A four-year-old child who went missing during a court-ordered contact with her mother in November 2021 has been found safe in a combined operation by the US Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force and the Chicago Police Department, officials revealed Monday.
Blessing Wasso was one year old when her mother, Erika Ephraim, also known as Ericka Wasso, visited her at a facility in Brighton Park on November 5, 2021, officials said. Blessing vanished during the visit, and the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), which had legal care of the child, reported her and her mother missing.
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The Chicago Police Department (CPD) issued an updated missing person bulletin for Blessing in May 2024, followed by a second bulletin for her mother three weeks later. The bulletins stated that investigators feared Ephraim had transported the girl to California or Texas.
The U.S. Marshals Service released a news release Monday without naming Blessing or her mother, noting that CPD had sought assistance in locating a missing newborn on January 1, 2025. According to a source, the infant’s name was Blessing.
According to the news release, an investigation by the Chicago Police Department and the United States Marshals Service led police to focus on two locations, one in Chicago and one in Blue Island, with a Chicago address emerging as the key lead. Authorities confirmed that Ephraim lived at the Chicago residence, where a small girl, aged 4 to 5, was spotted looking out of a second-floor window.
On June 3, 2025, authorities did additional monitoring and discovered that the child closely resembled an age-progressed image of Blessing provided by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The Marshals Service stated that officers opted to conduct an arrest operation to reclaim the youngster.
According to the news release, cops apprehended Ephraim as she attempted to flee after forcing her way into the property. The Marshals Service reported that they took Blessing into protective custody and returned her to DCFS, as she remains a state ward.
According to the press release, Ephraim was booked into Cook County Jail on multiple active warrants, including one for full extradition from the California Department of Corrections and non-extraditable warrants for retail theft in Cook County, stolen property in Orange County, California, and robbery in Signal Hill, California.
On June 6, 2025, the CPD issued separate press statements claiming that Blessing and her mother had been “safely located.”
