On July 6, 2001, two sisters, 10-year-old Tionda Bradley and 3-year-old Diamond Bradley, were reported missing in Chicago. More than two decades later, no public record explains what happened to them. Their mother reported that a note in Tionda's handwriting said the girls had gone to the store and the school playground, and an enormous search found nothing. No one has been publicly charged. Police describe the investigation as open. This article separates what official and news sources confirm from what relatives, investigators and commentators have said or suspected.
The Sisters at the Center of the Case
The FBI lists the sisters on separate Most Wanted kidnapping pages that cross-reference each other and share a single reward. Tionda Z. Bradley was born January 20, 1991, in Chicago. At the time of her disappearance she stood 4'2" and weighed 70 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes.
The FBI describes her as having a light complexion, a slim build and long ponytails. She had a quarter-sized burn scar on her left forearm and a scrape on her left calf, and she was last seen wearing green ponytail holders. The FBI also describes her as shy with strangers and fond of running track and dancing.
Diamond Yvette Bradley was born November 25, 1997. According to the FBI's page on Diamond, she was 3'0" and 40 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. She had a medium complexion, braided ponytails with purple ponytail holders, a scar on the left side of her scalp and deep-set eyes. The FBI calls her timid but fond of talking.
Family recollections add some texture. In a 2018 interview published by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, the girls' aunt Faith Bradley-Cathery described Tionda as energetic, a regular in talent shows who could dance and do gymnastics. She said Diamond was very close to her sister and would follow her anywhere. The same interview says there were four sisters in the family. These are a relative's memories, offered to show who the girls were rather than to establish facts about the case.
July 6, 2001: What Is Known About the Day
The FBI's summary is brief. On July 6, 2001, the girls were reported missing to the Chicago Police Department. The FBI says their mother reported finding a note written by Tionda, and that an extensive search of the area and surrounding neighborhood "met with negative results."
Later reporting adds a timeline. According to FOX 32 Chicago, the girls' mother, Tracey Bradley, told police she last saw them around 6:30 a.m., when she left for work. She returned home around 1 p.m. and found a note saying they had gone to play at a nearby school. FOX 32 reports that the girls were last seen near 3526 South Lake Park Avenue. Other outlets place the family's apartment complex near 35th Street and Cottage Grove Avenue, on the city's South Side in the Bronzeville area.
This timeline rests on the mother's account to police as relayed by the news outlet. Public sources do not independently confirm the girls' movements after the morning, and no source in the public record documents anyone seeing them after the mother left for work.
The Note and the Questions Around It
The note is the central piece of reported evidence. The FBI's wording is careful: "according to their mother," a note written by Tionda said the two were going to the store and to the school playground. The FBI does not say who found it first or what investigators concluded about it.
Some accounts add a second element. In a 2011 anniversary report, ABC13 said relatives told reporters the girls left both a note and a voicemail saying they were running errands. The FBI's public summary mentions only the note, so the voicemail remains a detail from family-sourced reporting.
Relatives have also questioned whether the girls left on their own. In the 2018 interview, Faith Bradley-Cathery said Tionda "was just not gonna open no door for strangers." She said the handwriting was Tionda's but that she believes the girl was prompted: "The letter was Tionda’s penmanship but truly in my heart, I think she was coached into writing that letter." She also said she did not think Tionda would have left the house alone.
That is one relative's belief and her reading of the girl's habits. No source in the public record verifies that anyone coached the note, and no investigative finding has been released on the question.
A Search on a Citywide Scale
The initial response was large. ABC13 reported that the disappearance prompted one of the largest searches in Chicago Police Department history, covering the neighborhood, wooded areas and abandoned buildings. In a 2012 anniversary story, CBS Chicago said police launched one of the biggest manhunts in the city's history, searching open fields, railroad cars and 5,000 abandoned buildings, and that it "mostly turned up nothing."
FOX 32's 2025 report offers further detail. It says hundreds of Chicago police officers, federal law enforcement officers and civilian volunteers spent days checking sewers, lagoons, abandoned buildings and factories. It also says investigators interviewed nearly 100 registered sex offenders living in the area. The report presents that as the scope of the canvass. It does not say any of those interviews produced a suspect or a lead.
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, in its 2020 anniversary post, similarly describes search teams covering open fields, railroad cars and thousands of abandoned buildings. Counts differ by outlet: "5,000" from CBS and "thousands" from NCMEC. Both come from news and advocacy accounts rather than a published police inventory.
Investigation, Family Suspicions, and the Limits of Public Information
Police have consistently described the case as open. In 2011, according to ABC13, Chicago police said the case remained active, with interviews conducted as recently as a few days earlier. In July 2025, police gave FOX 32 a statement: "(Area One) detectives have and will continue to follow up when tips are received. At this juncture, there are no new leads."
The family has been open about its suspicions, and those suspicions deserve careful handling. ABC13 reported in 2011 that great aunt Sheliah Bradley-Smith said relatives suspected someone close to the family.
FOX 32's 2025 report says the family believes there are primary suspects, "one, possibly two family members," who had access to the girls that day. It also says a private investigator who has worked with the family since the beginning, identified as P. Foster, believes a small piece of new information could still emerge. The report adds that the family believes police and prosecutors are reluctant to file charges because there are no bodies and the evidence is circumstantial.
These are the beliefs of relatives and a privately retained investigator. The public record names no person as responsible, and nobody has been charged. As Bradley Smith told FOX 32, "Nobody's prosecuted. Nobody's in jail. But the girls are still gone." Readers should treat family theories as expressions of what loved ones suspect, and not as findings.
In 2011, Bradley-Smith also told ABC13: "I hope they are alive, but we have to face reality. It's been 10 years. They could be deceased." CBS reported the following year that she had said she does not believe the girls are still alive, while still hoping against the odds that they might be. The family has not abandoned the search.
CBS also reported that the girls' mother has moved from the neighborhood and changed her phone number, and that the family now holding the old number has agreed to monitor calls in case Tionda ever tried to reach it.
Leads, Mistaken Identifications, and Renewed Attention
Cases like this attract false hope. CBS reported that in 2008 a private detective concluded that a mysterious internet picture on a MySpace profile was Tionda Bradley, but that the conclusion later proved incorrect.
A 2023 podcast series that reinvestigated the case with a group of retired detectives describes a more recent lead. Its episode synopsis says a viral TikTok video featured a young woman who looked strikingly similar to Diamond, and that investigators traveled with the girls' mother and aunt hoping to meet her. The published synopsis does not report a confirmed identification, and nothing in the public record indicates the woman was Diamond.
The synopsis also says that over the years other people have come forward believing they might be one of the sisters. None of those claims has been publicly verified.
Public attention has been kept alive in other ways. In 2020, on the 19th anniversary, relatives gathered in Chicago in masks and shirts bearing the girls' pictures, prayed, sang and released balloons. In July 2025, on the 24th anniversary, family and friends held a vigil at the Dan Ryan Forest Woods that again ended with a balloon release.
That same month, FOX 32 published new age-progressed images showing Diamond as she might look at 23 and Tionda at 30. The FBI's own pages carry earlier age-progressed photos at ages 19 for Diamond and 26 for Tionda. The differing ages reflect images produced at different times, not conflicting facts about the case.
Key Facts at a Glance
| Detail | Tionda Z. Bradley | Diamond Yvette Bradley |
|---|---|---|
| Age when reported missing | 10 | 3 |
| Date of birth used (FBI) | January 20, 1991 | November 25, 1997 |
| Reported missing | July 6, 2001, Chicago, Illinois | July 6, 2001, Chicago, Illinois |
| Hair and eyes (FBI) | Brown hair, brown eyes | Black hair, brown eyes |
| Height and weight at disappearance (FBI) | 4'2", 70 pounds | 3'0", 40 pounds |
| Identifying marks (FBI) | Quarter-sized burn scar on left forearm; scrape on left calf | Scar on left side of scalp; deep-set eyes |
| Last seen wearing (FBI) | Green ponytail holders | Purple ponytail holders |
| FBI reward | Up to $10,000 for information regarding the current whereabouts of Tionda and Diamond Bradley | Same combined reward |
| FBI field office | Chicago | Chicago |
The physical descriptions come from the FBI's missing-person pages and describe the girls as they were in 2001.
What the Public Record Offers, and What It Does Not
What the public record establishes
- The date, the city and the ages. The FBI, police-sourced news reports and the family all agree on these.
- The existence of a large search. Several outlets describe it, though the counts vary.
- A standing federal reward and an open police case, with tip lines published as recently as July 2025.
Where the record is thin
- The note and the voicemail come from the mother and relatives. The FBI confirms only the reported note.
- The timeline of the morning relies on the mother's account to police as reported by the media.
- Family suspicions are not public evidence. No charges have been filed, and no person has been publicly identified by authorities as responsible.
- Later leads, including the 2008 photo and the 2023 viral-video episode, have either been disproved or lack a published resolution.
Where the Case Stands Now
As of FOX 32's July 2025 report, Chicago police said the investigation remained open and that, "at this juncture, there are no new leads." The FBI continues to list both sisters as missing and offers a reward of up to $10,000 for information about their current whereabouts. Nothing in the public record indicates the case has been solved.
FOX 32 gave the following contact numbers for anyone with information: Chicago Police at 312-745-5020 or the FBI at 312-421-6700. The FBI also accepts anonymous tips online and through its Chicago field office, and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children lists 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678).
Frequently Asked Questions
When did Diamond and Tionda Bradley disappear?
They were reported missing on July 6, 2001, in Chicago. Tionda was 10 and Diamond was 3.
Where were they last seen?
News reports place them at their apartment complex near 35th Street and Cottage Grove Avenue, and FOX 32 gives the location as near 3526 South Lake Park Avenue. Their mother told police she last saw them around 6:30 a.m. before leaving for work.
What did the note say?
According to the girls’ mother, as recorded by the FBI, a note written by Tionda said the two were going to the store and to the school playground. A family member has said she believes Tionda may have been coached into writing it. That is an opinion, not an established finding.
Has anyone been charged?
Not according to the FBI pages or the news reports cited in this article. The family has voiced suspicions about people who had access to the girls, but those are not charges or findings. No one has been publicly identified by authorities as responsible.
Have the girls been found or identified?
No. A 2008 internet-photo identification was later found to be incorrect, and a 2023 podcast describes a viral-video lead without reporting a confirmed identification.
How can someone report information?
Call Chicago Police at 312-745-5020 or the FBI’s Chicago office at 312-421-6700. Tips can also be submitted through the FBI’s online tip portal or to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678).
References
- TIONDA Z. BRADLEY — FBI — fbi.gov
- DIAMOND YVETTE BRADLEY — FBI — fbi.gov
- Keeping the Faith: A Family's Search — missingkids.org
- Sisters Tionda Bradley, Diamond Bradley missing 10 years from Chicago South Side near 35th and Cottage Grove — ABC13 Houston
- 11 Years Since Disappearance Of Tionda And Diamond Bradley - CBS Chicago — cbsnews.com
- New age-progressed photos revealed of 24-years-missing Bradley sisters — FOX 32 Chicago
- Disappeared: The Bradley Sisters, Episode 6, “Is She Diamond Bradley?” — Acast, September 17, 2023
- Bradley sisters disappeared from Bronzeville home 24 years ago — ABC7 Chicago, July 7, 2025
