Tonetta Carlisle

Hi, I'm Holly and I'm Hailey. Welcome to Mountain Mysteries Tales from Appalachia. Hello. Hi, welcome back.

Thank you. Glad to be here. My home. Yeah.

It is March. It is March. It is March. It is March Madness basketball.

It is. Are you a caring for anyone or? No. So, no and yes.

So, the school that I work in, all the teachers do a bracket, like they give us a bracket to fill out. And it's just like a little competition between all of the teaching staff and school staff. And I never know anything about like the teams or whatever. Like I know like how the game of basketball works.

Which means you're going to win. Because that's always how it works. I don't know anything about these teams. And last year I ended in like fourth place because I had a student film I know.

Oh. So, I called them. They, oh yeah. So, this year I called the same student up and I'm like, listen, I need your help.

I need your help to do this. So, we sat there and we filled out together. And so, other teachers kind of like caught on or like school staff caught on that I was using a student to fill my bracket out. And not everybody's using students.

You have to like claim your student. This one's mine. This one's mine. So, I'm like, oh, what this one?

I want to fill mine out. And that one was mine. I think your grandmother could fill one out for you. Oh yeah.

She's totally into it. Yeah. So, at the end of the thing though, when they like announced he wins the bracket, we had a student last year who graduated made in the medals class a like heavyweight belt type thing. And so, the teacher who wins or school staff that wins gets the um, the belt for the year.

It's interesting. Not wording. You get the belt. You get the belt.

So, the student who helped me fill it out, they were like, so, if we win, do I get to like be a part of it? And I'm like, absolutely like we'll take our picture with the belt and be like, so like I put an asterisk at the bottom of my bracket that I turned in like that student's name. It was really funny. So, it's become like our thing.

Like, that's really cool. Pulling like students that are into that kind of thing to help me fill this out. But yeah, so, my granny's super into it. Yeah.

My bracket did get kind of busted. I had a tucky going pretty far and they were pretty big upset between Kentucky and Oakland. Okay. They came out on top.

It's sometimes those ones that you don't see coming in, Zaga's and you know, the Japanese state. Yeah. It's like, I mean, that's my like, that's my team. My mom too.

Because my grandma would just go there's the only thing that's my team. So, my grandmother's actually whatever night they played, had it like ready to go to watch them. So, my grandma goes for two teams, Kansas, which is where she's from. Or North Carolina, like the Target was about 13.

My dad is a Duke fan. So, there's a lot of my mom's in NC State person. Like, there's just a lot of feelings. Well, we're NC State fans.

And then my cousin goes to Chapel Hill. So, he's at our Hill right now. He has to be. So, we'll pull for, to the, you know, we'll pull for Carolina unless they're playing state and then we have to go state.

Obviously. So, but yeah, watching like all these North Carolina teams that are in this. It's very exciting. Cool.

It's very exciting. North Carolina has so many teams. They have a chorus. They have Duke.

They have Chapel Hill. They have NC State. I mean, it's insane. That's crazy.

Yeah. That's really cool. Yeah. It's a little bonding thing.

So, this is, you know, if you're into basketball, so are we college basketball? Yeah. I don't care anything about like pro teams. You know, in my family, we never have either.

We don't care anything. I go watch college basketball and that's about it. Absolutely. And then I'll go watch like my kids' like basketball.

I root for those youngsters. And I think to myself, holy crap, I'm old enough to be their mother. That's where the dawn's on me from time to time. Like, hey, 20 year old.

I could be your mother. Well, and it's one of those things that's like, I hope that they are, you know, truly getting the education that they're in school for. Right. Right.

I mean, you know, you hear these kids get to go to school to play sports, but like, I hope they're actually like, I think it's a lot of pressure to put on college good. I would imagine that for the superstars, it is a lot like, okay, so you didn't pass this test. That's cool. We're gonna like, keep you eligible.

Yeah. Like, I do too. But I think that that happens more with your superstars. Yeah.

The folks who are like, yeah, I made a foul shot that one time, but for the most part, I said on the bench, I don't think he's getting an easy ride. Right. I really don't. Yeah.

Yeah. Just one of those, like, I hope that they do things the correct way. And I'm sure, like, it's very monitored. Right.

So, I mean, I don't, I hope they wouldn't risk. Well, and I think that, you know, some, the whole college gate scandal a few years ago, which was slightly different, it was folks trying to get into college. Right. I think like that sort of shined a light on some of the things that we do as far as our, our sports teams and like the backhanded stuff.

And so, I don't know, hopefully some of, you know, that letting people slide through and like, oh, if you give me a little bit of money, like your daughter will make, you know, 1600 on this. Well, I think it's different now. Yeah. Scale is like 3200 or something.

That's something insane. I have no idea what it is anymore. Oh, the SATs. Yeah.

You know, I see, I just wish my mother had money because I could have done well. Right. I mean, oh my god, a perfect 1600. She's brilliant.

She's gonna get into Harvard. Yeah. I don't know. And then like, I think the reason I don't like the pro sports as much is just the absurd amount of money that they make.

Because I remember watching, and like, there was a kind of big thing when I, and now I can't remember his name and that's people are going to be yelling at me. The guy who got hit in the football game and the start stopped, like on the field, it was like a whole thing. Crazy. And they were able like, get him back.

He lived in this like playing again, but like I hit just at the exact right millisecond and the exact right spot for his heart to stop. And so like laying out there without a heartbeat dead on the field and the people that are running out there, the paramedics and things that are running out there to like help him make a hundredth of what some of those guys make. Yeah. And like that to me is absurd.

Yeah. Money wise, like, and I know it takes a lot. I know professional athletes like it is a job. Like your body wears down.

Your body wears down. It is a job. It is entertainment. Like the whole social construct thing.

Like I get it. I get it. But but but as a public educator, not really making enough money to afford a one bedroom house and you're out there throwing a ball. Yeah.

And I'm I don't know. Like I mean, it's apples and oranges, you know, right? But at the same time, there's like a bitterness inside of me. I agree.

I agree. I know. And I get it. Like they're talented people, like not bashing professional athletes at all.

But I think maybe we need to take some of the value we put on that and put on like public servants, I agree. I agree. As well. In other words, North Carolina, please pay me more money.

That'd be great. Yeah. I don't get paid by North Carolina, but I will say I get the states. Right.

Right. Right. Right. So you get paid by the state.

I would say that, you know, people who work in the helping professions, as much as an athlete, it affects their physical health and it's in decline. I think individuals in the helping profession, we really struggle with self care and that mental health side of it, because it's exhausting. It takes a lot of you emotionally every single day to get to somebody and take on their emotional needs, not take it on, but help process it and those kinds of things. So ultimately, like that's taxing on you mentally and emotionally.

And that's really hard. So it would be amazing if we could be compensated for that kind of like these athletes do. Yeah. And like, again, being a professional athlete, super, that's not an easy thing.

It's easy. It's just like something else to think about as professional athletes, sure, you're going to shine at 25, but at 30, you're a husband. It's time to move on. And by the time you're in my age, like you're retired and hoping to get a gig on ESPN.

That's the truth. Yeah. Well, and you know, you're superstars that have made millions of dollars per year. With their life.

They're fine. They're fine. I'm not worried about you. But I do worry about, I mean, I think that there's been a lot of interesting things that come out about mental health and athletes.

And I think that's something we don't always look at. Because it is such a short-lived career. And like when that's been your whole life, and that ends either because your body can't let any more of your out for an injury or something like that, like that's taxing. I don't know what the mental health support is, but then you're going to have somebody like me or you who's coming in to fix that.

Yeah. Fix quote unquote or help you get through this part. You understand it. Yeah, it's just that's wild.

That's comfortable. I think I've got Haley and I's business. Here we go. We are going to work for the NFL or the NBA or whatever they need to do.

Oh, mental health clinicians for professional athletes. Yes. Yes. Great.

I'm sure it pays way more than public education. Oh my gosh. I can't wait. Shack is going to be there.

It's going to be amazing. It's going to be amazing. Yeah. And you know they've got some stuff.

I mean, I would think everybody who's worked, who's been a part of the NBA. And I think all the stress of feeling like I have to win the game, I have to be perfect. And then that sense of failure, like we can walk away and say, oh gosh, we messed up today or whatever. Their sense of failure is he replayed over and over and over again.

And you've got these crazy fans who are so obsessed and like, I can't imagine reading the stuff online that's written about you after every game. So yeah, it's like I said apples and oranges, but North Carolina, please pay us more. Thank you. That's my PSA for the day.

Yay. Okay. Well, not first. Yeah.

So I actually brought my story this week. Unlike last time. We struggled a lot. It was hard.

It was hard. But I am prepared. I am now. I'm so excited.

I'm really excited. Okay. So you didn't have to do any work that you did. I didn't.

I was ready to like, you know, they're nice sit down and actually I started like researching and doing things. Not like wait. I don't have to. That was such a good feeling.

So I was, I'm going to be honest. I was slightly nervous that what, oh gosh, what if she forgets it again? So I went ahead and researched, you know, for next week. I just went ahead and did it.

And then I was like, but what if, what if, oh my gosh, maybe I should just do another one and just be ahead of time. And so I did two stories just to be. Wow. Yeah.

Overachiever. Well, you know, also preparing for my enough. Well, it's not inevitable because you don't ever do that. That was the first time it was the first time.

But my like mom and stuff kicks in and I'm like, it's okay. I got this. Well, I did sit up in the middle of the night going, I'll have our computer again. But I had already emailed them to myself.

So that was my, I got them there. That's right here. Right here on this computer. We can breathe now.

So let's get into it. All right, I'm ready. Okay. We're going to go Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Oh, I love Chattanooga. That's a very nice city. And we are going to 1989. I was five.

I was not even a thought. That's great because your mother was a sophomore. Nice. Okay.

So we're going to talk about, I think I'm saying this correctly, Tannetta Carlisle. So Tannetta was 15 years old when she went missing. It's a very time missing person. Okay.

She was five, one and 95 pounds. She's an African American female with black hair and brown eyes that are large and almond shaped. Her hair at the time of her disappearance was curly and trimmed short on the top and sides, but longer in the back. Her ears.

Like a mullet? Kind of mullety. A little bit. But like the style.

Very much the style. And now it's kind of back. All of my, like I would say at least, I would say probably a good like 30, 40 percent of my students have mullets. I know.

I see it all the time. And I'm like, really, that is the trend we got. That's the one back. It's like, oh, I can hear is like, don't tell my home.

My garden. There's like really, like, siler, slivers in it. And I've got there's some wolf kids that have amazing mullets. Like they're magical.

I mean, I can't. I can't either. But they are magical. Unicorn's hot in it?

Yeah. Feels like it's crazy. I mean, it's just blowing in the wind. So she had a mullet.

So she had kind of a mullety thing. Go on. Her ears were pierced and she had several caps or fillings on her teeth. She was last seen wearing a pink and white striped blouse, denim skirt and white sneakers.

And she has been classified as a non-family abduction. Okay. Per, you know, missing. Good boy children.

Gotcha. Okay. All that. Okay.

So let's talk about 10 of that. So she was born on August 28th, 1973 to her mother, Nani. Sturt event. Sturt event.

Sure. Nani. She was raised in Chattanooga, Tennessee. She's bubbly and friendly teenager who loved listening to Bobby Brown and making everyone around her laugh.

She ran track. She ran track at her school and had very good grades. She always helped her elderly neighbors. She sang in the choir at First Baptist Church of Washington Hills, where her mother still sings.

When? Choir. So now his brother, Daryl Stewart, remembers her as being an intelligent, kind-hearted young lady. He said she was smart.

She was just a level person, had a good spirit about herself. He said, Tona was a big fan of pizza and fast food. And she had a job through a youth program that she really enjoyed. And she was looking forward to her paycheck and thinking of different ways to spend it.

But unfortunately, never got the chance to do so. All right. On March 16th of 1989, Tona was walking home from school around 255 p.m. She was walking from Chattanooga High School and she lived in the 600 block of Hamilton Avenue, which was about a mile away.

It would have taken her about 20 minutes to get home. I remember, I walked home from school in high school. Wow. Oh.

Really? Mm-hmm. It's pretty far. I didn't go to the main high school.

Oh, okay. Okay. I was like, where did you come? Like where I lived?

How did it not take you like three months to get home? No, no, no. No, if I had gone to the main high school in my county, it would have been a 30, 40 minute bus ride. Yeah.

Okay. So no, no, no. Okay. You wouldn't get your day.

I walked from, yeah, from my house. So I grew up into the school. I went to school. I was maybe like a five, 10 minute walk.

Okay. That was not bad at all. But yeah, like I walk home from school. Oh, that giant hill.

Oh, that giant hill. Yeah. Yeah. So, but yeah, I walked to school and I'll come from school just about every day.

When I was in high school, and I was raining. And then I really asked my dad if he would drive me to school. And he said no. And he was like, yes, get my guard dead.

I would not have. No. I would have said walk to be. Just walk.

Where was your umbrella? Where are you in? That was really stupid. I know you're 14, but get it together.

I grew up really good at it. I grew up. I'm 31. So like, this isn't weird to me.

Like her walking home. Like, that's very normal. Right. Well, and also think of it.

It's 1989. Yeah. It's a little bit freer of a time. And she's not two.

Right. She's 15. 15. Yeah.

So a resident who lived on Ruth Street, which is right off of Hamilton Avenue. I'm only about a half a block from Sonata's house. So I'm walking down the street with a tan, when a tan and yellow van pulled up next to her. Several unidentified individuals jumped out and grabbed her, forcing her into the van.

The woman was able to get the Tennessee license plate number of L-K-H 920. The neighbor and her husband actually got into their car, their own car and followed the van and alerted authorities with the details. Did they have a car phone? I don't know.

Maybe when they got home. They called. I'm really had a car phone. So car phones?

Yeah. Stick phones. Yeah. I think back then.

Oh, yeah. My grandfather's car had one. Yeah. And you could even have one that had like its own, like in a briefcase almost.

Like a suitcase of like, we had one too. It cost about $900 a minute. So nobody ever used it because it was. I'm sorry.

It cost so much money that like, I would pick it up and my dad was like, put it down. I was like, I'm sorry. Don't touch the phone. Never, never touch the car phone.

And I was like, okay. But that was around that time, 1989. So maybe they had a car phone. Could be.

But they did let authorities know. So how long did they track them for? I don't know. I don't know.

I don't know. But they did follow them. Yeah. They tried to follow and.

Wow. Thank goodness for them being so proactive. Well. Oh.

So I was like, I'm not sure. Notary, notary, notary, was usually greeted by her daughter when she arrived home from work, which came home. It was the house was empty that afternoon. You know, so that wasn't there.

She was not yet aware of Sonetta's abduction as the witnesses and police did not know the identity of the girl who had been kidnapped. Oh. Sonetta's mother thought that maybe she had stopped by a friend's house after school or you know, got caught up doing something. You know, it sounded like Tana wasn't really the type of kid that her mom was like worried was, you know, out doing something crazy.

So I thought maybe, you know, she stopped by a friend, got caught up doing some other stuff like that kind of thing. Right. However, when 10 o'clock that night rolled around with no word from Sonetta, Nani decided it was time to call the police to report a daughter missing. She told the police that Sonetta had no history of running away and that she didn't have a boyfriend.

Despite this, authorities initially considered Sonetta as a runaway because of her age and did not connect her case to the reported abduction on Hamilton Avenue until two days later. Oh my gosh. So to me, that feels neglectful. You have a report of a kid being shoved into a vehicle.

Right. And then later that night, you get a call of a kid that's missing. Why is that not your initial thought? And very similar details again.

Right. Probably teenage. She looked like this. She looked like that.

Mom is saying she's 98 pounds. She's like one. She looks like this. Like, why is that not your first?

Right. And it's not like we're in different districts. Right. But I also think again, and this is not, I'm playing devil's advocate here.

We didn't have the computer technology that we have today. So it wasn't like a database that they could like put in dot and it would be like, ding. Right. But you're in the same district.

Like, you don't think when they came, when that call came in, they were like, oh my god, this is crazy. I don't actually because I think there was such a disconnect because they didn't have the same computer technology. They couldn't just like, you know what I'm saying? Like, so maybe like you had your folks who had heard about it and like their team was investigating this because a kid napping is very different than just like, I'm running away.

I called in a runaway or what we think is a runaway. Yeah. So I mean, it's very different. So maybe like we sent off our team on this and then we've got like the beat cop at the front who's like covering the phone or something.

Yeah. Like, I'll take it down, ma'am. It's probably a just typical runaway. You know what I mean?

Like, you know what I mean? Yeah. Like maybe because they didn't have a data system that was comparing like, okay, it's matching the stats. It's running it out there.

I'm still in the glides. Okay. I still think it was bad. I think it was bad.

And it could have been. But I want to play both sides. Yeah. Because it was a different time.

Yeah. I just, I don't like it. I don't like it. Well, I don't like it either.

Because it just kills the king. And the longer you take to find her, doesn't end well. Right. So, Teneta was never seen again after that day.

So, they weren't able to find the vehicle. But, okay. The van. That yellow and tan van.

So, who did it belong to? Because they gave the license light. Yeah. We're going to talk about that.

Okay. So, it belonged to a man named Jeffrey Jones. Okay. So, in the search for Teneta, and her doctor, authorities located the vehicle involved.

And it was parked on the side of a wooded area with a suspect still inside. Okay. Jeffrey Jones, who was dead on the rival, had died from an apparent suicide. It was later determined that he had died two days after the abduction from carbon monoxide poisoning on March 18th.

We sure this was a suicide? I think so. Okay. They're pretty sure it was.

Okay. Yeah. However, he left no note, or no indication of what might have happened to Teneta. And like I said, Teneta hasn't been seen.

So, they pulled that van in. Yeah. Hopefully. And like checked for any kind of evidence, hairs, fibers, anything, blood.

Right. Nothing? Nothing. Put that back.

So, but you said there was another person, right? Because you said there were multiple people. Multiple people. Yeah.

Yeah. We're going to, yeah. Okay. So that weekend, hundreds of police officers and volunteers, along with Bloodhound's conducted a massive search for Teneta.

They spent hours combing through wooded areas, and the lands surrounding Jeffrey's apartment, but found nothing that led them closer to Teneta. So, Teneta's mother says, you know, now that she's found peace with the situation, but feels very empty without the closure. I bet. And she is still upset with the police for not immediately in the search for her daughter.

I agree. I mean, I see it. Yeah. So, while there have been unverified sightings of Teneta across the United States and some theories that suggests that she could have potentially been forced into trafficking or something like that, most believe that the answers are with this Jeffrey Jones guy.

Did he have any kind of history of violence or criminal acts? So, yes. He actually had been arrested before, or he had been released from prison a year prior to Teneta's abduction. After he had served eight years in prison for rape and aggravated assault, it was later determined that he had raped a woman in his apartment complex two months before his death in Teneta's abduction.

Wow. Yeah. So, there have been some theories thrown around that, you know, say that they've seen Teneta in California, which they've tried to link to this trafficking ring and things like that, but they don't believe that it's her mother believes that Jeffrey Jones murdered her daughter on the same day she was abducted and thinks that her body is most likely buried somewhere in Chattanooga. And she also believes that there are people in Chattanooga who know exactly what happens to Teneta.

So, those people who were either in the vehicle or knew this guy, something like that. But you know, that's multiple people who could also tell multiple people, right, and like somehow it comes to light. Yeah. You know what I mean?

Like, that's a lot of people to try and keep a secret. Right. Yeah. Because, you know, killers and stuff, they like to brag.

Yeah. She's made, Teneta's mom has made several public appeals for people to come forward. Yeah. The former Chattanooga DA, Neil Pinkston, actually reopened in this case in 2019 with a specific focus on Jeffrey Jones.

And investigators requested new DNA samples from nonnie, her mom and Daryl, her brother to aid in their search. Their DNA has been submitted into the database, like the national databases, but there have been no leads reported this far. So, I think they've put their, the family's DNA in to try to figure out, like is there somebody, maybe in the dough network or something like a body that's been found? A body that's been found or what if she were like kidnapped?

And it was a human trafficking. She was able to break free, but, but you know, is scared to go back home or something. And so what, what if? Yeah.

Like, any way she's out there. Yeah. If she's out there or she had a child who decided to DNA test and they put it into the system. Oh, be crazy.

Genetic DNA has solved many a mystery. So, it's not impossible. Yeah. But, Sena's mom, you know, believes that there's somebody out there that knows what happens to her daughter, you know, if she was killed where her body is.

And it's hoping that they come forward with that information. This gives me a really just uncomfortable feeling. It's, I can't imagine how her mom has coped all these years. So, just the worry and the what happened.

Yeah. So there are, you know, this, we are talking to folks who are interested in this area of the country. And so hopefully, you know, if you're around this area and you know, know anything or have seen anything or, you know, that crazy story that Grandpa told you, you know, or your weird uncle Joe about, you know, something that sounds kind of familiar to this. They did put out some information or for how to get in touch with the Chinese police department, their phone number is 423-698-2525, or you can call into Crime Stoppers, which is 423-698-3333.

If there's ever, you know, any information about Sena or the crimes of Jeffrey Jones. So, I don't know exactly all of his crimes either. And he's not around to question. Do you know how old he was?

I do not. Okay. So, I mean, it's highly likely that, I mean, we know he was a little older because he's been eight years in prison. So, he was probably over 18.

So, I would assume 30s, 40s. Yeah. So, somebody just doesn't wake up one day and say, you know what, I'm going to be a rapist. Right.

This is a habitual act, probably. Yeah. And if he, you know, if he did kill Tonetta, that's not a, you know. But I also do want to say rape and murder are two very different things.

So, being a rapist doesn't necessarily mean that he's a murderer. Right. So, I mean, sometimes they go hand in hand. But, I don't know, the fact that there are other people involved feels stalker-y.

It feels like it wasn't random. Like they were watching her or... Yeah. And if she, you know, walked the same route every day.

Right. And from school, it's possible. Right. I don't know.

So, I mean, I get the police's theory. That makes a lot of sense. But then also what Mom said is, I think, you know, trusting your instincts as a parent. And maybe she just feels like she's not with us anymore.

Right. Yeah. Her mom, you know, I think that's what her mom believes. Yeah.

But she doesn't give up hope either. Right. Yeah. I'm sure there's still a part of her that, you know, does help that she goes to.

She goes to too. And I think in the end, no matter what, they'll find each other. Yeah. Yeah.

I agree to. Well, well, thank you for that real downer. It's a real bummer. Thanks for saving that.

Yeah. I wanted to tell, you know, her story. And hopefully somebody out there is, you know, maybe somebody has information and can lead to, you know, something. Some kind of answer.

Kind of answer some kind of closure for this family. And yeah, I hope that, you know, now you just hear this all the time of like, oh, they said she was runaway. She's run away and, you know, she clearly wasn't. So.

I just want to get away from that constant. Oh, here's just a runaway. I know. It's like a teenager goes missing.

Oh, they ran away. Well, you know, even if it is, you know, seven or eight times out of 10, you know, let's the other times that it's not. Right. I would rather put, you know, and I know that there's other cases and things like that going on, but I'd rather put all of my resources to finding a kid and it just be like, oh, they just ran away.

Right. And be like, well, you know, well, and then get to the bottom of why did they run away? What's going on? It's actually happening.

Yeah. Exactly. You know, even if they did run away, it's still a vulnerable. That's still very vulnerable situation.

You want to make sure that no harm comes to them. Absolutely. So I think I'm hoping maybe we kind of moved in a direction away from that. And so more.

I hope so too. Yeah. And taking it seriously. And I think we have because now there's not that 24 hour like, oh, they've got to be missing for 24 hours.

Right. It's going to be pretty immediate. It can be immediate, which is great. Yeah.

Absolutely. Very, very helpful. All right. Well, Hayley, how do they get in touch with us if they want to give us feedback?

Yeah. You can send us an email at mountainmysteries.abolaction at gmail.com. Find us on Facebook, mountain mysteries, tales from Appalachia. Find us on our Instagram, mountain mysteries.abolatja.

And check out our Patreon for some bonus content, patreon.com slash not mysteries. And I'm going to shout out this week to Passo Robolos Caliphon.com. Whoa. I know.

Wow. Thank you for listening. Thanks for listening, friends. And thank you for that AMSR, ASMR.

Yeah. Yeah, it sounds great. You're welcome. All right.

Catch us next time. We'll see you next week. Bye.