Abby Connolly
Can you imagine getting home from work, expecting to see your child home from school, only to have to report them missing later that evening?
This happened to the mother of Tonetta Carlisle, a teenage girl who was abducted during her daily walk home from school in 1989.
Tonetta was 15-years-old at the time and attended City High School in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
She was a bright young girl who was an excellent student and ran track for her school. Tonetta loved making people laugh and sang in the choir at her church. She also had a job working for a local youth program.
But on March 16th, 1989, the lives of Tonetta’s friends and family changed drastically.
That day, she was making her 20-minute walk home from school down Hamilton Avenue, a journey she had taken many times before.
Suddenly, around 2:55 pm, when she was just a block away from home, a couple who was outside tending to their garden claimed to see several people in a yellow and tan vehicle pull up to Tonetta, get out of the car, grab her, force her into the car, and drive off.
The couple allegedly got into their car to try and follow the vehicle but eventually lost sight of it. They obtained the license plate number, “LKH-920,” and descriptions of some people in the car. They then called 911 and gave all this information to police.
Later that afternoon, Tonetta’s mother, Nonie, arrived home from work, expecting Tonetta to be there as usual. When she first noticed she wasn’t home, she allegedly assumed she was with friends. But when 10:00 pm rolled around, and Tonetta never returned, she called the police and reported her missing.
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