MEMPHIS, Tenn. - A Covington mother is desperate to find her 21-year-old daughter days after she disappeared from a cruise along the Mississippi River.
"They seemed to make it off the boat and she didn't. And, no one has any answers. They don't know what happened," Debra Taylor told FOX13.
Taylor's daughter, 21-year-old Tamia Taylor was last seen getting on a riverboat with friends Saturday night, September 9 around 11:30 p.m.
According to the Memphis Police Department (MPD), Taylor went on a "Booze Cruise" with her friends.
Debra Taylor told FOX13 that Tamia Taylor came to Memphis Saturday night to celebrate her 21st birthday with three friends, went to Beale Street and then got on the riverboat cruise.
"Nothing about this whole scenario of the night adds up," the mother told FO13. "Nothing adds up."
MPD said that there were two exists to the boat, but her friends did not see her get off the boat when everyone offloaded. Police said they do not know if Taylor got off the boat before her friends. During their investigation into Taylor's disappearance, authorities are examining whether or not the 21-year-old mother could have gone overboard. But, the riverboat company does not believe so.
Memphis Riverboats issued a statement on Monday, saying that they do not believe Tamia Taylor went overboard.
"We would like to express our sympathy to Tamia Taylor's family and friends in regard to her being a missing person," a statement from Memphis Riverboats Inc. said. "We can confirm from video footage circling around that she was last seen on the boat as the boat was pulling into the Harbor, where we dock our boats. We have no reason to believe she could have gone overboard and we will be respecting MPD as they conduct their investigation. We hope that she is found safe and returns home. If you have any information about her please contact the Memphis Police Department."
Monday morning, dozens of Tamia Taylor's friends and family members lined the banks of the Mississippi River looking for the Covington High School graduate and mother of two young children.
MPD said that their Harbor Patrol Unit and Aviation units joined in the search but, as of Tuesday, September 12, the department has not been able to find Taylor.
That last her mother knows, Tamia Taylor boarded the boat around 11:30 p.m. After that, the friends she came with were unable to provide any clarity of what happened to her daughter, the mother said.
"I said, 'What do you mean you don't know?' She said, 'We don't know. We lost her.' How do you lose somebody that you came with? She then gave me the story, 'We were on the boat. We were getting out of the boat and Tamia says she had to go to the bathroom. She put her phone down to go back up to the second floor to use the bathroom. We picked up her phone. We went to the door to stand and wait on her and then we left.'"
Fearing the worst, Tamia Taylor's family is still holding out hope that she will be found safe.
"You got to have hope. Don't never lose hope," Debra Taylor said. "anybody that knows anything, hear anything, please just give us whatever information. Even if you think it's not important, it may be more important than you think."
Tamia Taylor is about 5-foot-7 and was last seen wearing a beige shirt, white shorts, a black jacket and white shoes.
If you were on the Island Queen Booze Cruise, Memphis Police urge you to call their Missing Persons department at 901-636-4479 or CrimeStoppers at 901-528-2274.
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