Police on Tuesday charged La'Niyah Clark’s biological aunt with kidnapping, abusing and fatally asphyxiating the Wilkes-Barre teen earlier this year.
New details in the case revealed that La’Niyah — known to her family as Lala — was alive for over three weeks after she disappeared, and that aunt Bobbiejo Etzel and others worked to mislead investigators about the whereabouts of the teen. La'Niyah was deaf, as is her aunt.
But before Luzerne County District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce described the allegations against Bobbiejo Etzel during a press conference at Wilkes-Barre police headquarters, he and other officials — Police Chief Michael Boyle and Mayor George Brown — defended the investigation that led to her capture and arrest.
"The work that was done in this case was second to none," Sanguedolce said, acknowledging criticism of the process — including social media posts and a Feb. 25 rally at which family and friends blasted Wilkes-Barre police for what they saw as a lack of urgency by investigators.
"The detectives live daily with the horrors of this case," Brown said, criticizing "falsehoods" spread on social media about the case.
The chief said the probe took place amid a "tumultuous atmosphere" bolstered by "the in-vogue way to mass communicate."
“Undue stress is placed onto investigators and baseless allegations are made on a whim that on occasion have to be followed up on, hampering investigations and wasting valuable time and assets,” Boyle said.
Sanguedolce said investigators’ work included 17 search warrants in three states, DNA submitted to multiple organizations for testing, dozens of interviews, and reviewing hundreds or thousands of hours of surveillance video from numerous locations.
“They will not and should not rush at the expense of building a case that is anything less than accurate, complete and capable of securing conviction,” Sanguedolce said.
Family members were in the audience at police headquarters, but did not address the public.
“They have asked that I convey to the media that they do not wish to be contacted following the press conference,” Sanguedolce said.
Etzel fled the area after killing La’Niyah and dumping her body near a South Wilkes-Barre garage, police say.
“Her flight to Maryland on the day the body was discovered shows her consciousness of guilt,” Sanguedolce said.
Etzel was arrested in Hagerstown, Maryland, on Feb. 27, returned to Wilkes-Barre and initially was charged with corruption of minors and interfering with La’Niyah's custody, as there was a Protection from Abuse order (PFA) against Etzel prohibiting her from having contact with the girl.
The investigative work Sanguedolce described led to new, more serious charges filed against Etzel on Tuesday: criminal homicide, kidnapping and abuse of a corpse.
Etzel, 37, was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Richard Cronauer in Wilkes-Barre and returned to the Luzerne County Correctional Facility, without bail, to await further proceedings in the case.
Police said she admitted under questioning to concealing the girl from her family between Jan. 17 and Feb. 14, but denied having anything to do with her murder or disposing of La’Niyah’s body.
Sanguedolce said other people are being investigated in the case, but he could not elaborate while the probe continues.
A detailed timeline of events based on allegations from a 24-page police affidavit and previous reporting follows at the end of this story.
PFA filed in January
The series of events that led to La’Niyah’s death began at a Jan. 13 PFA hearing in Luzerne County Court, Sanguedolce said.
The teen was adopted by Antoine Clark and Ameerah Woods in 2020 and lived with them in South Wilkes-Barre.
But investigators have said she had a history of running away, and at one point "fled from her home to her aunt," Etzel.
Last fall La’Niyah was reported missing after running away and was found with Etzel in Wilkes-Barre Township, police records state.
The Jan. 13 hearing ended with an order directing Etzel not to have contact with La’Niyah, who was upset by that order, Sanguedolce said.
“It was going to keep her from her biological aunt and her cousins,” he said.
La’Niyah complained at the hearing about treatment by her adoptive mother, Woods.
Later that day, Woods disciplined La’Niyah, taking away her cell phone and other devices. Clark “was extremely upset” at this, the affidavit states.
The disappearance
La'Niyah, then 14, was reported missing by her family on Jan. 17. She turned 15 on Jan. 26.
Police said family reported seeing La’Niyah “with her hair done, acting normally” at about 11 a.m.
Around 5 p.m., La’Niyah was called down for dinner, but family members discovered she wasn’t home.
Clark called Wilkes-Barre police at 6:53 p.m. to report La’Niyah missing, saying she apparently walked out the front door, “and he did not have any reason to believe she was abducted or taken from the home against her will.
”The lack of an Amber Alert as part of the search was one issue family members previously raised.
Police have said her case did not fit the criteria. Sanguedolce said Wilkes-Barre police did act that night to enter the missing teen’s information into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC), a nationwide FBI database available to law enforcement around the country.
“That included a description of her, the details about her disability, a description of her hearing aids, a description of the necklace she wouldn't be caught without, and the fact that she did not currently have a [digital] device that could be used to locate her,” he said.
The search
The affidavit describes steps taken by investigators while La’Niyah was missing (described in more detail in the timeline below), from pursuing tips to interviewing suspects — including Etzel herself while she was staying at a Plains Township hotel.
None of that work led police to La’Niyah.
Investigators say Etzel lied to them about her actions and her niece’s whereabouts before and after her arrest.
The investigation changed on Feb. 21, when the remains of a naked female were found beside a Thayer Street garage owned by adoptive father Clark. The remains were later identified as La’Niyah.
“The question is whether this was an intentional act [by Etzel] or merely a coincidence,” Sanguedolce said at the press conference regarding why La’Niyah’s body was placed there.
The teen was killed 10 days earlier, investigators say.
“Police have determined Feb. 11 is the date that La’Nyiah was murdered. Days before she's murdered, the defendant believes she might go to jail because she is in violation of a PFA,” Sanguedolce said.
Investigation, analysis of video and forensic evidence, and witness statements led police to learn that La’Niyah had been held captive by Etzel in an apartment at 114 New Alexander St., which became the focus of an intense investigation days after La’Niyah’s remains were found near the garage off Thayer Street, about a half mile away.
Police say Etzel had been staying with a male tenant at that address.
The search at 114 New Alexander St. led investigators to an unnamed witness — said to be a friend of Etzel — who told police Etzel admitted to them she killed La’Niyah by suffocating her with a plastic bag.
That person also told police Etzel admitted being “paranoid” that she would be found with the girl and arrested due to the outstanding PFA.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE
● 2/24/26: Luzerne County DA connects investigation of human remains to case of missing Wilkes-Barre teen
● 2/25/26: Grieving family of missing teen faults Wilkes-Barre police for lack of urgency in search
● 2/27/26: Investigators: Remains identified as missing Wilkes-Barre teen, biological aunt arrested in Maryland
● 2/28/26: Loved ones host candlelight vigil to honor the memory of La'Niyah 'Lala' Clark in Wilkes-Barre
● 3/4/26: WBPD did not seek Amber Alert for La’Niyah Clark and another option went unused, prompting calls for new advisory types
“Lala was being restrained and held in a closet, kept without food, made to use a bucket for a bathroom, yelled at and mocked by her biological aunt, who approaches her from behind [and] holds a plastic bag over her head until her life is extinguished,” Sanguedolce said.
“I think we need to understand that these are not normal people. The response to the potential of going to jail for violating a PFA is to return a child to her parents, not to murder her.”
According to the witness, Etzel took steps to prevent the tenant in the apartment from knowing her niece was there and being abused.
Etzel forced the youth to urinate in a plastic garbage can, prevented her from showering, beat her for making noise and taped her mouth shut, the witness said. Those actions took place while the tenant was away at work, according to the affidavit.
Police say the witness “indicated remorse as to not coming forward sooner and fear of going to jail.”
Other discoveries
Investigators also pointed to the following discoveries:
● Police extracted a video from the witness’ phone recorded by Etzel. In them, she uses sign language to talk about why she kept La’Niyah in a closet in a small room off the kitchen, which she dubbed the “woman cave.” Those reasons include alleged disrespect by La’Niyah, not cleaning up after herself, interrupting others and selfishness.
“The video, which is being made to place guidelines on [La’Niyah], informs her she is no longer allowed to leave the ‘woman cave’ for any reason.”
They also said sign-language interpretation of the conversation revealed Etzel said she "liked her life more" when her niece was not there.
● Surveillance video captured a masked female pushing a cart with a storage tote in the area of 55 Thayer St. at about 11:45 p.m. on Feb. 14. The tote falls from the cart. The woman is seen dragging the tote to a rear parking area where the body was found on Feb. 21.
● Etzel’s DNA was found on pants and a coat retrieved from a dumpster outside 114 New Alexander St. Investigators say that clothing was worn by the person seen on surveillance video disposing of La’Niyah’s body behind 55 Thayer St.
● Police say they later discovered the storage tote and carts similar to the one seen in the video at Spots B Gone laundromat on South Main Street in Wilkes-Barre.
● A rape kit examined by the Pennsylvania State Police crime lab was negative, which they say is relevant to "an assertion the defendant staged the body to make it look like a sex crime,” the affidavit states.
● A search of Etzel’s public social media showed photos “littered with items” discovered during the investigation into La’Niyah’s homicide.
● Police say internet search history attributed to Etzel included “what household items can kill children,” whether children can mentally abuse adults, and “how much will a cremation cost in 2026.”
Investigators summarized their thoughts in the conclusion of their 24-page affidavit.
“The defendant’s prevailing fear of incarceration, losing custody of her own children, and a video-documented disdain of [La’Niyah] were her motives,” they write.
“The defendant’s own interview and social media posts are littered with fabrications and attempts to mislead both investigators and the general public as well as falsely implicate others.”
KEY DATES IN THE LA'NIYAH CLARK CASE
Based on a police affidavit filed against Bobbiejo Etzel and previous reporting in the case, here is a summary of key dates in the disappearance and murder of her niece, La’Niyah Clark:
● Fall, 2025: A search of police records shows La’Niyah was reported missing after running away and was found with Etzel in Wilkes-Barre Township.
● Saturday, Jan. 13, 2026: A Protection From Abuse (PFA) hearing is held in Luzerne County Court, resulting in Etzel being restrained from having any contact with Clark.
● Jan. 15-16: Adoptive parents Ameerah Woods and Antoine Clark take La'Niyah to visit the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf, hoping she would enroll there.
● Saturday, Jan. 17: Other residents of the Clarks’ Terrace Street home in Wilkes-Barre reported seeing La’Niyah “with her hair done, acting normally, and without any issues or indication” that she was in any distress. She is last seen at about 11 a.m.
— Around 5 p.m., La’Niyah is called down for dinner and family members discover she's not home.
— Clark calls Wilkes-Barre police at 6:53 p.m. to report La’Niyah missing, saying she walked out the front door, “and he did not have any reason to believe she was abducted or taken from the home against her will.”
— That evening, police create a missing juvenile entry for La’Niyah in the National Crime Information Center (NCIC), including a description of her hearing aids and a distinctive necklace she was believed to be wearing.
● Monday, Jan. 19: Woods said during a Feb. 25 rally that she called the Wilkes-Barre Police Department on Jan. 19 to ask if there was a detective on the case and was told there was not.
The affidavit states that Woods went in person to the department on Jan. 19 to report someone at the Wilkes-Barre Inn and Suites on Kidder Street had seen La’Niyah there. Officer Dana Cope went to investigate. Etzel was not a guest there and investigation revealed La’Niyah was never there while listed as a missing person.
● Tuesday, Jan. 20: Plains Twp. police respond to a call from Woods at the Extended Stay America hotel on Route 315, where she tells the responding officer that she was told Etzel took La’Niyah and she was in her hotel room — partly based on a TikTok video. Etzel is confirmed to be in the hotel. She eventually gives police permission to look around the room. They do not find La’Niyah.
“It was determined through the investigation that, at this point, [La’Niyah] was inside the room actively hiding from Plains Township officers … and was actively being concealed” by Etzel.
Plains police leave a picture of La’Nyiah with staff and asked them to contact police if they see her. No such reports are received.
“At this point, Wilkes-Barre police were not notified that any member of law enforcement had any contact with the defendant,” the affidavit states.
● Thursday, Jan. 22: Woods says this is the first time she had contact with a WBPD detective. She said the detective she finally heard from told her he had been out sick all week.
● Friday, Jan. 23: WBPD issues a missing person post to Facebook after speaking with Woods. She tells police she believes La’Niyah is with Etzel but that Etzel is posting on social media that she did not know the girl’s whereabouts, which Woods believed was an attempt to mislead searchers. The Facebook post does not generate any tips “regarding any probable cause on a location” for La’Niyah.
● Wednesday, Jan. 28: Following a tip about La’Niyah possibly being in Lehigh County, WBPD circulates “her information on the statewide Pennsylvania Criminal Intelligence Center (PaCIC) to alert all Pennsylvania police departments to be on the lookout for her.”
● Thursday, Jan. 29: WBPD Det. Michael Dennis “was finally able to make telephone contact” with Etzel, who said she did not have La’Niyah, did not know her whereabouts and had not attempted to contact or locate La’Niyah. “She agreed to come to headquarters to discuss the case and her allegations that [La’Niyah] was being abused at home.”
● Friday, Jan. 30: WBPD receives an email from Woods saying she was told La’Niyah was staying in an apartment at Boulevard Townhomes off Wilkes-Barre Boulevard. Dennis reviews hours of security footage from the apartment entrance. One person resembling La’Niyah appears to enter one of the apartments, but is determined not to be her.
● Tuesday, Feb. 3: WBPD detectives go to Extended Stay America after Etzel fails to appear at headquarters as agreed. She tells them she had been ill. Etzel also tells police she suspects La’Niyah’s biological grandmother, Sabrina Smith, may be hiding her. Etzel refuses the detectives’ request to search her room because her children are still sleeping. She tells them Children and Youth officials had already been inside the room, which police later learn is untrue. Lacking a warrant and probable cause to search the room, detectives ask staff if they had seen La’Niyah on the property. They say they had not.
● Friday, Feb. 6: Dennis and patrol division search a vacant Caffrey Street home to check for La’Niyah, after receiving tips she had been there with a boyfriend. No one is located.
● Tuesday, Feb. 10: WBPD Police Chief Michael Boyle issues a statement to the media asking for the public’s assistance in locating La’Niyah. He writes that "there have been multiple sightings of Clark in the area." Woods says police later told her the alleged sightings were unfounded.
● Wednesday, Feb. 11: There are several developments on this date, which is also when police say Etzel killed La'Niyah.
— Detectives speak to Darlene Etzel — La’Niyah’s grandmother and Etzel’s mother — at a nursing home in Kingston. Like La’Niyah and Bobbiejo Etzel, she is deaf. But she can read lips and “seemed to communicate well.” Darlene Etzel said she last spoke with La’Niyah after the Jan. 13 PFA hearing, and the girl said she wanted to run away from her adoptive parents — which she pleaded with the teen not to do. She also said she spoke with her daughter, who denied being with La’Niyah. She also suggested La’Niyah “may be with one of her boyfriends.” Investigators said they learned her statements “were false and were intended to mislead police.”
— The same day, Dennis responds to Schiel’s Family Market on George Avenue, Wilkes-Barre, to review security footage from Feb. 9 in response to a tip that La’Niyah had been there. They determined this to be false.
— Finally, Dennis speaks to an ex-boyfriend of Etzel, Jason Marple, regarding information he gave to staff at the Scranton School for the Deaf. He said he suspected La’Niyah was either with Etzel or she was being hidden by Etzel. He said based on social media posts he believed Etzel could be staying at a Wilkes-Barre Twp. residence on East Northampton Street where La’Niyah was found after running away in October 2025.
● Feb. 12, 14, 16: Detectives conduct hours of surveillance at the East Northampton Street home as well as at the Extended Stay America hotel. No one related to the investigation is observed.
● Monday, Feb. 16: Detectives follow up with residents at LaNiyah’s home on Terrace Street. Antoine Clark’s live-in girlfriend tells police that she recalled La’Niyah helping her bring groceries in from her car at 10:30 a.m. Jan. 17, looking 'very nice' and 'not out of sorts' on 'a normal morning.' She said La’Niyah seemed happy she had bought steaks for dinner. She believed La’Niyah had been watching TV and left home by the front door. She said the teen’s school Chromebook indicated she was online at 11:17 a.m., so she left home sometime between then and being called for dinner.
● Saturday, Feb. 21: Police respond to 55 Thayer St. for the report of a dead body. Police in a search warrant affidavit state “the physical attributes of the deceased body are consistent" with La’Niyah.
● Tuesday, Feb. 23:
— An autopsy is performed on the body in the morning. Sanguedolce later reveals at the April 21 press conference that the cause of death was ruled mechanical asphyxia and her manner of death was homicide.
— Investigators block off the area of Charles and New Alexander streets and spend hours searching the lower left unit of an apartment building at 114 New Alexander St.
● Wednesday, Feb. 25: Adoptive and biological members of La’Niyah's family gather outside WBPD headquarters, alleging city police didn't act quickly enough to find her.
● Friday, Feb. 27: Investigators announce they have positively identified remains found in South Wilkes-Barre as La'Niyah and arrested Etzel in connection with the case. Etzel was arrested in Hagerstown, Maryland, and is expected to be charged with corruption of minors and interfering with La’Niyah's custody, a release states.
● Saturday, Feb. 28:
— Etzel is returned to Wilkes-Barre and incarcerated in the Luzerne County Correctional Facility, according to online court records.
— Family and friends hold a candlelight vigil in the shadow of a commercial garage off Thayer Street, where La’Niyah's remains were discovered seven days earlier.
● Tuesday, April 21: Etzel is arraigned on new charges of criminal homicide, kidnapping and abuse of a corpse.
