Key facts
- Names: Joanna Clark (mother, 33) and Shariece Clark (daughter, 15)
- Last seen: February 4, 2017, in the 2800 block of Round Road, Cherry Hill, Baltimore, Maryland
- Location: Cherry Hill neighborhood, Baltimore
- Descriptions: Joanna — 33, mother of seven, reliable worker at Goetze’s Candy Company. Shariece — 15, student; last seen babysitting her six younger siblings
- Status: Both still missing; police suspect foul play; no arrests
- Investigating agency: Baltimore Police Department detectives — 410-396-2100; Metro Crime Stoppers — 1-866-7LOCKUP
Two people, one night, zero answers
On Saturday, February 4, 2017, the Clark home in Cherry Hill — the 2800 block of Round Road — held what it always held: a lot of children. Joanna Clark, 33, was the mother of seven. That afternoon, her fifteen-year-old daughter Shariece was babysitting the six younger siblings.
Between 2:30 and 3:00 p.m., Joanna’s ex-boyfriend — Dennis “Demo” Queen, the father of the six younger children — came to the house. Shariece’s phone pinged in the downtown area that evening.
Joanna herself was out on a date that night. She called a friend to ask for a ride, then said she’d take the bus instead. She spoke to a friend as she was arriving home around 11 p.m. and promised to call back.
She never called back. By morning, both Joanna and Shariece were gone. Eight hundred dollars in rent cash was missing from the house.
Nobody reported them missing for three days. It was a family friend who finally filed the report on February 7 — after Joanna missed work on February 6 and 7 (she was known as a reliable worker at Goetze’s Candy Company) and the children missed school. A mother who never missed work and a teenager who never missed school, both gone at once, and it still took three days for the system to notice.
The ex-boyfriend and the protective order
Dennis Queen told police he had been drinking that night and fell asleep. He said he woke around 11:15 p.m. when someone came into the house. By morning, Joanna and Shariece were gone, and so was the rent money.
There was history here. A protective order against Queen had been granted in 2016 and was still in effect when Joanna and Shariece disappeared. The family has said they believe Queen knows what happened. He denied involvement.
Police have said they suspect foul play in the disappearances. No arrests have ever been made. No charges filed. Two people — a mother of seven and a fifteen-year-old girl — vanished from a house full of children, and the case file has sat open for more than nine years.
One note of caution on a detail that has circulated: some sources have reported that Dennis Queen died on January 20, 2026, attributed to reporting by Claudia Rivero. We have not been able to independently verify this, and we are not stating it as fact. What is verifiable: he was never charged, and the case remains unsolved.
The children left behind
It’s easy to lose sight of them in the telling — the six younger siblings who were in that house. They went to sleep on February 4, 2017, with their mother and their big sister nearby, and woke up to a house without either of them. They have grown up without answers about what happened in their own home that night.
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children produced age-progression renderings of Shariece, showing what she might look like as a young woman. She would be 24 now. Her mother would be 42. The posters are still active. The case has been covered by Up and Vanished Weekly, The Vanished podcast (episode 103), WBAL, and WBFF — but coverage is not the same as answers.
Nine years, no arrests
More than nine years after Joanna and Shariece Clark vanished, the arithmetic of the case is stark. Two people gone from a house full of children. Eight hundred dollars in rent cash gone. A protective order that was supposed to keep one specific person away. A police department that says it suspects foul play. And zero arrests.
The NCMEC age-progression renderings of Shariece are the case’s most haunting artifact: a fifteen-year-old girl’s face, aged by forensic artists into a young woman of 24. Someone who knew Shariece as a child might not recognize the rendering. Someone who met her as an adult — if she lived — might. The renderings are a bet placed against time: that she’s alive, that she’s out there, that someone will see.
The coverage has been steady but not saturating: Up and Vanished Weekly, The Vanished (episode 103), WBAL, WBFF. Baltimore true crime has no shortage of cases, and a 2017 double disappearance from Cherry Hill competes for attention with everything that came after. But the family’s position has never wavered: they believe Dennis Queen knows what happened. He denied it. He was never charged.
The six younger children are adults now, or nearly. They grew up in a house where the defining event of their childhood has no explanation. Every anniversary — and there have been nine — is a reminder that the system that was supposed to protect their mother (the 2016 protective order) and the system that’s supposed to find her (the open investigation) have both, so far, failed.
Theories
Foul play by someone known to the family
The official stance: Baltimore police suspect foul play. The protective order, the missing rent money, the ex-boyfriend’s presence in the house that afternoon, and the simultaneous disappearance of two people all point toward violence rather than accident or choice. Evidence level: This is the police assessment. No one has been arrested or charged, and any living person named in connection with this case is presumed innocent unless and until proven otherwise.
They left together voluntarily
Evidence level: Nothing supports this. Joanna missed work she never missed; Shariece missed school; a fifteen-year-old doesn’t take her mother and vanish without a word to anyone, and neither has made contact in nine years.
Abduction by a stranger
Evidence level: Two people disappearing from inside a family home, with the rent money also gone, does not fit a stranger abduction. No evidence supports this.
Have information?
Contact Baltimore Police Department detectives at 410-396-2100, or Metro Crime Stoppers at 1-866-7LOCKUP (1-866-756-2587).
In an emergency, dial 911.
Timeline
- February 4, 2017, 2:30–3:00 p.m. — Shariece Clark, 15, is last seen babysitting her six younger siblings at the family home in the 2800 block of Round Road, Cherry Hill, Baltimore. Joanna’s ex-boyfriend Dennis “Demo” Queen comes to the house.
- February 4, 2017, evening — Shariece’s phone pings in the downtown area. Joanna, out on a date, calls a friend for a ride, then says she’ll take the bus.
- February 4, 2017, ~11:00 p.m. — Joanna speaks to a friend while arriving home and promises to call back. She never does. Queen later says he woke around 11:15 p.m. when someone came in.
- February 5, 2017, morning — Joanna and Shariece are both gone; $800 in rent cash is missing.
- February 6–7, 2017 — Joanna misses work at Goetze’s Candy Company; the children miss school.
- February 7, 2017 — A family friend files a missing-person report.
- 2017–2026 — Police state they suspect foul play; no arrests. NCMEC issues age-progression renderings of Shariece. Coverage by Up and Vanished Weekly, The Vanished (ep. 103), WBAL, WBFF.
- Today — Still missing.
FAQ
Are Joanna and Shariece Clark still missing?
Yes. As of October 2026, both Joanna and Shariece Clark remain missing. They vanished in February 2017 and neither has been found.
Were Joanna and Shariece Clark ever found?
No. No trace of either of them has been found in more than nine years.
What happened to Joanna and Shariece Clark?
They disappeared from their home in Cherry Hill, Baltimore, on the night of February 4, 2017. Baltimore police suspect foul play. No arrests have been made.
How old would Joanna and Shariece Clark be today?
Joanna was 33 in 2017, so she would be about 42 in 2026. Shariece was 15, so she would be about 24.
Who was Dennis Queen?
Joanna’s ex-boyfriend and the father of her six younger children. He was at the house on the afternoon of the disappearance. A protective order against him had been granted in 2016 and was in effect. He denied involvement and was never charged. He is presumed innocent.
What did police say about the case?
Baltimore police have said they suspect foul play in the disappearances of Joanna and Shariece Clark. Despite that assessment, no one has been arrested.
Sources
Official / law enforcement:
– Baltimore Police Department detectives — 410-396-2100
– Metro Crime Stoppers — 1-866-7LOCKUP
– National Center for Missing & Exploited Children — missing posters for Shariece Clark (poster ID USMD/9170202761)
News:
– WBAL-TV — coverage of the Clark disappearances
– WBFF (Fox 45 Baltimore) — coverage of the Clark disappearances
Reference:
– Charley Project — case file: Shariece Nicole Clark (charleyproject.org/case/shariece-nicole-clark)
Media:
– The Vanished podcast — episode 103 (Joanna and Shariece Clark)
– Up and Vanished Weekly — episode on the Clark case
Found an error? Tell us via the About page and we will fix it promptly and note the change here. Last verified October 2026.