Shivangi Sinha
In May 2017, Akia Eggleston failed to attend her baby shower in Baltimore, Maryland. Her friends and family had not seen her for several days, and because she was eight months pregnant, they immediately became worried. Police began tracing her final movements and looking into where she had last been spotted, but they found very few solid leads and quickly suspected she might have been the victim of foul play. It was only months later, after narrowing in on a suspect, that they pursued a potential motive that investigators described as especially troubling. The case and its details were explored in depth on NBC’s ‘Dateline: The Day Akia Disappeared.’
Akia Eggleston Missed Her Baby Shower and Was Never Seen Again
Akia Shawnta Eggleston was born on September 6, 1994, in Baltimore, Maryland. She was raised with great love by her mother and stepfather, Shawn Wilkinson, along with relatives from her mother’s side who were also deeply involved in her upbringing. Akia grew up a cheerful girl with big ambitions, but in 2012, she experienced a devastating loss when her mother died from breast cancer. The period was extremely difficult for her, though her stepfather and his new wife remained constant sources of support. They tried to stay closely connected, but Akia gradually became someone who mostly shared only the positive parts of her life with them while keeping other aspects private.
In 2015, Akia experienced one of the happiest moments of her life when she welcomed her first child, a daughter named Enora. Around that time, she also began a relationship with Michael Robertson, someone she had known since childhood because his grandmother had babysat her in the 1990s. The two reconnected in 2016, started dating, and Akia was thrilled when she discovered she was pregnant again. She planned a baby shower and invited all her friends and family. The celebration was set for May 7, 2017, but Akia never arrived. Her loved ones grew extremely worried since they had not seen her for days, and it was very unlike her to miss such an important event. To this day, her remains have not been found. Investigators have long stated they believe she was the victim of foul play and is presumed deceased.
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Akia Eggleston’s Killer Was At Her House The Day She Was Last Seen
When Akia Eggleston was reported missing, investigators first worked to determine the last time she had been seen. They reviewed CCTV recordings and discovered footage of her at a BB&T Bank in downtown Baltimore, where she withdrew $500. Police also carried out a search warrant at her home and noticed holes in the walls, leading them to theorize that some kind of violence may have taken place there. They then questioned Michael Robertson to understand the nature of their relationship. He talked about spending time with Akia and said that although they were involved, they were not exclusive and were only casually seeing each other. Police believed that Akia was pregnant with Robertson’s child, although she had never shared this information with her family.
He claimed that he would only know for certain after a DNA test was done on the unborn baby. Because Akia’s remains had not been found, the investigation eventually grew cold, as there were few leads for detectives to pursue. The case received minimal media coverage until the organization Black and Missing became involved, bringing renewed attention to it. When police revisited the case, they learned that Robertson had relocated to Michigan and was living with a girlfriend who was also the mother of three of his children. Investigators also determined that he had been involved with this same woman during the period when Akia disappeared. Police grew more suspicious of Robertson and obtained a search warrant for his phone. Records showed that on May 3, the last day Akia was seen, he had been at her home.
Their phones moved together for some time after all activity on Akia’s phone suddenly stopped. Investigators also discovered that around that same period, he had searched online for information about Baltimore City garbage truck pickup, landfills, and waste disposal. Based on this circumstantial evidence, Robertson was arrested in Muskegon, Michigan, in February 2022. During questioning, he did not confess to killing Akia but did admit that they had argued on May 3. Prosecutors argued that Akia may have gone home intending to discuss moving in with Robertson and that a confrontation could have ensued, though no definitive account of the events is known because her remains were never recovered. He was later charged and convicted of two counts of first-degree murder, one for Akia and one for her unborn child.
