Family seeks answers in Henderson woman’s disappearance
A local family is still seeking answers in the disappearance of a 26-year-old Henderson woman who went missing more than two weeks ago.
Jawaher Hejji was last seen Dec. 23 on the 300 block of Shaded Canyon Drive, near the Amargosa Trail in Henderson, according to the Metropolitan Police Department.
Hejji’s sister Miriam said every day since then she and her mother have gone to the trail to speak to people walking by, construction workers building next door and anyone who might know where her big sister went.
“We’ve been searching every single day,” Miriam Hejji, 19, said. “We had a scent dog tracking her and then lost her. My sister is not capable of going to that place without directions or anything.”
Around 3 a.m. Dec. 26, Hejji said, she and her mother got a call that Jawaher Hejji’s car had been found near a construction site on Shaded Canyon. The keys were on the hood, and the woman’s phone and wallet were in the car.
The family has since hired a private investigator, sent up drones and posted flyers. Miriam Hejji devoted her Instagram account to finding her oldest sister. They’re offering a $5,000 reward to anyone who can locate the woman.
“We are all sick to our stomach,” Miriam Hejji wrote in an Instagram post. “I pray to god this is not Lesly palacio all over again! Please allah bring her home.”
Hejji described her big sister as the one who was there for everyone and a second mom. Jawaher Hejji lived with her boyfriend near St. Rose Parkway in Henderson and spoke to her sister every day. Jawaher Hejji was supposed to hang out with their other sister the day she went missing.
“We have her phone, and there’s no directions and no messages from anyone to say ‘let’s meet’ at all,” Miriam Hejji said.
Hejji’s Instagram and scouring efforts have led to several tips, including one from a construction worker who said he saw a man following Jawaher Hejji.
A nearby walker told Hejji’s search party that she’d used Mace to escape a man with a knife on the trail Dec. 30. Hejji said that although her family is stressed, she’s trying to stay focused on finding her sister.
“Every day we’ve gone there, there’s been people hiking that trail,” she said. “Someone has to have seen something.”
Henderson and Las Vegas police declined to comment Wednesday.
Jawaher Hejji is 5 feet, 8 inches tall, 180 pounds, with brown eyes and black hair, and police said she was last seen wearing a pink hoodie and black sweatpants.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Metro at 702-828-3111, its missing persons unit at 702-828-2907 or email findingjawaher@hotmail.com.
Contact Sabrina Schnur at sschnur@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0278. Follow @sabrina_schnur on Twitter.
