to Memphis harbor
However, with officers setting up shop along Riverside, it doesn’t appear MPD is ruling out any scenario just yet.
“I do feel the people she was with. I do think that they know more than they’re putting out. I do think, and I do have enough sense to know she didn’t just leave here. She didn’t just disappear,” Debra said. “Something deep down inside of me tells me she is alive.”
As the search for Tamia Taylor continues, MPD is asking anyone with information to come forward.
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