02/15/2026
She's deceased ❌👣🧿 but she was kidnapped by men in a van. They murdered her and put her under ground.
SNATCHED IN BROAD DAYLIGHT—WITNESSES CHASED THE VAN, BUT SHE WAS GONE
THE DISAPPEARANCE OF TONETTA CARLISLE
Chattanooga, Tennessee | March 16, 1989
At approximately 3:00 p.m., 15-year-old Tonetta Carlisle was walking home from City High School along Ruth Avenue — less than half a block from her house. It was a route she knew well. A normal afternoon. A short walk.
A woman working in her yard looked up the hill and saw something she would never forget. Several individuals exited a yellow-and-tan van, grabbed Tonetta, forced her inside, and sped away.
The woman and her husband immediately got into their vehicle and chased the van. They eventually lost sight of it — but not before writing down the license plate number: Tennessee LKH-920. They called police right away.
At home, Tonetta’s mother, Noni Sturdivant, waited for her daughter to walk through the door. She never did. After hours of searching and calling friends, she reported Tonetta missing.
Authorities did not immediately connect the witness report of an abduction with Tonetta’s missing person report. It took two days before investigators realized the kidnapping call and Tonetta’s disappearance were connected.
When the license plate was finally run, it came back to Jeffrey Jones — a convicted ra**st who had been released from prison the year before after serving eight years for r**e and aggravated assault. Just two months before Tonetta vanished, he had r**ed a woman in his apartment complex.
On March 18, 1989, two days after Tonetta was abducted, Jones was found dead inside his van from carbon monoxide poisoning. His death was ruled a su***de.
Tonetta Carlisle has never been found.
She was 5'11" and 95 pounds at the time she disappeared. She was last seen wearing a pink and white striped blouse, a denim skirt, and white sneakers.
Her brother, Darrell, later said, “You see stuff like this in movies… you don't think it will hit home. We want to encourage everyone… be careful. Parents, network with each other—try not to have your child walking by herself.”
Who else was inside that van that afternoon?
Where was she taken in those first critical hours?
If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Tonetta Carlisle, please contact the Chattanooga Police Department at 615-698-9752.
Tonetta was 15 years old. She was walking home. Her family has lived with that unfinished sentence for decades.
© The Vivid Faces of the Vanished.