UFC heavyweight Walt Harris‘ stepdaughter Aniah Blanchard, who went missing last week, was harmed and is now considered a victim of foul play, police said Thursday.
UFC president Dana White tweeted a video on Wednesday saying he was offering a reward of $25,000 for information on Blanchard, a college student at Southern Union State Community College. That money was in addition to rewards of $5,000 each offered by an anonymous donor and the state.
If anyone has any information on Aniah Blanchard, please call *HP or 911 immediately. Friends and fans please pass this video around. Thank you pic.twitter.com/4xDfcPMhGL
— Dana White (@danawhite) October 31, 2019
Later Thursday, UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones pledged $25,000 and an anonymous Homewood, Alabama, family offered another $25,000. The reward total is up to $80,000 now.
Speaking in an interview with WBRC-TV, her mother, Angela Harris said, “there has to be someone who knows” what happened to Blanchard. “We have to have her back.”
A statement from Auburn police Thursday said evidence found inside the vehicle indicated Blanchard had been harmed and was the victim of foul play.
A social media message Blanchard, 19, sent to her roommate indicated she might have been with a man before she disappeared, Harris said.
Walt Harris said relatives don’t understand what might have happened to Blanchard.
“There are just a lot of things that don’t add up for us as parents,” he said. “We just really, really want to know.”
Blanchard was last seen Oct. 24 in Auburn. Police later found her damaged car in Montgomery, about 55 miles away.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.