11/30/2025
Wow On July 6, 2001, ten-year-old Tionda and her three-year-old sister Diamond disappeared from their Bronzeville, Chicago apartment while their mother, Tracey Bradley, was at work. When she returned, she claimed to find a handwritten note allegedly from Tionda saying they were going to a store and then to a nearby school playground. However, family members and investigators quickly pointed out that the note’s grammar and sophistication seemed far too advanced for a ten‑year-old, raising doubts that Tionda had really composed it freely. 
Further complicating the matter is a voicemail left on Tracey’s phone that morning, in which Tionda reportedly said, “George is at the door … Can I open the door?”  But family members argue that this voicemail contradicts the note and suggests someone may have coached Tionda to write the letter.  Tracey’s behavior after the disappearance raised even more red flags: she delayed filing a missing persons report for hours, she initially resisted viewing surveillance footage of two girls who might have been hers, and she refused to let investigators interview her older daughters or provide a writing sample from Tionda for comparison. 
Her reluctance to cooperate persisted. According to multiple sources, she missed several follow-up meetings with police, and some relatives feel she deliberately stonewalled the investigation.  Moreover, forensic analysis later confirmed that Tionda had written the note, but the family maintains she was coached into writing it.  Others point to more direct, suspicious signs: receipts show Tracey’s boyfriend named George purchased large trash bags and gardening gloves shortly after the girls vanished, and there are unverified reports that he was seen burning materials in a drum. 
These inconsistencies, between the note, the voicemail, and Tracey’s changing story, have fueled a long‑standing suspicion that she may have lied or concealed something about what really happened to her daughters. While no charges have ever been filed, many close to the case believe her actions (or inaction) played a central role in the disappearance.
