Malakia “Kia” Zali Logan was a joyful eight-year-old girl living with her family in Greenwood, South Carolina. She was born on August 1, 1979, to Richard and Bernetta Logan. Her dad was the mayor of Saluda, a nearby town, and her mom was shaping young minds as a middle school teacher. Life was pretty normal for the Logans until that fateful evening of May 15, 1988.
On that Sunday evening, Kia and her older sister decided to head to the park just a short walk from their apartment. The plan? To enjoy a game of basketball and soak up some fresh air. Around 8:15 pm, she said goodbye to her sister and pedaled her way home, just 300 yards away, on a blue bike. But the rest of her journey would remain forever unknown. Kia never made it home, and the subsequent hours turned into a nightmare no family should ever endure.
Soon after, her bike was found near the apartment office. No other clues emerged that night, but the community’s worry grew fast. Witnesses then reported seeing a stranger lurking near the basketball court — a white man with blonde hair and a pockmarked face driving an old, dark Chevrolet Monte Carlo.
The police got a hold of this report and worked promptly to get a composite sketch. It raised hopes, especially when this sketch hit the evening news three days after Kia went missing. It seemed like a promising lead, but nobody came forth to identify the suspect, making it feel like a hit-and-miss.
Fast forward to the mid-’90s, the story took another turn. Between 1995 and 1996, a pattern of similar abductions and assaults on young Black children started emerging across Georgia and South Carolina. All the victims shared certain characteristics, such as proximity to a highway. The authorities quickly zeroed in on a suspect, Charles Wade Hampton. This man had already confessed to multiple child abductions and even a murder. The details he provided matched those reported by the victims.
Initially, it seemed like Hampton could be tied to Kia’s case too. However, he later withdrew his confessions related to the 1995-1996 cases, creating more confusion. In 1996, just when hope seemed to fade, a grim discovery came to light. A human skull found six years earlier was confirmed through mitochondrial DNA testing to belong to Malakia Logan, bringing some closure to the long-standing mystery but also a new wave of grief.
This case, still unresolved, remains a significant thread in the fabric of Greenwood’s history. The community continues to remember Kia and reflect on the profound impact her disappearance had on their lives. Remembering her story serves as a stark reminder of the vigilance required to protect our children and the relentless quest for justice that her family and the community still uphold.
