Breasia Terrell’s mother waits after unidentified human remains were found near DeWitt

DEWITT - A solitary figure clad in black stood keeping a lonely vigil Tuesday in a fallow field,

Aishia Lankford was waiting, perhaps hoping to catch a glimpse of something to tell her if the human remains discovered Monday evening in or near a pond just off 270th Avenue were those of her 10-year-old daughter, Breasia Terrell.

Breasia was last seen late July 9 or during the early morning hours of July 10 last year. Davenport police, deputies from the Clinton County Sheriff's Office, searchers from an array of other law enforcement agencies and volunteers searched throughout rural Clinton County for Breasia last August.

Lankford was one of those searchers.

'I don't have anything to say,” Lankford said, still standing as scattered drops of rain fell from the skies darkening over Clinton County. 'I don't know anything at all. I don't know more than anyone else.”

While Lankford waited, Clinton County Sheriff Bill Greenwalt hosted a news briefing with Davenport Police Chief Paul Sikorski and Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Richard Rahn.

Rahn made it clear investigators could not identify the remains, which were reported to the Clinton County Sheriff's Office at 6:30 p.m. Monday by two fishermen who were visiting the pond near an access road off 270th Avenue.

Rahn said it could take 'a week or two weeks” to identify the body.

Rahn said no charges can be filed until after the body is examined and the scene is thoroughly investigated.

'We simply don't have much information right now,” Rahn said. 'We don't know if those are the remains of a man or woman or how old that person might be.”

No one has been charged in Breasia's disappearance.

In late December, the FBI offered a $10,000 reward for information that leads to finding Breasia or the arrest of anyone involved in her disappearance. Additional rewards are being offered by Crime Stoppers of the Quad Cities.

Despite the tips and rewards, only one man was named a 'person of interest” in the case. Henry Earl Dinkins was arrested July 10 and later charged with three unrelated counts of violating the sex offender registry.

Breasia spent the night with her brother at Dinkins' home during the time period she disappeared. Dinkins is the father of Breasia's brother.

Dinkins, 48, has not been charged with any crime related to Breasia's disappearance.

As the months stretched on and Breasia fell from the headlines, Lankford held hope her daughter would return alive.

'I'll never move on,” Lankford said before Thanksgiving. 'I want Breasia to know we waited for her. I'll always wait.