Help Fund for Funeral of Jaiden Rose Rentas

Hello, my name is Autumn Smith and I am the aunt of Jaiden Rose Rentas, my 15-year-old niece who was brutally murdered yesterday 10/28/2022. As my family reels from this tragic loss, I have received countless messages asking how people could help in this time. I am setting up this page as a means for those who want to help and have the means to support Jaiden’s family as we navigate this process.

My niece Jaiden was always overflowing with laughter, she felt fully and deeply. When her childhood cat mallow died, she cried for weeks and wore a necklace with his ashes, she loved all animals, she was goofy, silly, stubborn, and strong. She loved her family with all of her heart and just struggled with how unfair everything in this world was. She always was the joker and said off-the-wall comments that would make our family fall over with laughter. She was creative and beautiful and I was planning to bring her out to California (where I live) for her bday in one month. She was so excited to come out. And then we got the news that she ran away....and then we got the news that she was murdered.

We don't know the full circumstances of her running away, but we know that it was unlike her to be gone for this long, it was unlike her to turn her location off, it was unlike her to have "lost her phone" and not send any messages to us. The only contact we had was a call from an unknown number telling us not to worry, and gossip of her friends saying she would come back if we took down the fliers. This all seemed off to us and my sister told the detectives and did her due diligence searching every day, still sharing the flier on IG and keeping an eye out for every clue.

We don't know if she ran away by choice, or if she was being forced to stay with this group of boys, one of whom sexually assaulted her last year and has a known record of violence, assault, and bounties. I just can't make sense of this situation and running away with this boy and we knew there was more to this situation...and then we found out she was murdered by these same boys.

Here are my sister's own words about this situation and my niece's disappearance and murder. Please if you have the funds and can support them, please help her and my family through these trying times.

That was my girl. My baby girl. She would come and cuddle, just chill and tell me all the drama. We were friends.

After day 2 it was more to me. Just unlike her completely. A day or 2 at friends to get a rise out of me I could accept as Jaiden although had never done it before. But teenagers act out. After that and no actual word from her, I was worried. I tracked and chased her all over Cleveland. Knocked on countless doors, and had police meet me at houses. Houses that refused to let them check for my daughter and they just accepted it. Houses I knew my daughter was in. But was helpless.

Cops dismissed my concerns and said the kids are probably exaggerating and bc of 1 of her screen names they wouldn't doubt she was still out by choice. Despite the information that said otherwise.

And Less than an hour after that conversation. My daughter was found. Murdered. By the kids whose full information was given to the cops countless times in the last 9 days.

I knew something was wrong. I knew she was missing within hours. Nearly every day I traced her to her friends and the cops were no help. Dismissed.

They took my daughter in a field and murdered her. The absolute worst possible outcome occurred. And I'll never see my baby's smile again. I never stopped looking for her. I never put my hands up and said fuck it. I never gave up on bringing her home. And that's all I wanted was to bring her home.