DNA identifies human remains found in March as Fort Worth woman who disappeared in 2006
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed human remains that were found in early March in Fort Worth were identified as a woman who went missing 17 years ago, the Fort Worth Police Department announced Thursday.
The department’s Missing Person Unit was notified June 28 by the Medical Examiner’s Office about the identification of Taalibah Fatin Bint Islam, who was reported missing on Jan. 21, 2006, after last being seen with her ex-boyfriend.
The human remains were found on March 2 in a heavily wooded area near the 900 block of South Hughes Avenue. The cause and manner of Islam’s death have not been determined, according to the medical examiner’s office.
The remains were collected by the medical examiner’s officer and sent for DNA testing. The DNA test confirmed the identity of Islam.
Christopher Revill, with whom Islam had a son, was sentenced to life in prison in August 2019 after being found guilty of kidnapping another ex-girlfriend of his, Typhenie Johnson, who disappeared in 2016. Johnson is presumed dead, but her body has not been found.
Revill told police in 2006 that he last saw Islam, who was his ex-girlfriend at the time, when she and their child visited him five days before he reported her missing.
He also told police that Islam, then 20 years old, left the residence where she visited him, left the baby behind, and got into a vehicle with an unknown person.
No one had heard from her since, according to police.
Islam’s relatives have said that they suspected Revill was involved, but he has not been charged in connection with Islam’s disappearance. This is an ongoing investigation, police said Thursday.
At his trial in Johnson’s disappearance, Christopher Revill’s sister K. Revill testified that she was sitting in her bedroom at her parents’ house while Christopher, Islam and their baby, just a few months old, were in his bedroom nearby. Christopher and Islam were in his room having an argument, his sister testified, and Islam yelled, “You broke my jaw!” After that she left and was never heard from again, K. Revill said.
Christopher Revill had a history of domestic violence and was investigated in an assault against Islam when she was nine months pregnant, a Fort Worth police sergeant testified at the trial in Johnson’s case, according to WFAA-TV. Revill was the last person seen with Johnson, and pieces of her clothes were found in his parents’ yard, according to testimony.
The families of both women celebrated after Revill was sentenced to life.
“Happy, overwhelmed, overjoyed,” Islam’s sister, Hadiyah Islam told WFAA in 2019. “He’s gone. (My sister) doesn’t have to worry about him anymore.”
This article includes information from the Star-Telegram’s archives.
This story was originally published July 6, 2023 at 4:25 PM.
