A group of Tonetta Carlisle's friends and family, all dressed in burgundy memorial T-shirts, gathered in Coolidge Park Saturday to release balloons in honor of what would have been her 46th birthday.
Carlisle has been missing since 1989. She was last seen walking home from Chattanooga High School on March 15 of that year. Her mother, Nonie Sturdivant, reported her missing that evening.
Recently, the Hamilton County District Attorney's Office agreed to take another look at the case, and in a news conference last week, confirmed a person of interest: Jeffrey Jones.
Around the time Carlisle went missing, Jones had served time in prison for a rape conviction. But, when police finally connected him to the case, they learned he had killed himself two days after Carlisle disappeared.
Sturdivant thinks Jones killed her daughter before killing himself, and she's asking that anyone who knows anything about what happened to her daughter to come forward.
The day Carlisle went missing, a couple called police to report having seen a young black woman being forced into a car by a black man near the intersection of Hamilton Avenue and Dallas Road at about 3 p.m., less than a quarter mile from where Chattanooga High School used to be, according to Times Free Press archives. The couple followed the car and took down its license plate before losing sight of it.
But Sturdivant's missing persons report wasn't connected to the suspicious activity call until much later, and it wasn't until a week after Carlisle had been missing that police asked for help locating her. On March 22, 1989, police told reporters they believed she was with a boyfriend in the Alton Park area and did not suspect foul play in her disappearance, according to newspaper archives.
But Carlisle didn't have a boyfriend at the time, her mother said.
There were no other entries for Tonetta Carlisle until 2002, when the Times Free Press published a special project on Chattanooga's missing children, and again in 2009.
Investigators and Carlisle's family are asking for anyone who knew Jones to come forward in hopes of getting closure.
On Saturday, Sturdivant, her remaining children and the rest of her family all gathered under the shade of some trees and said a prayer before releasing an array of pink flowers and princess balloons.
"Lord, if there's anybody out there who knows anything, touch that person," the pastor prayed.
Carlisle's brother Darrell Stewart said he hopes "maybe someone has a conscience and [will] come clean."
In the meantime, District Attorney Neal Pinkston said his office has already received a number of calls, some of which have been about where some physical evidence may be found. Investigators will be following up on those leads in the coming days.
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