On the day she disappeared, Rajah McQueen told her sister she was about to go with her friend and would call later. Shamir McQueen told her to be careful. She told her she loved her. It was the last conversation the sisters ever had, and Shamir has said it still weighs on her.
Rajah Adriana McQueen was 27 that summer, a mother of two boys who loved singing. She was a student at Rosedale Bible College, pursuing Bible studies. FBI Special Agent Andrew Burke, who later worked her case, described her as a mother, singer, and songwriter with an effervescent personality, beloved by her classmates and friends and greatly missed by many people. Her sister put it more simply. Rajah was bubbly, sweet, very energetic, "just the ball of light."
At about 7:30 a.m. on June 26, 2021, surveillance video showed Rajah in her silver 2018 Nissan Sentra near East 131st Street and Harvard Avenue, by a busy gas station on the side of Cleveland where, the FBI said, she had ties.
Four hours later, someone else was driving
Four hours after that sighting, Cleveland city surveillance cameras captured the Sentra again. Rajah was not in the footage. Someone else was at the wheel. The car had two new bullet holes, one in the roof and one in the rear passenger door. The hubcaps and license plate had been removed. A dealer plate was visible in the rear window, according to the FBI.
Neither Rajah nor the Sentra has been seen since. Her car was reported missing. FBI Special Agent Jessica Dunkle said investigators saw no activity on any of Rajah's accounts, and she called the missing car a significant obstacle in the investigation. Investigators believe the Sentra may have changed hands several times or ended up at a chop shop.
Dunkle said investigators want to recover Rajah and her car and obtain answers, and that they believe someone knows something about her disappearance.
"Extreme interest"
Cleveland police identified Rajah's boyfriend, Stan Williams, as a person of interest in her disappearance, and Williams's brother, Sloan Mitchell, as another. Detective Kevin Callahan, the department's missing persons liaison, has said the two remain persons of interest, "extreme interest, I will tell you for sure." Neither has been arrested or charged in connection with the disappearance, and no one else has been either.
Callahan said Williams was the person captured on camera driving Rajah's car, and that another car followed it, driven by Mitchell with an unidentified person inside. Williams told investigators he dropped Rajah off at a gas station in the Broadway and Union area. Investigators are unsure whether that account is true. Investigators believe Williams knows what happened to her.
In June 2025, Williams denied any involvement during a phone call with 19 Investigates. He said he could not remember the last time he saw Rajah, blaming alcohol and intoxication. He said investigators probably considered him a person of interest because he was one of the last people spending time with her. He said he did not know what happened to her car and suggested someone else might have been driving it the day she disappeared. He said he had a good time that day and went home, and that he hoped investigators would find Rajah safe.
On June 28, 2025, Cleveland police arrested Williams on unrelated charges. Cuyahoga County court records show he faced three weapons counts: having weapons under disability, carrying concealed weapons, and improperly handling firearms in a motor vehicle. Having weapons under disability means a person is legally barred from possessing a firearm because of past felony convictions. Williams pleaded guilty to all three counts. A judge sentenced him to a year and a half of community control on each, ordered him to forfeit his 9mm handgun, and required him to report monthly to a probation officer.
Court records showed Williams had multiple unrelated felony convictions, including drug trafficking and weapons offenses, and that Mitchell had convictions on drug-related charges. In July, 19 Investigates could not reach Williams; his phone number was out of service, and his attorney in the weapons case said he could not comment. Mitchell could not be reached at three different phone numbers.
A death investigation
The missing persons case became a death investigation just over a year before a June 2025 report, according to investigators. Cleveland police do not believe Rajah is still alive. Callahan said Rajah regularly talked with her family and had a couple of children, and that four years without contact with anyone did not look good.
Special Agent Burke said investigators know something happened to Rajah and are trying to determine exactly what. He said they have substantial evidence about what happened and when it happened, but need a final key. He has called the case absolutely solvable, and said investigators are closer to resolving it than they have ever been.
Rajah's mother died on February 5 without knowing where her daughter was. Shamir said the not knowing had been torture for her. Rajah's sons are teenagers now, and they continue to hope their mother will come home. Shamir believes Rajah's body is still with the car, wherever the car is; that belief has not been confirmed by investigators. She has said she wants anyone who knows something to speak up, and that what she wants is justice, not closure.
An open case and a $30,000 reward
The FBI and Cleveland police say the case remains open and active, and investigators say tips continue to come in. FBI Cleveland Special Agent in Charge Josh DelManzo said investigators must show investigative activity throughout the year and consider the case ongoing. He said revisiting it every year forces investigators to answer difficult questions, that they want to remain accountable to the public and to Rajah's family, and that the family's growing frustration hurts people in the field office. Callahan said five years was a long time, a milestone investigators did not want to reach. He said they are still waiting for and examining one or two pieces of information, and that they will keep working until the case reaches a conclusion.
Rajah would be 31 years old in 2025. She is 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighs 133 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. She has tattoos on her right shoulder, left arm, chest, and right thigh.
The FBI and Crime Stoppers of Cuyahoga County are offering a reward of up to $30,000 for information leading to Rajah or her missing car. Tipsters can remain anonymous and still collect the reward. Burke has said the passage of time can create opportunities for people to come forward, because relationships change and distance can help a person develop a conscience. Agents ask for information even if it seems insignificant, and even if the caller thinks investigators probably already know it. The FBI is required to investigate every tip it receives to determine whether it is credible.
Tips can be submitted to the FBI at 216-583-5385 or online at tips.fbi.gov. Detective Kevin Callahan can be reached directly at 216-623-7697, and callers can remain anonymous.
Rajah McQueen's 2018 Nissan Sentra, in surveillance images released by the FBI
