In 2010, This Alabama Teen Vanished After Going To A Flea Market: The Car She Had Been Driving Was Later Found Rummaged Through And Abandoned On The Side Of A Bypass
Tarasha Benjamin was a well-known and well-liked 17-year-old in her hometown of Selma, Alabama. She also enjoyed frequenting a local flea market every weekend. So, Saturday, June 26, 2010, started off no different.
That morning, the teen– who also went by the nickname “Pooh”– left her mother’s home sometime between 9:00 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. Tarasha planned to visit the Selma Flea Market with a friend, Telisha, so the pair left in Telisha’s truck.
“For some reason, I just felt something, a feeling in my body that something was wrong,” recalled Tarasha’s mother, Regina.
By 11:00 a.m., Regina had not heard from her daughter, and her gut instinct had taken over. She decided to begin phoning relatives and friends– asking if anyone had seen Tarasha that morning.
Then, once Regina got in touch with one of her cousins and described the truck Tarasha had been in, she learned the vehicle had been spotted on Cecil Jackson Bypass.
According to Regina’s cousin, the car had just been sitting on the roadside.
“No one was in it. Now I’m thinking something happened,” Regina explained.
And by approximately 1:00 p.m., the mother’s worry only grew. At that time, Telisha and another friend traveled back to Regina’s house– asking where the 17-year-old was.
This pushed Regina to become alarmed since it was very uncharacteristic of Tarasha to fall out of contact.
Facebook – pictured above is Tarasha
“We have a thing with me and my kids where we call each other every day, especially Tarasha. I knew there was something strange when I didn’t hear from her,” she said.
Regina ultimately contacted the police and learned what unfolded after Tarasha and Telisha left for the flea market. Apparently, Telisha had allowed the 17-year-old to drive her truck. However, what exactly happened after they split up remained unknown.
Tarasha’s family then traveled to the bypass– the last location the 17-year-old was seen– to search. And upon arriving at the vehicle, Regina detailed how it appeared as though someone had rummaged through the car.
“Stuff was thrown out on the side by it, and we searched and searched,” she revealed.
Unfortunately, though, Regina never found her daughter. And to this day, the 17-year-old’s disappearance remains unsolved.
But, according to Regina, Selma is a small town– leading her to believe that someone, somewhere, knows more information.
“I know there’s somebody out there that knows something about my daughter being missing. If it was me and I knew something, I would tell it because I wouldn’t want a mother to go through the pain that I go through every day,” she said.
Over the years, Regina has worked diligently to keep Tarasha’s case in the limelight. She searched in Selma, appeared on the Maury Show to shed light on the case, and also created a Facebook group to spread awareness on social media.
In 2016, there was hope regarding a potential break in the case. That year, Selma police received a tip that resulted in a search for human remains behind an abandoned building located on the bypass. The site was not very far from where Tarasha vanished after driving her friend’s truck on the morning of June 26, 2010.
Following days of combing through the area, though, the widespread search effort did not lead to any new evidence.
The police department had received a tip from a Dallas County Sheriff’s Department informant that one or two bodies had been burned behind Top Class Lounge. This tip was related to Tarasha Benjamin’s case, as well as various other ongoing missing person cases.
So, the Selma police were aided by the State Bureau of Investigation as authorities used ground penetrating radar to uncover numerous suspicious sites at the location. Afterward, cadaver dogs were brought in; meanwhile, a team of University of Alabama specialists began digging at the site.
Yet, the efforts uncovered now new information tied to Tarasha’s disappearance.
“The case is as cold as it can get,” Regina admitted.
Despite the lack of developments, though, Regina still believes that her daughter is alive. So, she refuses to give up hope and has a hunch that Tarasha is no longer in the Selma area.
“I don’t think they would keep her here that long because I have a big family, and we have plenty of friends. They wouldn’t have kept her here that long,” she revealed.
Tarasha’s relatives have traveled to Floria on several occasions in search of the 17-year-old. And after showing photos of Tarasha to residents, Regina claimed that several people recognized her. Nonetheless, the 17-year-old has never been located.
This has pushed Regina to consider numerous possibilities regarding her daughter’s disappearance. She suggested that Tarasha could have been a victim of human trafficking and was being held against her will.
Regina also detailed how Tarasha’s boyfriend had, at one point, been a person of interest in her daughter’s disappearance. Although, his involvement remains unconfirmed.
And in spite of a diligent investigative effort in the beginning– including door-to-door searches conducted by authorities and dive team searches in local bodies of water– the investigation has hit a dead end.
Selma investigators claim that the search for Tarasha is still active. However, information from community members is needed to push the case forward.
DNA from the scene was sent to the Department of Forensic Sciences, but officials claimed it was unclear whether foul play was involved.
Photos of the vehicle Tarasha had driven on the morning of her disappearance were shared by Angela on the Facebook group. The images show hair strands on one door handle, what appear to be fingerprints on the windshield, and spatter on the rear bumper.
However, the results from the DNA testing were also never released to the public.
This has left Tarasha’s family continuously searching for answers, and Regina refuses to give up.
“Somebody is going to tell me something. I just feel it; that’s why every day, I post pictures. I miss her, and I’m going to keep looking until she gets here. I don’t care how long it takes, but she will be coming home,” Regina said.
At the time of her disappearance, Tarasha was five foot two, weighed 125 pounds, and had black hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a yellow, turquoise, and white striped shirt with blue shorts. Tarasha also has the nickname “Pooh” tattooed on her upper right arm.
If you have any information regarding Tarasha’s disappearance or whereabouts, you are urged to contact the Selma Police Department at (334) 874-2134.
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