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Mujey Dumbuya’s family visits site where teen’s body was found

Posted at 6:29 PM, Mar 11, 2018
and last updated 2018-03-11 18:29:43-04

KALAMAZOO, Mich-- The family of Mujey Dumbuya gained a bit of closure Sunday morning, after visiting the site where the 16-year old’s body was found by hikers in Kalamazoo County in January.

"When people die they do get buried, but my niece was not buried she was dropped off, so this place is like a grave for us," says Jainya Sannoh, Mujey's Aunt.

Mujey's body was found in the  800 block of North Prairie on January 28th, four days after the 16-year-old was reported missing out of Kent County.

"It brought back a lot of memories and a lot of tears back to our eyes just to found out somebody drove all the way here to do this to her," says Sannoh.

Since Mujey's death, the family has been in search for answers and closure.

"It's very hard 'cause, at the same time the memorial, it helps a lot and it doesn't help a lot because it doesn't, it can't speak, it can't say how everything happened," says Mustapha Corneh, Mujey's brother .

"It still doesn't answer any questions yet we still have a lot of questions in our minds and were not certain or not sure if we're going to get answers which is really sad," says Sannoh.

While no arrests have been made in Mujey’s death, the Kent County Prosecutor's Office says Mujey was the victim in a sexual assault case that was set to go to trial later this year, the teen was supposed to testify in case.

The accused rapist, Quinn James, is currently behind bars, and has been called a person of interest in Mujey’s death. James is currently in jail on separate charges related to an assault case from 2014. He was a grounds and maintenance worker at East Kentwood Schools where Mujey was a student. The superintendent of the district says James was fired in late November shortly after Dumbuya reported her assault to the police.

"We might not really get justice because she's not ever going to come back she's dead. Our family will never be the same, friends will never be the same, the community will never be the same," says Sannoh.

Mujey's family, originally from Sierra Leone, is continuing the grieving process where Mujey’s last breath was allegedly taken, miles away from her home in Grand Rapids.

"We are also glad that we could at least find her body because things like this, when they do happen, sometimes people don't have closure and they never find the bodies. You never know where they are," says Sannoh. "As much as this is bad, we are grateful that we could find the body and giver her a proper burial."

But, Mujey's family continues to seek justice.

"I'm still pleading somebody has seen something or somebody knows something please come forward," says Sannoh.

Anyone with information on Mujey's death is asked to call Silent Observer at 269-343-2100.