Rochelle Denise Battle

• Missing Since 03/06/2009
• Missing From Baltimore, Maryland
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Female
• Race Black
• Date of Birth 09/05/1992 (31)
• Age 16 years old
• Height and Weight 5'1 - 5'3, 170 - 190 pounds
• Clothing/Jewelry Description A brown hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans and brown boots that came up to just below her knees.
• Distinguishing Characteristics African-American female. Black hair, brown eyes. Rochelle has a tattoo of a skeleton on her right forearm.

Details of Disappearance

Rochelle was last seen in Baltimore, Maryland on March 6, 2009. She spoke to her mother on her cellular phone at 10:00 p.m. and said she'd taken the subway and a bus to eastern Baltimore County to go to the Eastpoint Mall. She said she was shopping and would be home soon.

Later, Rochelle called a female friend to say she was with a "white friend." Authorities believe she wasn't en route to the mall and was in fact in the company of Jason Matthew Gross, a 34-year-old local man with whom she'd connected earlier. Cellular phone records placed the two together at around the same time, 9:00 p.m.

When Rochelle's mother repeatedly tried to call her later, at first the phone went to voice mail, then it was turned off. Rochelle has never been heard from again. Authorities believe she may have taken a bus from the mall to Eastern Boulevard and Old Eastern Avenue between 9:00 and 9:30 p.m. the day of her disappearance.

In April 2010, Gross was arrested and charged with Rochelle's murder. A photo of him is posted with this case summary. He has a prior criminal record for assault and sex offenses. Authorities believe he killed her at his home.

At his trial, Gross claimed Rochelle was a prostitute who solicited clients over an adult chat line. He admitted he had arranged to meet her at a bar near his home, but said she never showed up. Gross was convicted of the murder in October 2011, although Rochelle's body has never been found. He was sentenced to the maximum term of forty years in prison.

Foul play is suspected in Rochelle's case due to the circumstances involved.