Tionda and Diamond Bradley - Ten Years Later
By Chuck Sudo in News on Jul 6, 2011 7:00PM
Tionda Bradley (left), and Diamond Bradley circa 2001.
Tionda and Diamond Bradley disappeared on July 6, 2001. Tionda, 10 at the time, and 3-year-old Diamond were used to being left alone and nothing seemed out of the ordinary as their mother Tracey went to work that day.
When Tracey returned home during the lunch hour, she found a note from Tionda stating the girls were visiting Doolittle School, where Tionda was taking summer classes. Records from the school indicate she was absent from class that day. After searching the apartment complex where the Bradleys lived, Tracey Bradley called police at 6 p.m.
From there, the Police Department launched one of the largest missing persons searches in its history, searching over 5,000 abandoned buildings. Tracey Bradley was at one point considered a person of interest in her daughters' disappearance, having given conflicting statements to police as to her whereabouts. Tracey Bradley said she did so because she was afraid police would target her for leaving the girls alone.
There had been other glimmers of hope that turned out to be fool's gold over the years. Human remains in an industrial area on the Far South side were found in April 2005 that were believed to be Tionda Bradley's. Testing showed they were instead the remains of a Caucasian or Hispanic girl.
Every year, a vigil is held in honor of the Bradley sisters, who would be 20 and 13 today.