Bradley Sisters’
Relative: Gary Woman Might Know Something About Missing Girls
CHICAGO (CBS) – The
great aunt of two girls who vanished 12 years ago said she believes a Gary
woman might have information about the fate of the two missing girls.
Shelia Bradley-Smith is the great aunt of Diamond and Tionda Bradley, who disappeared on July 6, 2001. She told WBBM Newsradio’s Steve Miller she received an email several months ago from a woman in Gary, Ind., who said something was weighing heavy on her heart.
“You know, she went out of her way to find us. So she must have wanted us to know. She said God was weighing on her heart. Now God is weighing on my heart,” Smith said.
Smith said the woman wrote that, on the day Diamond and Tionda went missing, the woman’s boyfriend appeared at her home “visibly shaken” and told her “he did something messed up” and said something like “she saw it, I had to kill her.”
Smith said police have told her the woman has stopped cooperating with them.
“I just want the world to know that all this time she’s been holding this information. This case possibly could have been solved by now,” she said. “And it’s a shame she would have this information and not want to step forward with it.”
Chicago police could not confirm any new developments in the case or the details of what Smith said, but a spokeswoman said the investigation of the Bradley sisters’ disappearance remains active “and limited details can be provided.”
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2013/03/29/bradley-sisters-relative-gary-woman-might-know-something-about-missing-girls/
Shelia Bradley-Smith is the great aunt of Diamond and Tionda Bradley, who disappeared on July 6, 2001. She told WBBM Newsradio’s Steve Miller she received an email several months ago from a woman in Gary, Ind., who said something was weighing heavy on her heart.
“You know, she went out of her way to find us. So she must have wanted us to know. She said God was weighing on her heart. Now God is weighing on my heart,” Smith said.
Smith said the woman wrote that, on the day Diamond and Tionda went missing, the woman’s boyfriend appeared at her home “visibly shaken” and told her “he did something messed up” and said something like “she saw it, I had to kill her.”
Smith said police have told her the woman has stopped cooperating with them.
“I just want the world to know that all this time she’s been holding this information. This case possibly could have been solved by now,” she said. “And it’s a shame she would have this information and not want to step forward with it.”
Chicago police could not confirm any new developments in the case or the details of what Smith said, but a spokeswoman said the investigation of the Bradley sisters’ disappearance remains active “and limited details can be provided.”
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2013/03/29/bradley-sisters-relative-gary-woman-might-know-something-about-missing-girls/
Their mother has long since moved away from the South Side neighborhood where the girls were last seen, and has changed her phone number.
The sisters’ great aunt, Shelia Bradley-Smith, says several years ago, she got in touch with the family that now has that phone number to let them know about the girls. The purpose was just in case Tionda ever dialed the number that used to be hers.
“Yeah, I contacted them and it was kind of weird calling them,” Bradley-Smith said. “And after I called them they called the police and said, ‘This lady called…’”
But now, she says the family is nicely cooperating.
“They do monitor their phone activity just in case Tionda would call,” she said.
Tionda and Diamond were last seen in their apartment complex near 35th Street and Cottage Grove Avenue on July 6, 2001. Their last communication was a note saying they were going to play at a park.
Police launched one of the biggest manhunts in Chicago history after the girls disappeared, searching open fields, railroad cars, and 5,000 abandoned buildings. It mostly turned up nothing.
In 2008, a private detective concluded that a mysterious Internet picture that appeared on a MySpace profile was in, fact Tionda Bradley, but that conclusion later proved incorrect.
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/07/06/11-years-since-disappearance-of-tionda-and-diamond-bradley/
Sex:Female
Race:Black
Age at Disappearance:10
Height:4'2''
Weight:70 lbs.
Hair (Color, Description, Facial Hair):
- Brown
- Her hair is usually worn in five long ponytails.
Eyes:
- Brown
Other Phys. Characteristics:
- At the time of her disappearance Tionda had a scrape on her left calf.
Traits and Habits:
- Tionda is described as being shy with strangers, and loves to run track and dance.
Last Seen:
- Chicago , IL
- Tionda and Diamond Bradley were last seen near their South Side apartment home.
Other Possible Locations: Chicago, IL or anywhere in the USA
DIAMOND BRADLEY
Sex: Female
- Race:BlackAge at Disappearance:3Height:3'Weight:35 lbs.Hair (Color, Description, Facial Hair):
- Black
- Diamond wears her hair in four ponytails.
- Her hair was pulled back into braids.
Eyes:- Brown
Other Phys. Characteristics:- She was last seen with violet and purple ponytail holders.
- She has a medium-complexion.
- She has very deep set eyes.
Scars and Tattoos:- Scar on the left side of her scalp, just under the hairline from a fall when she was younger.
Traits and Habits:- Diamond is described as independent.
- She is naturally timid but loves to talk.
- She likes to eat peanuts and ramen noodles.
Last Seen:- Chicago , IL
- Diamond was last seen with her older sister Tionda in her 2-bedroom apartment on the 3500 block of South Cottage Grove Avenue on the south side of Chicago.
Other Possible Locations:- Chicago , IL or anywhere in the USA
