Look Who it Was Random video

Reliving Memories of Missing Daughter

1,206 views · Published 8 May 2013 · 2:49 · Indexed 24 October 2026

Channel: WTVC NewsChannel 9 · 2013 · News & Politics

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by John Madewell  The amazing discovery and reunion of the girls in Cleveland, Ohio has captivated national attention.That story has made a very personal connection to one  woman right here in Chattanooga.Nonie Sturdivant knows what these families in Cleveland have been  through. Her daughter, Tonetta Carlisle, has been missing now for 24 years.And the Cleveland discovery brought back a flood of memories.Sturdivant has watched every detail unfold with a very heavy heart. I was happy for the other girls in Cleveland, but tears just started rolling down my face because I wish that had been my baby cried out and somebody heard her and rescued her, Sturdivant said.Carlisle, 15-years-old at the time, was abducted on March 15, 1989.In the days following, police and volunteers launched a massive search. At the time, Carlisle was a freshman at City High and was walking home to Hamilton Avenue.One look today and you see how much the North Chattanooga area has changed over the years.But Back in March 1989, a woman saw several suspects jump out of a tan and yellow vehicle and force the petite girl inside.   She weighed only 95 pounds. The car came back to Jeffrey Jones, who had served eight years for rape. Jones killed himself within two or three days of Carlisle's disappearance.Sturdivant has her theory of what happened, I think Tonetta put up a fight and I believe he accidentally hurt my baby. And I believe she's buried somewhere and that's the very reason he went on and killed himself.But her body, or Tonetta herself, have never been found. Her abduction gained national attention and was even featured on America's Most Wanted. Rumors sufaced she may have been forced into prostitution in California.But her mother believes the real answer is right here. I wish someone had the courage to come and you know the information about my daughter, cause somebody right here in Chattanooga knows something about my daughter.Over the last 24 years, Sturdivant has thought about her daughter every day. And she desperately wants some kind of closure. I'm afraid , you know, if I ever leave this world, I don't, I won't know nothing about my daughter Tonetta.Sturdivant and her family implore the police department to make Carlisle's case a top priority. The department told us it holds out hope in every cold case it works.The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children stays in touch with Sturdivant. In fact, they've asked her for a photo of herself when she was about 40 years old.They want to use it in the continued search for Tonetta Carlisle, who would be 40 in August.Her case and many others are featured in the Missing Persons sections of our website.

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