The Abduction of Tonetta Carlisle

It was a warm spring afternoon in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on May 16, 1981. Fifteen-year-old Tonetta Carlisle left Chattanooga City High School like she did every day, violin case in hand, ready to walk the short half-mile home to the apartment she shared with her mother. She never made it.

Witnesses watched in horror as a green and tan vehicle pulled up beside her. Two men forced Tonetta inside as she screamed for help. One woman chased the car on foot, but it sped away. By the time police arrived, the trail was already cold.

Tonetta’s disappearance shattered a community. She was a bright, creative teenager, known for her smile, her music, and her closeness with her mom. But in the early 1980s, before Amber Alerts and DNA databases, investigators were working with limited tools. Leads went nowhere. A suspect was identified but never charged. Tonetta’s body was never found.

Tonetta's brother and mother asking for help

More than four decades later, her story still echoes through the streets of Chattanooga. It’s a story of a young Black girl whose case never got the national attention it deserved, of a family’s relentless search for answers, and of a city that remembers.

SEQUESTERED Season 2 revisits Tonetta’s case — tracing what happened that day, the investigation that followed, and the chilling confession that came years too late.

To learn more about this case and see pictures - click here!

Sources: Chattanooga Times Free Press, FBI archives, contemporary news reports.