Mariame Toure Sylla.Photo:Greenbelt Police Department
Greenbelt Police Department
A Maryland man is accused of killing a beloved second grade teacher who vanished while on one of her regular early evening walks in late July, say police.
On Friday, Harold Francis Landon III, 33, of University Park, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the death of Mariame Toure Sylla, 59, of Greenbelt, who was reported missing in late July, Prince George’s County Police said.
“Ms. Sylla was a much beloved teacher and a valued member of our community,” Prince George’s County Police Chief Malik Aziz said at a press conference Friday.
“Her murder is tragic,” Aziz said in a statement. “We hope the arrest of Landon provides some comfort to her family and all who knew and loved her.”
Sylla taught at the Dora Kennedy French Immersion School in Greenbelt.
Sylla was reported missing after she vanished on Saturday, July 29, while on a walk at Schrom Hills Park near her condo complex in Greenbelt,The Washington Postreports.
Her disappearance set off exhaustive searches for the teacher whose students called her “Madame Sylla,”WTOPreports.
Second graders and their parents went door to door asking if anyone had seen Sylla,The Washington Postreports.
Those searches came to a heartbreaking end on Aug. 1, when Prince George’s County Police responded to a call about human remains found on a pile of rocks near a pond in Clinton, nearly 20 miles away, said police.
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DNA testing confirmed that the remains found were those of the beloved teacher.
“An autopsy is being conducted to determine her cause of death,” police said in the statement.
Investigators are also working to determine where and when she was murdered.
“Through various investigative techniques,” police identified Landon as the suspect, police said in the statement.
Detectives discovered that Landon allegedly “was in the park at the same time as the abduction and later identified through his vehicle,” Chief Aziz said at a press conference on Friday.
Two days later, on July 31, at about 9:30 p.m., a witness in Clinton took a picture of a man in an old white pickup truck who was throwing something into the same pond where Sylla’s remains were later found, the charging documents state, WTOP reports.
Harold Landon III.Prince George’s County Police Department
Prince George’s County Police Department
The man was then seen washing his hands in the pond water, the charging documents state.
On Aug. 31, police searched Landon’s home and found several power tools, including a reciprocating saw that appeared consistent with Sylla’s decapitation and wounds, WTOP reports.
Surveillance footage allegedly showed Landon at the pond, according to the charging documents.
Landon had been in the custody of the Department of Corrections since August 1, 2023, on an unrelated domestic violence assault charge.
PGPD Homicide Unit detectives filed first-degree murder charges against him on Friday for Sylla’s murder.
“At this time, there is no indication the suspect and victim were known to each other,” police said in the statement.
The motive for the alleged killing remains under investigation.
It is unclear whether Landon has entered a plea or retained an attorney who can speak on his behalf.
Anyone with relevant information to this investigation is asked to call detectives at 301-516-2512.
Anyone with information who wants to contact Crime Solvers may call 1-866-411-TIPS (8477), or go online atwww.pgcrimesolvers.com, or use the “P3 Tips” mobile app (search “P3 Tips” in the Apple Store or Google Play to download the app onto your mobile device.) You can remain anonymous. Please refer to case number 23-045022.
source: people.com
