Taalibah Fatin Bint Islam’s bones were discovered near railroad tracks along South Hughes Avenue near East Rosedale Street in March, according to Fort Worth Police.
Islam went missing in 2006, while she was only 20 years old.
Years later, her ex-boyfriend was convicted in the disappearance of another Tarrant County lady, Typhenie Johnson.
Johnson’s disappearance made national headlines in North Texas in 2016, ten years after Islam vanished.
Art Sahlstein has led a dedicated group of community members in frequent searches for both ladies for the past six years.
“We’ve searched between 80 and 100 square miles from our area here,” Sahlstein explained.
Though he had never met either, Sahlstsein, like others, has been invested in the case.
“I’d often wonder, ‘Well, why aren’t we finding things?'” You just cannot give up hope. “All you have to do is keep doing it,” he added.
Though he stated that this week’s confirmation of a positive identification for Islam’s remains was heartbreaking for her family, he also stated that it reenergizes the quest for answers in both women’s cases.
“My heart just stopped beating. I’m sorry for the family’s situation. “My thoughts and prayers are with the family,” Johnson’s aunt Janelle Hofeldt said.
Despite the finding, Hofeldt feels both families are still waiting for closure because Christopher Revill, both women’s ex-boyfriend, continues to conceal information.
Despite the fact that Johnson was never located, Revill was sentenced to life in prison for aggravated abduction in her case.
He has long been suspected of Islam’s disappearance but has never been prosecuted.
“How can he look at himself in the mirror every single day knowing what he did?” she wondered.
The search for Johnson continues as Islam’s family prepares to finally lay her to rest.
“I’m reenergized to see this through to the end.” This is a significant step. We’ll find one and then the other. That is the most important thing. “I truly believe that,” Sahlstein stated.
Meanwhile, family members strive for justice for two women whose tales are now inextricably interwoven.
“As Typhenie always says, we’re never going to quit, and that’s what we’re going to do.” “We’re never going to give up,” Hofeldt remarked.
There is a $20,000 incentive for information leading to Johnson’s confirmed whereabouts.
