More than half a decade after the 16-year-old Mesa girl went missing and was found dead in Buckeye, Anaiah Walker's family has boosted a reward to capture her killer.
Walker's body was discovered May 22, 2020, on the Interstate 10 median west of Watson Road, an apparent victim of a hit-and-run.
"You're the only one who can tell me what happened — you're the only one who can tell us and give us certain answers about that day," Walker's mother, Sherika Rhymes, said in April 2025 while addressing the unknown person who took her daughter's life.
The new reward for information leading to an arrest was increased to $50,000 with a "significant" contribution from Walker's family and additional funds from the Buckeye Police Department, the agency said.
A reward was first set at $10,000 in June 2020 after Walker's remains were identified, and later raised to $12,000 with I-10 commuters alerted on the case with digital billboards in 2022 and, most recently, in 2025.
Walker was a victim of sex trafficking, according to officials, and she had run away three times from group homes where she lived for a little more than two years before her death. She was initially trafficked by two men, according to Phoenix police.
Based on car parts recovered and her injuries, Buckeye police said Walker was struck by an unknown suspect likely driving a 2016 to 2018 Honda Civic LX or LE with factory color "midnight burgundy pearl."
Rhymes said in 2022 that she still expected to hear from her daughter and the words, “Mom, that wasn’t me.”Anyone with information can call Silent Witness at 480-WITNESS (480-948-6377), or 480-TESTIGO (480-837-8446) for Spanish, and be anonymous while still eligible for the reward.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Reward grows to find killer of Arizona 16-year-old in I-10 hit-and-run
