FBI Offers A $20,000 Award For Info On Missing Girl

By Charles Sercombe

A year ago last Friday (Oct. 2) is the last day Tangena Hussain was seen.

Police were stumped then on where the 2-year-old disappeared to, and a year later, they still don’t know what happened to her. But now, in an effort to rev up the stalled investigation, the FBI is offering a $20,000 award to anyone who knows the girl’s whereabouts.

Since that announcement last week, no tips have come in.

Detroit police have teamed up with Hamtramck investigators because it’s believed the girl went missing in Detroit, even though she lived in Hamtramck.

Here is the background on the case:

The last person who claims to have seen the girl is the boyfriend of the girl’s mother, Jamrul Hussain. Although he shares the same last name with the toddler, he is not related to her. Jamrul Hussain told investigators that he took the girl with him to pick up her mother at Northland Mall where the mother worked.

On the way driving there, Jamrul Hussain said he stopped at a gasoline station on Greenfield at 8 Mile to buy some gum and juice. He said he parked behind the station and left the girl in the locked car. When he returned a few minutes later, the girl was gone.

Hamtramck inspectors don’t buy that story but there is no evidence that Jamrul has anything to do with the girl’s disappearance, if in fact she truly disappeared the way Jamrul claimed.

Hamtramck Detective Jackie Crachiola said she believes whatever happened to the girl, it happened in Hamtramck. Asked if she thinks the girl is still living, Crachiola said: “I think she’s gone.”

Investigators searched several properties to find evidence of foul play, including digging up a yard in Hamtramck and searching with cadaver dogs.

Jamrul Hussain was subsequently charged with having sex with a minor teenage girl. That incident has no connection with the Tangena Hussain case. He is awaiting trial on that charge.

It’s been reported in other Detroit media outlets that the girl’s mother has returned to her native Bangladesh, something that surprised Crachiola.

Crachiola said she thinks investigators came close to getting information out of Jamrul at one point but his attorney at that time stopped all police interviews.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the FBI at (313) 965-2323.