Welcome to Black & Unsolved: True Crime Chronicles on the NBG Podcast Network. Join host A.I. Jackson as we delve into the tragic, unsolved case of the Bradley Sisters' disappearance, a mystery that has haunted Chicago for over two decades.
On July 6, 2001, sisters Diamond and Tionda Bradley vanished from their home on Chicago's south side, leaving behind a heartbroken family and a city desperate for answers. Despite one of the largest missing children investigations in the city's history, no trace of the sisters has ever been found.
In this episode, we explore the mysterious circumstances surrounding their disappearance, the extensive investigation that followed, and the lingering questions that remain unanswered. We also examine the theories and frustrations that have emerged over the years, highlighting the struggle of families in similar situations.
Join us as we remember Diamond and Tionda, and discuss the importance of keeping their story alive. Your awareness and advocacy could help bring closure to a family that has been waiting for over 20 years. Stay tuned for more unresolved cases and the stories behind them on Black & Unsolved.
00:00:00 --> 00:00:06 Welcome to Black and Unsolved, true crime chronicles on the NBG Podcast Network.
00:00:06 --> 00:00:14 I'm your host, A.I. Jackson, and today we'll be diving into a tragic unsolved
00:00:14 --> 00:00:18 case that's haunted Chicago for over two decades,
00:00:18 --> 00:00:22 the disappearance of Teonda and Diamond Bradley.
00:00:22 --> 00:00:27 It's a story of two young sisters who vanished without a trace,
00:00:27 --> 00:00:33 leaving their family, friends, and a whole city devastated and longing for answers.
00:00:34 --> 00:00:40 In this episode, we'll explore the mysterious circumstances of their disappearance,
00:00:40 --> 00:00:46 examine the investigation, and consider the lingering questions that remain unanswered.
00:00:46 --> 00:00:54 This is a heartbreaking story, but one that must be told in the hope that shining
00:00:54 --> 00:00:58 a light on their case may one day bring the Bradley sisters home.
00:00:58 --> 00:01:05 It was July 6, 2001, a seemingly ordinary Friday morning on the south side of Chicago.
00:01:06 --> 00:01:12 Diamond Bradley was only three years old, and her big sister, Tianda, was just ten.
00:01:12 --> 00:01:16 They were living with their mother, Tracy Bradley, in a modest apartment in
00:01:16 --> 00:01:18 Chicago's Bronzeville neighborhood.
00:01:18 --> 00:01:22 On that day, Tracy had planned to work her 6 a.m.
00:01:22 --> 00:01:27 Morning shift at a local factory. As any working single mother would,
00:01:27 --> 00:01:33 she arranged for Tionda, the eldest, to look after her younger sister until she returned home.
00:01:34 --> 00:01:38 It wasn't unusual for the girls to stay home alone for a few hours,
00:01:38 --> 00:01:42 and Tracy made sure they had everything they needed before leaving.
00:01:43 --> 00:01:49 She gave Tionda and Diamond strict instructions to not let anyone inside.
00:01:49 --> 00:01:55 However, when she returned around midday, Tracy's world turned upside down.
00:01:55 --> 00:01:59 The girls were gone, and they hadn't left any indication of where they might
00:01:59 --> 00:02:00 have gone or who they were with.
00:02:01 --> 00:02:05 All Tracy found was a handwritten note, supposedly written by Tionda,
00:02:06 --> 00:02:09 which said they'd gone to the store and to the nearby school playground.
00:02:10 --> 00:02:13 But Tracy knew that something was very wrong.
00:02:13 --> 00:02:17 The two girls had never left home without her permission, and she could feel
00:02:17 --> 00:02:19 that something was terribly off.
00:02:20 --> 00:02:23 Immediately, Tracy and her family began a frantic search.
00:02:24 --> 00:02:28 They combed the neighborhood, called friends and family, and reached out to
00:02:28 --> 00:02:30 anyone who might have seen them.
00:02:30 --> 00:02:36 Eventually, at 6.30 p.m., six hours later, the police were called,
00:02:36 --> 00:02:40 and the search for Diamond and Tionda Bradley began in full force.
00:02:41 --> 00:02:47 Desperation turned to horror as hours turned into days with no sign of the sisters.
00:02:48 --> 00:02:50 The Bradley sisters' case became
00:02:50 --> 00:02:54 one of the largest missing children investigations in Chicago's history.
00:02:55 --> 00:03:00 News spread rapidly and soon the story of Diamond and Tionda was everywhere
00:03:00 --> 00:03:03 from newspapers to television screens.
00:03:04 --> 00:03:09 Chicagoans and people across the country followed the case with hope and heartbreak.
00:03:10 --> 00:03:15 Despite extensive searches by the police, the FBI, and volunteers,
00:03:15 --> 00:03:17 no trace of the girls was ever found.
00:03:18 --> 00:03:23 One of the biggest mysteries surrounding this case is the note supposedly written by Tianda.
00:03:24 --> 00:03:28 Forensic analysis later determined that the note was, indeed,
00:03:29 --> 00:03:35 written by her. But who had asked Tionda to write it, or if she had been coerced
00:03:35 --> 00:03:37 in any way, remains unknown.
00:03:38 --> 00:03:43 Family members told Dateline the spelling and grammar seemed too perfect and
00:03:43 --> 00:03:45 advanced for a girl Tionda's age.
00:03:46 --> 00:03:50 They added it was also not like Tionda to leave a note. Instead,
00:03:50 --> 00:03:52 she would have just called her mother.
00:03:52 --> 00:03:57 The letter was the only tangible piece of evidence, but it left investigators
00:03:57 --> 00:03:59 with more questions than answers.
00:03:59 --> 00:04:03 Why would Teanda and Diamond leave without any of their belongings?
00:04:04 --> 00:04:11 Why didn't anyone in the neighborhood see them? And if they did go to the playground, who took them away?
00:04:12 --> 00:04:16 With no leads and no physical evidence, the case soon grew cold.
00:04:17 --> 00:04:21 The lack of answers was deeply frustrating for the family, who continued to
00:04:21 --> 00:04:23 push for further investigation.
00:04:24 --> 00:04:29 But as the years passed, there were few breakthroughs. Some theorized that the
00:04:29 --> 00:04:35 girls may have been taken by someone they knew, possibly even a family friend or acquaintance.
00:04:35 --> 00:04:39 Others speculated that the girls might have been taken by someone in the neighborhood
00:04:39 --> 00:04:44 who'd observed their routine. But without any real evidence,
00:04:44 --> 00:04:47 these theories remained just that speculation.
00:04:48 --> 00:04:52 There were occasional sightings reported over the years, each one reigniting hope.
00:04:53 --> 00:04:59 In 2005, a woman in Texas reported seeing two young girls who looked like Diamond and Tianda.
00:05:00 --> 00:05:05 The FB I pursued this lead, but ultimately it led nowhere.
00:05:06 --> 00:05:11 A few years later, a man from Atlanta claimed he'd met a woman who looked like an older Tionda.
00:05:12 --> 00:05:17 He said she introduced herself as Diamond's sister and claimed she'd been abducted as a child.
00:05:18 --> 00:05:21 But again, this lead didn't pan out.
00:05:21 --> 00:05:25 These sightings were always bittersweet for the Bradley family.
00:05:25 --> 00:05:30 With each one, hope surged that the girls might still be alive,
00:05:30 --> 00:05:35 that maybe they were being held somewhere, waiting for the right moment to escape.
00:05:36 --> 00:05:39 But time and time again, the family's hopes were dashed.
00:05:40 --> 00:05:46 Sixteen times, women came out of the woodwork saying that they were either Diamond or Teanda.
00:05:46 --> 00:05:52 And as the years passed, it became harder and harder to hold on to hope.
00:05:53 --> 00:05:58 In 2007, investigators turned their attention to a suspect who'd been close
00:05:58 --> 00:06:03 to the family, someone who'd previously been dismissed as unrelated to the case.
00:06:04 --> 00:06:08 This individual had allegedly spent time with the girls in the past,
00:06:08 --> 00:06:11 and some details of his past raised concerns.
00:06:11 --> 00:06:16 However, despite these suspicions, police were unable to link him conclusively
00:06:16 --> 00:06:17 to the girls' disappearance.
00:06:18 --> 00:06:23 This development fueled frustration within the family, who felt that the investigation
00:06:23 --> 00:06:25 lacked focus from the start.
00:06:25 --> 00:06:31 Tracy, the girl's mother, publicly criticized law enforcement for what she believed
00:06:31 --> 00:06:32 was a lack of commitment.
00:06:33 --> 00:06:39 According to Tracy, the police missed early critical hours and failed to pursue leads thoroughly.
00:06:39 --> 00:06:45 In cases of missing children, the first 48 hours are the most crucial,
00:06:45 --> 00:06:51 and Tracy felt that the urgency in finding Diamond and Tionda was sorely lacking.
00:06:51 --> 00:06:56 As the years continued to pass, new theories emerged.
00:06:56 --> 00:07:01 Of course, there were suspicions of Tracy and her boyfriend George.
00:07:01 --> 00:07:05 The note didn't make sense, and a voicemail discovered later,
00:07:06 --> 00:07:11 left by Teonda the day they vanished, stated that a man named George was at the door.
00:07:11 --> 00:07:14 The family was divided about what they believed happened.
00:07:15 --> 00:07:20 And to this day, some 23 years later, the answers have never been found.
00:07:21 --> 00:07:25 Tracy stopped cooperating with authorities, and George Washington elected to
00:07:25 --> 00:07:27 never participate in the search.
00:07:28 --> 00:07:36 On an ID Channel show called Disappeared, Chicago Detective Pamela Childs said
00:07:36 --> 00:07:40 at the very beginning, because of no signs of forced entry, she felt like the
00:07:40 --> 00:07:43 girls were kidnapped by somebody that they knew.
00:07:43 --> 00:07:48 Feeling that Tracy, the girl's mother, and George Washington,
00:07:48 --> 00:07:53 Diamond's father, were the only two people that we could look at to bring more
00:07:53 --> 00:07:57 clarity to what happened to Diamond and Teonda.
00:07:57 --> 00:08:02 Others believe that Diamond and Teonda may have been victims of human trafficking.
00:08:03 --> 00:08:08 Sadly, child trafficking cases are common, especially in urban areas,
00:08:08 --> 00:08:14 and statistics show that black children often receive less media attention and
00:08:14 --> 00:08:17 fewer resources than their white counterparts when they go missing.
00:08:18 --> 00:08:24 It's a harsh truth that has left families, activists, and communities demanding change.
00:08:25 --> 00:08:29 Was this a case where the system failed these two young girls?
00:08:30 --> 00:08:35 In 2021, on the 20th anniversary of Diamond Antionda's disappearance,
00:08:36 --> 00:08:41 their family held a vigil to honor the sisters and to remind the public that
00:08:41 --> 00:08:43 their story remains unresolved.
00:08:44 --> 00:08:49 Many families in similar situations often feel that as time goes by,
00:08:49 --> 00:08:54 the public's memory fades, but the Bradley family has remained steadfast in
00:08:54 --> 00:08:57 keeping Diamond and Tionda's names alive.
00:08:58 --> 00:09:03 They continue to urge anyone with information, no matter how small or insignificant
00:09:03 --> 00:09:05 it may seem, to come forward.
00:09:06 --> 00:09:11 It's been over 20 years, and the Bradley family is still waiting for answers.
00:09:12 --> 00:09:17 Imagine going two decades not knowing what happened to your loved ones.
00:09:18 --> 00:09:24 Imagine that each time the phone rings, you wonder if it could finally be the call that brings news.
00:09:25 --> 00:09:29 For the Bradley family, and for so many families with missing loved ones,
00:09:29 --> 00:09:31 closure remains out of reach.
00:09:32 --> 00:09:37 As we wrap up this episode, let's take a moment to remember Diamond and Teonda Bradley.
00:09:38 --> 00:09:44 Diamond was a playful three-year-old who loved dolls and her older sister.
00:09:45 --> 00:09:48 Teonda was bright and mature beyond her years.
00:09:48 --> 00:09:53 She was artistic, loved gymnastics, and dreamed of becoming a dancer.
00:09:54 --> 00:09:59 They were vibrant young girls, full of life and potential.
00:10:00 --> 00:10:03 Somewhere out there, someone knows what happened to them.
00:10:03 --> 00:10:10 If you, or anyone you know, has information about Diamond and Teonda Bradley,
00:10:10 --> 00:10:16 please contact the Chicago Police Department or the National Center for Missing
00:10:16 --> 00:10:17 and Exploited Children.
00:10:18 --> 00:10:22 No matter how much time has passed, it's never too late to do the right thing.
00:10:22 --> 00:10:27 Your information could bring closure to a family that's been hurting for far
00:10:27 --> 00:10:31 too long. Thank you for joining me on this episode.
00:10:31 --> 00:10:38 It's cases like these that remind us of the importance of community and awareness,
00:10:38 --> 00:10:42 especially when it comes to missing persons in Black communities.
00:10:43 --> 00:10:47 If we don't keep their names alive, who will?
00:10:47 --> 00:10:52 Remember, you can make a difference just by sharing this story.
00:10:52 --> 00:10:58 Keep talking, keep sharing, and keep advocating. If you enjoyed this episode,
00:10:59 --> 00:11:03 be sure to hit that like button, leave a comment, write a review,
00:11:03 --> 00:11:05 and share it with your friends.
00:11:06 --> 00:11:13 And for more amazing NBG Podcast Network shows, head over to nbgpodcastnetwork.com
00:11:13 --> 00:11:16 and check out our complete lineup.
00:11:16 --> 00:11:22 Stay tuned for our next episode, where we will continue to explore unresolved
00:11:22 --> 00:11:25 cases and the stories behind them.
00:11:25 --> 00:11:30 Remember, stay connected, stay empowered, and stay vigilant.
00:11:30 --> 00:11:35 Until then, I am your host, A.I.
00:11:36 --> 00:11:42 Jackson, and this is Black and Unsolved, True Crime Chronicles on.
00:11:42 --> 00:11:47 Music.
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