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"Guardian Angels" gather in remembrance of murdered Monroe teen

MONROE, N.C. — A group from Baltimore traveled to Monroe Saturday to help remember a murdered teenager and raise awareness of other missing person’s cases.

The Guardian Angels helped search for Phylicia Barnes after she disappeared last December while visiting relatives in Baltimore. In late April, the Monroe teen’s body was pulled from a Maryland river about an hour north of Baltimore.

Investigators ruled her death a homicide but have not released a cause.

The Guardian Angels are a national organized citizen crime watch group that patrols neighborhoods and helps with missing persons cases. The volunteers have helped on countless cases but said that searching for the missing beloved 16-year-old student particularly affected them.

“It’s changed my life. I look at things a lot differently. There are a lot of people out there that need help,” said Marcus Dent, a member of the Guardian Angels.

Eyewitness News asked Maryland State police for an update on the case, they told Eyewitness News the case is progressing but no one has been charged with the teenager’s murder.