Arianna Fitts

Status:

Open

Jurisdiction:

San Francisco Police Department (CA)

Missing From:

Oakland, CA

Summary:

Arianna Fitts, born September 6, 2013, is an American child missing since 2016. She was reported missing from the San Francisco, California, area on April 5, 2016, and on April 8, 2016, Arianna's mother, Nicole Fitts, was found murdered and buried in a public park in San Francisco. Nicole was last seen on April 1, 2016, and Arianna has not been seen since mid-February 2016. Arianna is still missing, while her mother's body was discovered buried in McLaren Park on April 8, 2016.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Disappearance:

Nicole Fitts had been dealing with financial problems for quite a few years. She often spent her time moving from homeless shelters. She needed to sustain a job and find a place for her daughter to stay, but she struggled to do so; matters were much worse as she did not have identification on her at the time, which made it more difficult for her to find rent anywhere, especially on minimum wage. Arianna was never found, having last been seen alive in February of that year while she was being looked after by her babysitter Helena Hearne Martin and her husband, Devin Martin. Arianna had been staying with the Hearne sisters for quite some time when Nicole finally found a place to live in late March 2016. Her co-worker, Goyette Williams, had an extra room at her place that she offered to Nicole and Arianna. This was a perfect set-up for Nicole—the home was located only a few minutes away from work. Nicole Fitts received a phone call on April 1st 2016 at approximately 9:00 PM, and that call lured Nicole out of her residence to 'go meet the baby sitter.' Nicole was never seen alive again. On April 8, a gardener in the John McLaren Park discovered a large piece of wood resting behind a clump of ivy covered bushes with an odd silver character painted on it. Underneath the wood, the body of Nicole Fitts was discovered in a fetal position, in an uncovered, but previously covered by the wood, shallow grave.

Additional Details:

Police questioned Hearne Martin multiple times following the discovery of Fitts' body, but she later decided to stop speaking with the authorities, her lawyer said. Hearne Martin had 'given them all the information she can,' her attorney said, adding, 'Now that they changed from her being a witness to a possible suspect, I'm not going to let her give anymore statements.' Helena Martin previously spent six years in prison after she killed the father of her child. However, investigators haven't named any of the three as suspects in Nicole's murder or Arianna's disappearance as of this publication. Police have executed search warrants and seized more than 30,000 pieces of evidence at locations in Oakland, Emeryville and Daly City in connection with the locations where Arianna was thought to have been staying. Investigators believe the cases are connected and suspect Arianna was abducted to be raised by someone else. The FBI operates under the assumption that Arianna is alive, and investigates with that in mind. The goal is to find Arianna, recover her, and reunite her with her family. In November 2022, the Crime Junkie podcast profiled this case. The Federal Bureau of Investigation said people in the Las Vegas Valley can help solve the case of a missing San Francisco girl whose mother was murdered. The FBI says nothing is 'off the table'; in 2022, the agency put up billboards across the Valley asking the public to help find her.

Case Last Updated:

Aug 23, 2026