Black and Missing but Not Forgotten: Athena Joy Curry

Black and Missing but Not Forgotten: Athena Joy Curry

Athena Joy Curry, of Portland, Oregon, affectionately called “Nelz” by her loved ones, is the youngest of 5 siblings who spoiled their baby sister rotten.  That smile you see in her pictures is the same smile that lit up rooms every time she walked into one. Athena was an active and vivacious young girl. She ran track and played softball throughout all her school years.  She attended Grant High School in Portland and during her senior year, moved to Atlanta to live with one of her sisters. In 2009, Athena graduated from Martin Luther King, Jr High School in Lithonia, GA, a beautiful suburb just outside of Atlanta.

In January 2010, she and her boyfriend, Yusif Mujahid, gave birth to a healthy boy she named King.  But not so healthy, was Yusif and Athena’s relationship.  Abuse plagued their on-again off-again relationship, even resulting in Yusif being arrested for battery after threatening to sting her with a stun gun and repeatedly punching her in the face.

Fast forward to May 2011.  She spent most of the week leading up to Memorial Day weekend, with Yusif at his house at 1485 Beecher Street in Southwest Atlanta.  He claims there was more of their usual fighting. Athena intercepted some text messages from another woman and accused him of cheating.  They argued through the night and allegedly she stormed out the house at 3am on May 27, 2011, leaving behind the most important thing in her life:  her 16-months old son, King.

“I cant begin to explain the pain we feel day in and day out… just not knowing where she is or what has happened to her. We try so hard to stay positive but with her leaving the baby and not contacting ANYONE nor using any finances and/or facebook posts… reality is beginning to set in” – Jerilynn Ledbetter, Sister

From what her family is saying, it is very odd that she would leave at that time without calling either her sister Aisha or her best friend.   They are also saying she would NEVER under any circumstance leave her son.  Her boyfriend makes the same claim.  If that is the case, why did it take him 3 days to call the police?  When asked by an Atlanta news station reporter, “Why shouldn’t someone think if you are capable of punching her in the face, that you are not capable of killing her?”  Yusif’s response, “You can think what you want.  I’m not trying to convince someone ‘oh I’m innocence’.”

Since the moment she allegedly stormed out of Yusif Mujahid’s house, there has been no activity on her phone, ATM card or Facebook.  So where is Athena?  A young woman with so much to live for and a son she lived for. Where is the young woman who seemingly just disappears after she recently enrolls in the Healthcare Administration Program at the University of Phoenix?

If you have any information on the whereabouts of Athena Joy Curry, please contact the Atlanta Police Adult Missing Persons Squad at (404) 546-4235.  You may also contact Black and Missing but Not Forgotten tip line at: [email protected]

Angela M. Childs
Executive Director
Black and Missing but Not Forgotten
www.blackandmissing.org
Phone: (877) 572.6620
Email: [email protected]
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