Seemingly Everyone Has Forgotten About ‘The Vanishing Women of Flint’ Michigan Cold Cases

It's an epidemic that women in the BIPOC community who are missing as well as missing and murdered indigenous women are an under-reported story in America. There was a rash of missing women in the Flint, Michigan, area in the years prior to the COVID pandemic who seemingly has been largely forgotten.

The question came up recently on a Reddit forum dedicated to Flint. Some did remember the cases that seemed to focus on the area around Fenton Road, a north-south route south of downtown Flint that sandwiched between nearby Interstate 475 and the cross-country Interstate 75.

Some do remember the cases, but it's striking how little information is out there.

There was a short period barely pre-pandemic where 20-30 women vanished in Flint. Many along Fenton road, I remember it distinctly.

There used to be signs and flyers posted all down Fenton road. They’ve all gotten ripped down over the years. My friends and I are still convinced there’s a few killers out here at large. Unfortunately with drug use and solicitation of sex, these women fall through the cracks. It doesn’t help that the PD has a backlog of cases the size of a football field.

Media reports from 2017 covered the disappearances as did this Reddit thread which gave names to many:

• Elizabeth Land was last seen in February of 2009 in Flint after leaving to meet up with a friend at a local bar.
• Sylvia Galvan was last seen in October of 2011 in Mt. Morris.
• Jina Collins was last seen New Year’s Eve in 2013 at the corner of Fenton and Pettibone Road in Flint.
• Laquandra Slater was last seen in December of 2016 in Flint Township. Her car was found abandoned in Flint near Atherton and Van Slyke Road.
• Presley Rau, also known as Amy Jo, was last seen August of 2017 in Flint.
• Claudia Wilson was also last seen August of 2017 in Flint. Her possessions were left behind.
• Brianna Vibert was last seen July of 2017 in Flint.

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7 years on, and many cases appear depressingly cold. Some have closure even if it's not the outcome anyone wishes for. Jina Collins's remains were found in 2022 located in a house slated for demolition. Claudia Wilson's remains were also found in 2022 in Broome Park near the north end of Fenton Road.

Police have shared that they have not found any conclusive links between the cases. Amateur investigators aren't so sure that there isn't a serial killer operating in Flint. A Redditor tells a harrowing tale of needing help late at night in the Fenton Road area. This was posted in 2022:

I broke down one night and it was raining....I had walked a couple of blocks when this guy stopped and asked if I was ok? I told him what happened and he offered me a ride. I only needed to get 2 miles down the road. Stupid me thought he seemed harmless so I accepted. It was dark, October and chilly and I was getting wet. My phone had died and I was wanting to get home. Instead of taking me where I needed to go, he took me on a weird drive...asked me if I was a prostitute, I said no. Asked if I did drugs, I said no. He was asking over and over, even asked to smell my breath? Does drugs make your breath weird?...There was anger behind those questions....This whole time he had his right hand behind me in the backseat....He finally stops at a gas station and when he got out I looked in the backseat...he had a hammer behind me on the seat. I immediately panicked and tried to get out. That's when I noticed I couldn't open my door. It was broken so I couldn't open it from the inside. He got back in the vehicle and we drove more....He eventually took me back to my vehicle [and proved it was really broken down]....He then looks at me and says "words of advice, never get into a strangers car" and he got back into his car and drove off.