Ice (S)cream Truck: Equilla Lynn Hodrick

In this episode of Hunting 4 Answers: A summer night in the Bronx. An eight-year-old girl. A fleeting moment—and then, she was gone. On August 12, 1985, Equilla Hodrick ran down Briggs Avenue, turned a corner, and vanished without a trace. Bloodhounds led investigators to the Metro-North train tracks, but the search was stalled...and the media barely took notice. Nearly 40 years later, the question lingers—what really happened to that evening? Anyone with information about this case should contact the New York Police Department at 212-694-7781or thier local authorities. The agency case number is KNMP09175.

This is the story of Equilla Lynn Hodrick. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Speaks to the Plannet.

Speaker 2 (00:01):
I'll go by the name of Charlamagne of God and
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(00:23):
Mom's Bad Choices. Carrie Champion will be there with her
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Speaker 1 (00:46):
Hunting for Answers is a production of the Black Effect
Podcast Network and iHeartRadio. Welcome to Hunting for Answers, a
true crime podcast. I'm your host, Hunter and today's case
brings us to the Bronx, New York in nineteen eighty five.
It begins during the summertime with a mother and a

(01:06):
daughter just sitting on their stoop, and then within moments,
the little girl is gone, never to be seen again.
Her case didn't break headlines, and now, nearly forty years later,
questions still remain. This is the story of Akuila Lynn

(01:29):
Hadricks six point thirty PM. According to reports, that's when
the familiar jingle of the Mister Softy ice cream truck
rang through the street. Aquila's eyes lit up because she
wanted a sweet treat. There are conflicting reports about whether
or not her mother actually gave her money that evening.

(01:51):
Some say Torona told her no, while others believe she
may have handed her some change to get some ice cream.
But one thing is Akila took off, running down Briggs Avenue,
disappearing around the corner onto one hundred and ninety four Street.
Torona caught one last glimpse of her daughter before she

(02:13):
vanished from sight. That was the last time I saw
my baby, she would later say. At first, Torona wasn't
that worried. Akila had only gone down the block, and
she believed that she would be back soon. A family member,
a niece, would later say she saw Aquila at a
game room just down the street playing video games. That

(02:36):
should have been reassuring, But as the evening stretched on
and the sun dipped below the skyline, a mother's instinct
set in and something didn't seem right. By nightfall, fear
had taken hold. Torona called the police, and just like that,

(02:57):
a missing child case began. The first detective on the
scene was a seasoned officer, Detective Frankie McDonald. He had
seen a lot of cases in his eighteen years on
the force, but this one, he says, stuck with him.
It was a heart wrenching case, he later recalled. The
mother was a genuine victim and this was a legitimate

(03:20):
missing child. Many times these cases involve a family member,
not this one. Akila had simply disappeared. The police wasted
no time canvassing the neighborhood. Bloodhounds were brought in, their
nose pressed to the pavement, picking up the child's scent.

(03:42):
The trail led down to Webster Avenue near the Metro
North train line, and then nothing. The scent had vanished.
Investigators turned their attention to the train tracks. The area
near Metro North was known to be a haven for
homeless individuals tucked into makeshift enclaves along the railway. If

(04:05):
Akuila had been taken there, time was critical. But that's
when the search hit an infuriating roadblock. Detective McDonald needed
Metro North to stop the trains, to halt service, even briefly,
so officers could conduct a proper search of the tracks,
but bureaucracy stood in the way. The railroad company resisted.

(04:30):
They argued that stopping the trains would inconvenience commuters. McDonald
was livid. He told them how the neighborhood might not
like the fact that train schedules were considered more important
than a little local girl's life. In the end, Metro
North refused to fully halt service. The best they offered

(04:54):
slowing the trains down. Akila was missing in this was
all they were willing to do. Hours later, detective McDonald
returned to the fifty second precinct, and that's when the
media showed up. But not to report on Akila's disappearance,

(05:15):
not to raise awareness, and not to help a desperate
mother find her little girl. No, the press was there
because the trains had been slowed down. A reporter from
Channel two shoved a microphone into McDonald's face, demanding to
know who had made the decision to delay the trains.

(05:36):
The story of Akila Haddrick's disappearance wasn't newsworthy, but the
temporary inconvenience to train passengers was Nearly four decades have
passed now. Akila's case was classified as a non family abduction.
In two thousand and one, her mother got a call

(05:56):
from police. The NYPDS called Case Unit had revisited the investigation,
but no new leads have surfaced. At the time of
her disappearance, Akila was just over four feet eleven inches tall,
weighing eighty pounds. She had brown hair, hazel eyes, a

(06:17):
scar near her right eye and cheek, and some discoloration
on her back. Akila was last seen wearing a white
tank top, blue cutoff jeans, light blue sneakers, and glasses.
Age progression images have been released over the years showing
what Aquila might look like today. No longer a child,

(06:39):
Akila would be forty eight years old today. Her mother
moved away from the Bronx years ago to another part
of New York because the pain was just too unbearable.
But she stayed reachable in phone books, using the same
phone number that Akila knew by heart as a little girl,

(07:01):
holding on to hope that someday she would hear from
her daughter again. My thoughts and prayers are with Akila's
family and friends, especially her mother, who has been without
her daughter for so many decades. Anyone with information about
Akila's case to contact the New York Police Department or

(07:23):
their local authorities. Their contact information, along with the agency
case number, can be found in the description box below.
As we wrap up this episode, don't forget to hit
the follow button to stay updated on this case and
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Answers on YouTube and stay connected with us on Instagram

(07:45):
and TikTok. Thank you so much for joining us on
another episode. Until next time. Hunting for Answers is a
production of the Black Effect Podcast Network. For more podcasts

(08:07):
from the Black Effect Podcast Network, visit the iHeartRadio app,
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