“I believe that she’s going to get back home,” Karah Fraise told Dateline. “God will make a way for her.”
Karah’s daughter, Cajairah Fraise, has been missing for eight months. The 22-year-old was last seen on February 23, 2023.
She was eight months pregnant.
Karah told Dateline that Cajairah was raised in southern California. She’s the youngest of three. “Her and her brother and sister are like three peas in a pod,” she said. “They have been best friends with each other their whole life.”
In fact, Karah told Dateline that Cajairah is everyone’s best friend. “She received a lot of love from everyone in the family,” she said. “She was a best friend to each of us.”
“She is a loving, kind, genuine person,” Karah said, the kind of person who would be a great mother. “She [was] just completely excited and shocked,” Karah said about her daughter’s reaction to pregnancy. “She couldn’t believe it -- just the thought of a baby growing inside you.” Cajairah was due on March 29 and was expecting a boy.
At the time of her disappearance, Cajairah was living in Marino Valley with her parents.
Karah told Dateline that she spent the day with her daughter. “We were at the gym earlier, having a spa day,” Karah recalled. “We went to, like, two or three appointments or things that she would need for the baby, so we were just running errands.”
Then, Cajairah requested to go to her maternal grandmother’s house. “I had called my husband to come and drive us,” Karah recalled. “I wasn’t feeling well. So he came, met us, and then he started driving us.”
Karah said that Cajairah was hungry, so they decided to stop at a Jack in the Box in Beaumont on the way. “She got out of the car. She wasn’t saying much,” Karah said, adding that she didn’t know why her daughter got out of the car.
Karah told Dateline that Cajairah was standing in front of the drive-through while she and her husband went through the drive-through to order. “He pulled forward. He looked at her. She was still standing there,” she said, “He backed the car up, paid for the food, pulled back forward, and she was gone. So the last time we seen her was when she was standing at the end of the drive-through. She literally disappeared in minutes.”
Karah and her husband immediately began searching. “[My husband] got out the car, looked around,” Karah said. Then the couple drove around the complex where the Jack in the Box is located. “So, we drove around it, looking around, trying to find her. We didn’t see her and we called 911 to report her missing.”
The Beaumont Police Department is investigating Cajairah’s disappearance. Public Information Officer Marcedes Cashmer told Dateline in an email that Cajairah was last seen at 10:39 p.m. on February 23 at the Jack in the Box located at 89 Beaumont Avenue.
According to Officer Cashmer, multiple ground searches were done for Cajairah “along Hwy 79 between the City of Beaumont and Hemet. Those searches included officers searching on foot, K9, drone/UAS, as well as helicopter and plane. Information was also distributed to hospitals, clinics, mental health facilities, shelters and other organizations throughout Riverside County, San Bernardino County and Nevada.”
Officer Cashmer told Dateline that security footage showed Cajairah “walking south, away from the area of the Jack in the Box and behind businesses in the same center as the food establishment” on the same night she disappeared.
Cajairah’s mother, Karah, told Dateline that the footage showed her daughter walking behind a charter school next to the Jack in the Box. “The video had her on the camera by herself behind the school,” she said.
Karah told Dateline that she believes her daughter may have been suffering a medical emergency causing her to walk away.
Foul play is not suspected in Cajairah’s disappearance at the time. According to Officer Cashmer, the Beaumont Police Department is continuing to “pursue any and all leads to locate Cajairah.”
Karah told Dateline that she believes her daughter was abducted. “I believe she was taken, and I believe in my heart that she’s being sheltered somewhere,” she said. “Someone has her and hopefully the baby -- and hopefully they’re taking care of her.”
PIO Marcedes Cashmer told Dateline that there is no evidence at this time that suggest Cajairah was abducted.
If Cajairah is out there, Karah told Dateline she has a message for her: “I love you so much. I would do anything to hug you, laugh with you, dance with you,” she said. “I won’t give up finding you. I will fight for you. Give all I have for you.”
Karah told Dateline that the family is raising money to hire a private investigator. She also has Facebook page and Instagram pages called “Find Cajairah” dedicated to getting answers about her daughter’s disappearance.
Cajairah is 5’7” and 160 lbs. She was last seen wearing a black jacket and grey sweats. According to her mother, she has several medical needs and food intolerances. Her son would be 7 months old.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Beaumont Police Department at 951-769-8500 or the Dock Ellis Foundation at 888-222-6050. Information can also be reported anonymously at crimetips@beaumontpd.org.