*Last Updated – June 30, 2024*
EARLY LIFE:
Tonetta Yvette Carlisle was born on August 28, 1973. She lived in Chattanooga, Tennessee, with her mother and brother, Nonie Sturdivant and Darrell Stewart. Those who knew the teenager remember her being a big fan of fast food and pizza, and they note she would often spend her time listening to rap music, with her favourite artist being Bobby Brown.
At the time of her disappearance, Tonetta’s family was living in the 600 block of Hamilton Avenue. Her residence was approximately a 20-minute walk from City High School, where she was a freshman.
DISAPPEARANCE:
Tonetta was last seen leaving City High School at approximately 2:55 PM on March 16, 1989. Five minutes later, a witness observed her being abducted.
According to the individual, she’d been on Ruth Street when she heard a commotion on the street below, near 615 Hamilton Avenue. Upon looking down the hill, she saw several unidentified persons jump out of a tan and yellow van, surround Tonetta and force her into the vehicle before pulling away. Concerned, the witness and her husband jumped in their car and chased the van. While they were unable to keep up, they managed to grab the license plate number – Tennessee license plate LKH 920 – and relay the information to the authorities.
Eight hours later, Nonie called 911 to report that her daughter hadn’t returned home from school. A missing child report was subsequently filed. Unfortunately, the report and the call about the abduction weren’t connected until two days later, when the authorities realized Tonetta lived just a half-block away from the abduction site.
INVESTIGATION:
The license plate of the vehicle involved in Tonetta’s abduction was eventually connected to a man by the name of Jeffrey Jones. He was a convicted rapist who’d served eight years in prison on charges of rape and aggravated sexual assault. He was released a year before Tonetta was kidnapped, and it was later determined he’d raped a woman in his apartment complex just two months before the teenager was last seen.
The day investigators went to speak with Jones (March 18, 1989), they found him deceased in the van of interest, with the cause of death determined to be suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning. He left behind no note. After locating the vehicle, over 300 police officers, bloodhounds, deputies and volunteers combed the area around the convict’s apartment complex, but found nothing related to the case.
There have been several rumours and information received around the theory that Tonetta had been forced into prostitution by a trafficking network that operated out of the state, in California. The Chattanooga Police Department reached out to the area’s sheriff’s office, but investigators were unable to find any evidence she’d been transported out of Tennessee.
There were numerous sightings of the missing teenager across the country, including in Minnesota, where people thought they’d seen her at different supermarkets. There were also unconfirmed reports that Tonetta had been spotted at a housing project in Chattanooga.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) has released two age-progression images of Tonetta over the years: one at 34 years old and the other showing what she may have looked like at 45.
In August 2019, the Chattanooga District Attorney announced the police department’s Cold Case Unit was reopening Tonetta’s case. He shared that investigators had eliminated some of the theories brought forward in the initial investigation and that the focus had been moved to Jeffrey Jones. In case Tonetta’s remains are located, DNA samples have been taken from her mother and brother.
Nonie has criticized the police investigation, saying investigators should have started looking for her daughter as soon as they received her 911 call, rather than waiting until the missing child report and the report of the abduction were connected. She believes Tonetta was killed by Jones and buried in an undisclosed location.
DETAILS:
Tonetta Yvette Carlisle was last seen in Chattanooga, Hamilton County, Tennessee, on March 16, 1989. She was 15 years old when she went missing, and she was last seen wearing a pink and white striped blouse, a denim skirt and white sneakers.
At the time of her disappearance, Tonetta stood at 5’1″ and weighed approximately 95 pounds. She has brown, almond-shaped eyes, and her curly black hair was longer in the back and trimmed short on the top and the sides. Her ears are pierced, and it’s noted that several of her teeth are capped or have fillings.
The vehicle involved in Tonetta’s abduction, which has since been located, was a yellow and tan van with Tennessee license plates LKH 920. It was registered to a man named Jeffrey Jones, who is now deceased.
CASE CONTACT INFORMATION:
Currently, Tonetta’s case is classified as a non-family abduction.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Chattanooga Police Department at either (423) 698-2525 or (423) 643-5000.
Image Credit: NCMEC
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