Waiting in the Hallway - The Murder of Kanika Powell

Kanika Powell did everything right. She refused to open her door to a stranger claiming to be with the FBI. She called the Bureau directly to check his story. She called the police. She emailed her friends and family, warning them, days before it happened. When two more strangers showed up at her door posing as delivery men, she refused them too, and confirmed with the carriers that no packages were ever coming. None of it saved her. On August 28th, 2008, Kanika returned home from running errands and was shot multiple times in the hallway of her Laurel, Maryland apartment building. She died the next day. She was twenty-eight years old — an Army veteran, a security specialist with a top-secret clearance, a devoted daughter and best friend, days away from a trip to Atlanta Pride with a woman she'd just started falling for. There was no eyewitness. No weapon was ever recovered. And despite a ballistics trail checked against every gun recovered in the county — and nationally — in the years since, Kanika's killer has never been identified. This week on Vanished Voices, we walk through the week of warnings that preceded Kanika's murder, sit down with the theories her family and investigators have chased for nearly two decades, and ask the question Prince George's County Cold Case Squad is still asking today: who wanted Kanika Powell dead, and why? If you have any information about the murder of Kanika Powell, call the Prince George's County Police Department at 301-352-1200, or PG County Crime Solvers at 1-866-411-TIPS. A reward of up to $25,000 is being offered for information leading to an arrest. To see more about this case, as well as the sources used to create this episode, visit our Blog Here. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.