KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Mikayla Norris would've turned 19 Friday, Dec. 22.
Now, her best friend is heartbroken that her other half is gone.
Bailey Sherman said she spoke to Mikayla Norris the night she went missing. The two talked on the phone around 10 p.m. Sunday, making plans for spring break.
Sherman said Norris told her she was in Independence meeting up with a friend but didn't say who it was.
When Sherman didn't hear from Norris on Monday, she knew something wasn't right.
The two teens had been best friends since grade school and were inseparable. Sherman said not receiving a message from Norris on Monday was concerning.
"Then once her family asked me if I had seen her, it broke me because I knew she wouldn't do this," said Sherman.
Three days after she went missing, Norris was found dead in south Kansas City.
The person of interest in her disappearance, Kareem McCoy Lee, was found dead in Norris's car of an apparent suicide.
Sherman and Norris's family believe the teen met McCoy Lee on the dating app Tinder.
"What person up here that’s not on Tinder at our age? It’s the easiest way to find friends if you’re not going to college," said Sherman.
Sherman said she would often check her friend's phone because she knew Norris used that app. Sherman wanted to see who she was talking to.
"We went to eat Thursday and I was going through her phone and I didn't even see him so she must have met him after I went with her," said Sherman.
Police have not confirmed that connection and are still investigating what happened from the time Norris disappeared to when her body was found.
Police have said that their only suspect in her murder is McCoy Lee.
Sherman said she is still coming to terms with the fact that her friend is gone.
"Mikayla is just someone you would look at and know… she could just bring a smile to anyone’s face. We weren't supposed to be burying her, we were supposed to be out living," said Sherman.
Sherman said she and Norris were planning to get matching tattoos on Friday for Norris's 19th birthday.
Sherman said she is still going to get hers in honor of her friend.
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