Las Vegas concert highlights missing persons cases

After her sister disappeared nearly two decades ago, Jannel Rap has dedicated herself to bringing attention to missing persons cases across the U.S., a cause that brought her to Las Vegas on Friday night.

Rap’s nonprofit, The GINA for Missing Persons Foundation, made a stop on its 13th annual Squeaky Wheel Tour on Friday night at the Center for Spiritual Living Greater Las Vegas, 1420 E. Harmon Ave. The group travels to promote local missing persons cases, Rap said.

“We’re trying to make noise, we’re trying to bring attention to them, we’re trying to be squeaky,” said Rap, who planned to perform at the concert with other independent musicians.

The concert highlighted three missing children cases — Rachel Hofberg, Sherise Magee and Francillon Pierre — and a case involving a 21-year-old woman.

Francillon was 3 when he was last seen Aug. 2, 1986, at the Broadacres swap meet in North Las Vegas. In December, Francillon’s mother, Amy Elizabeth Fleming, was charged with murder in connection with the disappearance.

North Las Vegas police Detective Steven Wiese said in February that “a lot of little things” led to prosecutors forming a case against Fleming, who initially claimed that her son slipped away from her while they shopped for a bicycle.

Francillon’s body has not been found. Fleming remained in the Clark County Detention Center on Friday, and her trial is set for Jan. 6, District Court records show.

Sherise was last seen about 11 p.m. Aug. 1, 1975, when a family member took the 1-year-old from her home near Martin Luther King and Lake Mead boulevards, according to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System database.

Sherise, who would be 45 today, had pierced ears and was last seen wearing a blue shirt and shorts, and white socks with red strips, according to the database.

Rachel was 3 when she allegedly was abducted by her mother, Sandra Hofberg, on Nov. 5, 2005, according to the NamUs database. She was last seen in North Las Vegas near Civic Center Drive and Lake Mead Boulevard, and the two may have traveled to Chile.

An arrest warrant was issued for Sandra Hofberg in 2006 on suspicion of violation of custody rights, court records show.

Rachel had pierced ears and a birthmark on her right leg. Her mother may use the alias last name Caceres-Vasquez or De La Nieves, the database said.

The concert also highlighted Jessica Foster, a 21-year-old who was last seen on March 28, 2006. Her last known contact was a family member who spoke to her over the phone while she was with her boyfriend at her home in North Las Vegas.

Foster was a sex worker at the time of her disappearance, and in 2016, her mother told the Review-Journal that she believed the woman was a sex trafficking victim.

In 2015, national media speculated that Foster’s disappearance and the deaths of three other sex workers in the Las Vegas Valley in the early to mid- 2000s may have been connected to Neal Falls, a suspected serial killer from Oregon who was killed in July 2015.

Foster was 5-foot-6 to 5-foot-8, weighed 110 to 120 pounds, had blonde hair that may be dyed brown, and had two piercing in her left ear, three piercings in her right ear, a nose piercing and a piercing in her right eyebrow, according to the NamUs database.

During a phone interview Friday, Rap said she started her organization after her sister, 40-year-old musician Regina Bos, disappeared after participating in an open mic night at a bar in Lincoln, Nebraska, on Oct. 16, 2000. Rap now urges people to share missing persons cases on social media as a way to help people like her.

“I found out there were so many other families in the same boat as my family,” she said. “I can’t find my sister, but I can at least help them.”

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.