New age-progressed photos revealed of 24-years-missing Bradley sisters
CHICAGO - It's been 24 years since the disappearance of Diamond and Tionda Bradley.
The two sisters have been missing since July 6, 2001 from Chicago. They were last seen near 3526 South Lake Park Avenue.
According to their mother, a note, written by Tionda, said that the girls were going to the store and to the school playground.
Police did an extensive search of the area and neighborhood but found nothing.
New photos reveal what the girls would look like all of these years later. Diamond is aged to look 23-years-old and Tionda is aged to look 30-years-old. Diamond was three-years-old when she went missing, and Tionda was 10.
Tionda is reported to have a quarter-sized scar on her left arm. Diamond is reported to have a scar on the left side of her head in her hairline.
The backstory:
Their mother, Tracey Bradley, told police she last saw the girls around 6:30 a.m. when she left for work. She returned home around 1 p.m. to find a note saying they had gone to play at a nearby school.
Their disappearance sparked a massive search.
Hundreds of Chicago police, federal law enforcement officers and civilian volunteers spent days checking sewers, lagoons, abandoned buildings and factories. They also interviewed nearly 100 registered sex offenders living in the area.
"To have to wait in limbo like this," said Sheliah Bradley Smith, the girls’ great aunt, "Nobody said nothing. Nobody's prosecuted. Nobody's in jail. But the girls are still gone."
"It's hard to go through life knowing that you have loved ones out there that you have no idea where they are," said April Jackson, the girls’ aunt.
The family believes there are primary suspects – one, possibly two family members – who had access to the girls the day they vanished.
"There was a planned trip for these children, to go on a camping trip. That camping trip is all fraudulent. That camping trip never manifested," said P. Foster, a private investigator who's been working with the family since the girls first disappeared.
April Jackson says the girls had been taught to be suspicious of strangers.
"We know stranger danger. It's just embedded into our heads. So that being said, it would've had to be somebody who was very trustworthy, she really, really trusts," said Jackson.
But because there are no bodies, and the evidence is circumstantial, the family believes police and prosecutors are reluctant to file charges.
"So we're looking for that next small piece, and I do believe somebody out there has that information," said Foster.
Chicago police say the investigation remains open, telling FOX 32 in a statement:
"(Area One) detectives have and will continue to follow up when tips are received. At this juncture, there are no new leads."
What you can do:
Anyone with information should call Chicago Police at 312-745-5020 or the FBI at 312-421-6700.
The Source: Details for this story were provided by Illinois Missing Persons and previous Fox 32 reporting.