Their surname is often misspelled as "Millbrooks" and Jeannette's middle name is often given as "Latressa" due to errors on police reports. Their Family Still Wants Answers", "28 years missing: The Millbrook twins' family still searching for answers", "Missing twins' family to fundraise for reward in 1990 case", "Woman's slaying in 1992 thought to be by serial killer", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Disappearance_of_Dannette_and_Jeannette_Millbrook&oldid=1149892365, "The Disappearance of the Millbrook Twins - Part I", This page was last edited on 15 April 2023, at 02:56. He was actively attacking women in the early 1990s around the same time that the girls went missing. They went to get money for their bus fare and that was the last time they were seen. But almost 30 years later, despite the deep dive in Oxygen'sThe Disappearance of the Millbrook Twins, in which they examine the inexplicable behavior ofthe girls' father, John Millbrook, who wouldn't give a DNA sample when the case was reopened in 2013 and told his oldest daughter (who's since passed away) not to provide one either (she did anyway); and despite the justified outrage overthe entrenched bias of alaw enforcement system that initially dismissed Jeannette and Dannette as probable runaways, not to mention media outlets thatgave them short shrift because the family isn't affluent and white that doesn't change the fact that thegirls' fate remains unknown. In 1993, someoneinformed the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to report that the twins had been found. A close relative did have children in the foster care system, leading the family to believe that this was the source of the confusion. Nearly thirty years ago, 15-year-old African American twins, Dannette and Jeannette Millbrook, vanished off the street near their home in Augusta, Georgia. A nationwide search came back empty. They said they would research the history of the listing and respond with details when they become available. But she didn't give up, and on June 5, 2013, Richmond County Sheriff Richard Roundtreewho had just been elected in 2012announced he was reopening the case. American twins, Dannette and Jeannette Millbrook, vanished off the street near their home in Augusta, Georgia. eventCategory: event.slot.getSlotElementId(), [8] In media releases the sheriff was quoted as saying, We think a terrible injustice has been done for the last 20 years which helped to fuel interest in the new investigation. March 18, 1990, started as a normal day for 15-year-old twin sisters Dannette and Jeannette Millbrook, according to their younger sister, Shanta Sturgis, who was 12 at the time. [4] She is the last person to see Dannette and Jeannette. Published on November 5, 2019 10:00 AM It was nearly 30 years ago that 15-year-old twins Jeannette and Dannette Millbrook vanished from the streets of Augusta, Georgia, without a trace. There is also a local billboard that directs people tothemillbrooktwins.com, where they can submit tips in the case. Moreover, the mystery surrounding the girls' removal from the national registry of missing children remained unsolved, with Roundtree unable to find out who had made the call or why. They learned from other family members that Dannette and Jeannette had stopped at both a cousins house and their older sisters house on the way back, asking if someone could accompany them back home. [3] Nothing further is known about this man. 2023 E! },false) Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more! Cookies collect information about your preferences and your device and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. Exclusive access to work with the first African American sheriff in Augustas nearly 300-year history - a man who grew up just blocks away from the Millbrook family home - will reignite the investigation into the twins disappearance for the first time since they went missing in hopes that answers are on the horizon. MEAWW is an initialism for Media Entertainment Arts WorldWide. the state?was not disclosed) and authorities in turn called the NCMEC, which removed the supposedly located girls from their database. "We've reached out to John Walsh, Montel Williams and Oprah Winfrey, but none of them would help us. Check out never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! pg.acq.push(function() { It was two weeks before their 16th birthday. For nearly three decades the family of Jeanette and Danette Millbrook have been waiting for them to come home, explained Will Packer, the specials executive producer. }); The Fall Line was able to interview Shanta and Ms. Louise and dig into the discrepancies that have plagued this case for years. When the girls returned home, the family sat and ate lunch together for what would end up being the last time. "We exhaustively searched for the answers to this incomprehensible tragedy, while offering hope to a family that is struggling for closure.. They got it in the system now but nobodys -- nothing has come of it, she said. California Consumer Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, California Consumer Limit the Use of My Sensitive Personal Information. ga('create', 'UA-67136960-15', 'auto', 'ads'); The Disappearance of the Millbrook Twins will debut on Oxygen on November 23 at 7 p.m. ET/PT. The Disappearance of the Millbrook Twins. if(document.querySelector("#google_image_div")){ Not the sheriff. ga('ads.send', { Mom Vanished 6 Weeks Ago, Car Found Abandoned with Phone Inside, Mother of Athena Strand, 7, Joins Child's Father in Suing FedEx After Their Daughter's Death, Suspect in Mich. State Mass Shooting ID'd, Caller's Tip Led Police to Him. According to the Richmond County Sheriffs Offices records, this final sighting of Dannette and Jeannette happened at about 4:30 p.m. Shanta told Dateline that her call was later returned by Scott Peebles who was Incident Commander forthe sheriffs officeat the time. Roundtree, whowasn't familiar with the investigation, interviewed the by-then retired lead detective, and got the girls' DNA as well astheir mother's into their database. [1], Jeannette was last seen wearing a blue pullover shirt over a white turtleneck with a beige skirt, white stockings, and white sneakers. [8] As of August2017[update], the coroner's office reportedly has plans to compare DNA from the Aiken County Jane Doe to familial DNA. hitType: 'event', [4]After the analysis it was discovered that the skeletal remains found did not belong to the twins. Shanta saw a video on TV of the newly-elected Sheriff of Augusta-Richmond County, Richard Roundtree. This page is not available in other languages. At this time there is a $50,000 reward for information that helps resolve the case. She never found him. [3] She did not recall anything out of the ordinary about their behavior. hitType: 'event', eventCategory: event.slot.getSlotElementId(), "We think a terrible injustice has been done for the last 20 years," he told the Huffington Post at the time. [1] There is much debate as to why exactly the case was initially closed. [3][4] After receiving the $20 for bus fare and a little extra for snacks, the teens went to their cousin's house and asked her to walk home with them. [1] Their case was closed in 1991 and was reopened in 2013.[3]. "He had so many mixed emotions over the years," she says, "but I do know if that had been my kids' father, I knew I would've wanted him to be involved in wanting to look for his kids.". [3][1][2][6][7], Despite the case being closed in 1991, family members continued to persistently contact the sheriff's department to inquire about the whereabouts of the twins over the years. Your source for entertainment news, celebrities, celeb news, and celebrity gossip. [10], The producers of the podcast The Fall Line have taken an active role in the search for Dannette and Jeannette, and helped raise a $10,000 reward. [3], After the girls were discovered missing, the family was told to wait 24-hours before making a report. In today's episode, we discuss the Freeway Phantom, an unidentified serial killer, who was active in Washington D.C. from April 1971 through September 1972. Shanta said this was an odd request, as the twins knew the area and had walked alone before. After lunch, they set out for his house, which was only a short walk away. Nobody but family.". Dannette Latonia Millbrook andJeannette Latrice Millbrookare fraternal twins fromAugusta, Georgia, United States who disappeared on March 18, 1990 when they were 15 years old. [14], The twins mother isMary Louise Sturgis. According to Shanta, after the twins vanished, the arriving officer misspelled her sisters names, and mis-recorded their date of birth. RT @DatelineNBC: Disappearance of Georgia twins still a mystery 33 years later. You can find out more and change our default settings with Cookies Settings. [2] At the time of her disappearance, she was 5'6 and 130 lbs. Listen to this episode from Criminal Curiosity on Spotify. Someone somewhere would have had to know what happened to them. }); Sign up for PEOPLEs free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. They planned to murder her and use the internet to do so. A rally was held in town that March,organized by Donna Green, whohad heard about the Millbrook twins onthe podcast. In April 1991, an investigator informed the family that the girls could no longer be compelled to return home, police apparently still entertaining the possibility that they had run away. They would be 49 years old today. How much did racial and socioeconomic divisions in Augusta come into play in determining how Jeannette and Dannette Millbrooks' case was handled? John Millbrook was married to the twins' mother, who described him as a violent and cruel man, who she split up with after she feared he would hurt her daughters. eventCategory: event.slot.getSlotElementId(), Reality 2019. The Fall Line told her storylast year as well. and Oxygen are both members of the NBCUniversal family.). "For some unknown reason they were removed from the system, but there is no report indicating why they were removed. [3][1] Mistakes in reports from the original investigation, such as misspelling the last name as "Millbrooks" and listing Jeannette's middle name as "Latressa", have remained unchanged in case files and can still be found on associated databases today, such as The Charley Project and National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. A fan of the American Revolution and Civil War, Hall traveled around the Midwest for historical reenactments where he would often abduct, rape, torture, and murder girls and women, typically teenagers or young . Dannette and Jeannette Millbrook, 15-year-old fraternal twins, vanished off the streets of Augusta, Georgia, on March 18, 1990. [3][11] A meeting with the sheriff's department led the Millbrook family to believe the reward would be officially announced and matched by the sheriff's department, but the sheriff's department denies making this commitment. Despite being one of the few cases of missing twins in American history, their disappearance gained little media attention and many question whether it was properly investigated. "I ain't going to give up on them." Internet Service Terms Oxygen Insider is your all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more. Get an all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! All rights reserved. }); Shanta told Dateline that, as usual, the family went to church in their hometown of Augusta, Georgia and then returned home to have lunch. I want my mom to be able to --. No Dannette and Jeannette. Both twins had short hair. 2019 Oxygen Cable LLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Mary looked outside, but didn't see any white van. Dateline reached out to the NCMEC to check if the girls had been unlisted on the site and later relisted. Shanta just hopes theres still time to find answers. Coates was quoted saying, "He said, 'If you find two dead twins you let me know'". The original investigator claims that he was told by a juvenile case officer that the girls had been found, which led to both the case being closed and the girls removal from the national registry of missing children. It hurt every day I had to see my mom upset and crying. Shanta said about growing up. John Millbrook was a crack adict and had loaned out the home to drug dealers in exchange for crack. [3][4] After their disappearance, family members considered it unusual that the twins made multiple requests for company on the walk home that day. },false) Joseph Patrick Washington was active in the girls' neighborhood and some believe that he may have been involved in the girls' disappearance. EPISODE 1. [3] The twins were known to be good teens and were not troublemakers; they did not have a history of running away and there appears to be no motive for their disappearance. Shanta told Dateline that when their mother called, she was told she had to wait 24 hours before filing a missing persons report for the girls. And they're said to be the only set oftwins to go missing in the United States whose disappearance remains unresolved. Im gonna assume something had to [transpire] for them to want somebody to walk home, Shanta said. Disappearance On March 18, 1990, Dannette and Jeannette Millbrook walked to the local Christ Presbyterian Church on Laney Walker Boulevard. Link your TV provider to stream full episodes and live TV. Itwould be more thantwo decades beforethe twins started getting the amount ofattention that Mary and Shanta felt should have been paid to them from the beginning. Get an all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! For decades, their family pleaded for help, but the case went cold. Its one of the only cases of missing twins in American history, but their case was scarcely investigated and most of the country has never heard of them. Link your TV provider to stream full episodes and live TV. Shanta told Dateline that when the twins didnt arrive home that night, their mother got nervous and began calling around town seeing if anyone had seen them. Despite being one of the few cases of missing twins in American history, their disappearance gained little media attention and many question whether it was properly investigated. He had little to do with the twins' upbringing. The team reaches out to Sheriff Richard Roundtree of Richmond County, who agrees to look into it. The Disappearance of the Millbrook Twins Dannette and Jeannette Millbrook, 15-year-old fraternal twins, vanished off the streets of Augusta, Georgia, on March 18, 1990. [3] The case of the twins disappearance has been discussed on several other podcasts including My Favorite Murder, Thin Air, The Trail Went Cold, Unresolved, and Crime Junkie. Original Airdate 11/22/2019 Watch Anytime on Spectrum TV Get Spectrum TV Today [2] Dannette has been described as "bowlegged". Anyone with information can contact the Richmond County Police Department dispatch at the non-emergency line of 706-821-1080, or the Criminal Investigations Division at 706-821-1020. Both girls have brown eyes and had short Jheri style curls in their hair at the time of their disappearance. For decades, their family pleaded for help, but the case went cold. Its one of the only cases of missing twins in American history, but their case was scarcely investigated and most of the country has never heard of them. Now, a. The family has pleaded for help for decades with no relief. if(document.querySelector("#ads")){ He's known to have killed 2 women possibly three and was arrested in 1993 and died in 1999. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? }) When the matter is taken to Roundtree for a meeting, Grant does not come and the department decides that there was no reason to pursue the lead or doubt the information from the investigators. Really hard. The letter had been submitted to the Richmond County Sheriff's office two years ago, but they heard nothing at all after that. Whoopi Goldberg interrupts 'The View' live segment, raises her voice and hits co-host, Demi Moore has not left Bruce Willis's side and is doing everything to make his 'last moments happy', Baywatch star Jeremy Jacksons ex-wife Loni Willison spotted looking for food in LA waste, 'Liza took a final breath and sighed': Liza Burke, 21, dies 6 weeks after stage 4 cancer diagnosis, 'Go for a size bigger': Honey Boo Boo slammed for flaunting 'tight' prom dress with boyfriend Dralin Carswell. He preferred African American women with short hair. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Richmond County Sheriffs Offices Missing Persons page, Missing Dannette and Jeannette Millbrook. On March 18, 1990, the 15-year-old twin sisters Dannette and Jeannette Millbrook disappeared without a trace in Augusta, Georgia. Adds Dannette and Jeannette's sister Shanta, "Anybody that was our color was a runaway.". [3][4] They also requested that their older sister walk with them, but she declined due to recently giving birth. But mine still havent. And so, she says, she talks to anyone and everyone she can about the case. document.querySelector("#google_image_div").addEventListener('click',function(){ The family reports that they were told the case was closed when the girls turned 17 because they had reached an age at which they could no longer be legally forced to come home if found. The case remains cold to this day, but the Oxygen special enlists former federal prosecutor Laura Coates and former homicide detective Page Reynolds to take a fresh look at it in an attempt to find justice for Dannette and Jeannettes relatives, who refuse to give up hope that they may still be alive. [9] Shanta has been very critical of both the initial and current investigations. She had turned her back for a minute to ring a customer and it seemed like they just disappeared into thin air. [1], Although in 2017 the Sheriff's office met with the Millbrook family to discuss the case and collect familial DNA samples,[3][8] as of 2019 it is unclear if the case is continuing to be investigated by local law enforcement. Then, according to Shanta, on April 8, 1993-- six days after the twins19thbirthday -- the investigator on their case came out to the family home to tell their mother that the case was being closed because Dannette and Jeannette had been located. Im the reason why they said they reopened the case, Shanta told Dateline. Check out never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! Copyright 2023 Now, former prosecutor Laura Coates and retired detective Page Reynolds examine the case in a search for justice. In 1978, her5-day-old sonwas taken from her Atlanta homeby a woman she had just befriended at the hospital. Because they were juveniles at the time of the crime, their identities are protected . Laurah Norton and Brooke Hargrove reveal to former homicide detective Reynolds that when they dug around, they had come across an inmate named Earnest Vaughns, who is currently serving out a life sentence in Dodge State Prison for murder. Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. When the remains were originally found, the family was told that it was not either of the twins. This is the location where Dannette and Jeannette Millbrook were last seen. Now, former federal prosecutor Laura Coates and former homicide detective Page Reynolds attempt to unravel the mysterious unsolved case in the hopes of finally finding justice forDannette and Jeannette. Her daughters were fed up with her spending on alcohol since they wanted new clothes and a house with a swimming pool. [1][2] The twins were last known to have been seen by a gas station clerk at the Pump-N-Shop gas station on the corner of 12th Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard around 4:30 pm. "They said the case was closed and there was no missing children report.". Shanta remembers that her sisters had been sent to pick up the familys order from a nearby Churchs Chicken. Oxygen's two hour special 'The Disappearance of the Millbrook Twins' digs deep into the baffling and frustrating case and appears to go further than ever before. Shanta alleges that the investigator had also reached out to the NCMEC, asking them to remove Dannette and Jeannette from their database, but never gave the family any other information. Anyone with information or concerns about the case can reach out to the Sheriff's office at 706-821-1000. Eventually theoriginal case file disappeared, too. Sturgis, who was 12 when her sisters disappeared, started a quest to get the case reopened in 2004, regularly calling the sheriff's department and trying to get local law enforcement involved. Shanta told Dateline she does not remember what the official search efforts for the twins were, but the family and some of their friends from church did go around the area hanging up posters thatThe National Center for Missing and Exploited Children(NCMEC) had made in the year after the twins vanished. He also mentioned Merry Brothers Brickyard - a place surrounded by dense flora and a potential body dumpsite. Mary and the twins' younger sister,Shanta,went out to look for them on foot, but after they had walked around awhile with no success, they went home and the girls' mom called the police. Girl Madalina Cojocari 'Not Telling Us Everything They Know': Police, 'Please Bring My Baby Girl Home': Tenn. The other came to her rescue but was punched by one of the men and fell backward, hitting her head and hurting herself badly. When the original investigation was opened in 1990, the detective on the case Jim Ship had dubbed them as runaways and shutout the family from any information regarding the case. DANNETTE MILLBROOKS", "Have you seen this child? In 1990, twin sisters Dannette and Jeannette Millbrook disappear in Augusta, GA; law enforcement dismiss the girls as runaways; now, former prosecutor Laura Coates and retired detective Page Reynolds examine the case in a search for justice. It's one of the only cases of missing twins in American history, but their case was scarcely investigated and most of the country has never heard of them. And thats how it was that Sunday, all of them together. I finally got the sheriff on the phone and the next day he told me he was going to reopen the case. The girls vanished on March 18, 1990, becoming one of the few cases of missing twins in American history. I talk about it to people to let people know, even though they dont know what their faces look like or whatever, I want people to know what happened to my family, she said. He lived in Hale street near the Pump-n-Shop where the girls were last seen and would be seen on the Martin Luther King Jr. boulevard. Shanta told Dateline that the reward will be reduced to $11,000 in August 2023 if they do not reach a resolution in the case before then. "I know about cold cases, and if they don't stay active, they stay cold," Greentold NewsChannel 6. 15 year old twins Jeanette and Dannette went missing on March 18, 1990 in Augusta, Georgia. He was known to pick up women at gunpoint, take them to another location, sexually assault and sometimes murder them. Period. He faced the death penalty in the murder of Marilyn Denise Kelly and was suspected in the murder of Loretta Dukes but died in 1999 before the trial started. Later in the day, the twins walked to their godfather's house to borrow money for a city bus to school the following week, as the teens and their family had recently moved to a new apartment further from their school. ga('ads.send', { The real shocker comes when Shanta Sturgis, the twins' sister, reveals to the documentary investigators that Vaughns had told his daughter April that the investigators had told him to tell them that he had made it all up. A couple days before they went missing . 'Stop it!' window.googletag.pubads().addEventListener('slotOnload', function(event) { Nearly thirty years ago, 15-year-old African American twins, Dannette and Jeannette Millbrook, vanished off the street near their home in Augusta, Georgia. A prison informant claims he knows what happened to Jeannette and Dannette Millbrook. NCMEC shared theirmost recent updatewith Dateline. But"every time you think you got somebody to help, and you think you take a step forward, you got to take a step back. Shanta also said that The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children updates Dannette and Jeannettes age progression photos every five years. In short, there was no investigation from Detective Ship. Shanta runs the Facebook pageMissing Dannette and Jeannette Millbrookwhere she shares information and updates in her sisters case. The first season of The Fall Line podcast explores the details surrounding the disappearance of the Millbrook twins. MEAWW brings you the best content from its global team of Oxygen Media aired a two-hour television special on the case, which premiered on November 23, 2019.[15]. This woman remains unidentified and has become known as one of the Aiken County Jane Does. Examining the disappearance of the Millbrook twins, who were dismissed as . At the time, the case garnered very little local media attention, and many believed police could have done more. Fast forward to 2013. I see him talking on the news, and Ive seen some of the commercials that they had been making, she said. A billboard went up to publicize a reward of $8,000 that had been raised for information that would help resolve their disappearance. "Police didn't do nothin'," Mary, who many call Miss Louise, recallsin the new Oxygen special The Disappearance of the Milbrook Twins, premiering Saturday at 7 p.m. At lunch, the twins mentioned that they needed bus fare to get to school for the upcoming week, so Shanta says their mother told them to go to their godfathers house to ask him for bus fare.