16-year-old girl found shot to death had been missing for 2 months, Florida cops say

A 16-year-old girl found shot to death outside of an Orlando home had been missing for more than two months, a Florida sheriff’s office said.

The girl, De’Shayla Ferguson, was reported missing on Aug. 12, according to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

At around 7 p.m. on Oct. 24, deputies with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office responding to a report of a shooting found a girl who had been shot outside of a residence near a vehicle, according to a statement from the sheriff’s office.

She was pronounced dead on the scene.

Authorities identified her as Ferguson and notified her next of kin, the sheriff’s office said.

Ferguson had been last seen shortly after 7:30 p.m. on Aug. 12 leaving a Department of Children and Families facility, according to the Orlando Police Department.

Detectives did not have information about her whereabouts between the time she was reported missing and the discovery of her body.

“Be assured our homicide detectives are working diligently to find and arrest her killer,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.

This story was originally published October 26, 2022 at 6:46 AM with the headline "16-year-old girl found shot to death had been missing for 2 months, Florida cops say."