GA GA - Sonya Tukes, 22, Tennille, May 2004

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I can't find much "out there" about Sonya's disappearance, other than the linked account, which just came out in the "Middle Georgia Cold Cases" feature that Skyler Henry does on 41NBC. (That's a great feature, IMO -- just wish, in this case, a more definite date had been given.)

Middle Georgia Cold Cases: The Phone Call

Washington County sheriff’s investigators are looking for a woman who went missing almost 12 years ago. It’s a Middle Georgia Cold Case.

Sonya Tukes was 22 years old at the time she disappeared from her sister’s home in Tennille....

...“She was a hard worker. She loved her child,” Sonya’s sister, Barbara, said....

...“She was about to go to bed. She said she got to get ready for work and I was like ok then. She went in one room and I went in my room,” Barbara mentioned....

...“When they woke up that morning, she was gone and there’s no answers, there’s no clues,” Capt. Trey Burgamy, an investigator with the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, said.

No note, no message of where she could be, nothing.

“There was no signs of forced entry to the residence. The back door was just open when they woke up the next morning,” Burgamy pointed out.

Sonya had a boyfriend. According to the sheriff’s office, they recently had a fight....

...They checked everything — they even got a hold of phone records. That’s when they got their first clue.

Someone called Barbara’s house late that night. Sonya picked up the phone.

Investigators traced the call to a pay phone on the outside of town at a service station.

“My guess is when she got that phone call, she went out to talk, she was going to come back in, but never did come back in the house,” Barbara said....

...41NBC reached to Sonya’s then boyfriend for this story and did not hear back. The GBI is helping in this investigation.

If you know what happened to Sonya Tukes, call the Washington County Sheriff’s Office at (478) 552-4795.

more at: http://www.41nbc.com/2016/01/27/middle-georgia-cold-cases-the-phone-call/


video story at link above and on YouTube:

[video=youtube;nmotnCl3Pno]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmotnCl3Pno[/video]
 
Such a sad interview with the family. Hopefully they receive some tips from the story. I also couldn't find anything else regarding the case.
 
Missing Person Case

Her profile was created november 2018

Original
 
Missing Persons: Sonya Lawona Tukes

Sonya%20Lawona%20Tukes.jpg


Case Info

Last seen date: Sun, 05/09/2004 - 12:00
Race: Black
Location: 190 Wimbley Circle, Tennille, Washington County, Georgia
Weight: 178 lbs
Height: 5'5"
Eyes: Brown
Hair Color: Black
Sex: Female
Age: 22

Contact Info: GBI Region 12 Special Agent Chris Baldwin, Field Office 478-374-6988 | Washington County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Trey Burgamy 478-552-4795

On May 10, 2004, Sonya Lawona Tukes was reported missing. Sonya was last known to be alive at her residence at 190 Wimberly Circle, Tennille, Washington County, Georgia, on May 9, 2004. Sonya Lawona Tukes was last seen wearing a black tshirt, green pants, and black flip flops. Foul play is suspected.

Missing Persons: Sonya Lawona Tukes
 
She is not yet listed on Charley Project or Doe Network.
 
Sonya's Namus profile was updated last month, but I cannot see what was amended.

Strangely unlike most Namus profiles I can't see the Comparisons (ruleout) tab on Sonya's file.
** OOPS ** edited as a moment later the tab was visible, some weird glitch
1 x ruleout against UP33 (Fulton Co, GA found May 2004)

It's a 2-hour drive between counties but the timing fits (Namus says the PMI for this UID was 2004-2005 / approx 6 months). I wonder if this could be Sonya?
www.websleuths.com/forums/threads/ga-fulton-co-uncfem-25-45-up27-bones-found-on-side-of-road-by-construction-crew-feb05.611933/
 
sonya-tukes.jpg

WASHINGTON COUNTY, Ga. (WJBF) – In Washington County, a joint task force that includes GBI agents, has been created to help find a missing woman.

When she was 22-years-old, Sonya Lawona Tukes disappeared May 10th, 2004 in Tennille.

Police say she was in her pajamas at her sister’s home when she stepped outside to take a call around 1 a.m.

She hasn’t been seen since.

The new task force will reportedly be re-examining all previous evidence and information as well as any new information received since.

A candle light vigil will be held on the Washington County Court House Lawn on May 4 at 7 p.m. The public is invited.

WASHINGTON COUNTY, Ga. (WGXA) - Law enforcement in Washington County is reopening a 2004 case, hoping to find new leads and solve the disappearance of a woman.

In a media release, Washington County Sheriff Joel Cochran says they are reopening the case of Sonya Lawona Tukes. Cochran says Tukes has not been seen since her disappearance on the night of May 10, 2004. According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Tukes went missing after taking a phone call at approximately 1:15 a.m. Investigators say she stepped outside of her sister's home in Tennille when she got the phone call and hasn't been seen since. Tukes was 22 years old at the time of her disappearance.
 
Last edited:
Sonya's Namus profile was updated last month, but I cannot see what was amended.

Strangely unlike most Namus profiles I can't see the Comparisons (ruleout) tab on Sonya's file.
** OOPS ** edited as a moment later the tab was visible, some weird glitch
1 x ruleout against UP33 (Fulton Co, GA found May 2004)

It's a 2-hour drive between counties but the timing fits (Namus says the PMI for this UID was 2004-2005 / approx 6 months). I wonder if this could be Sonya?
www.websleuths.com/forums/threads/ga-fulton-co-uncfem-25-45-up27-bones-found-on-side-of-road-by-construction-crew-feb05.611933/
Sonya's case on The Charley Project was recently updated, but only adding the case file.
 
April 26 2023 rbbm.
1682706231945.png
''According to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, the task force will consist of the Georgia Bureau of Investigations, Washington County Sheriff’s Office and Sandersville Police Department.

The task force will be re-examining all information previously obtained, along with any new information and evidence received, according to officials.

A candlelight vigil will be held on May 4 at 7 p.m. on the courthouse Lawn in Washington County.


Anyone with information on Tukes can contact the GBI at 478-374-6988, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office at 478-232-1366 or the Sandersville Police Department at 478-232-6138.''
 

Sonya Lawona Tukes​

tukes_sonya.jpg
tukes_sonya2.jpg
tukes_sonya3.jpg
tukes_sonya4.jpg

Tukes, circa 2004
  • Missing Since 05/10/2004
  • Missing From Tennille, Georgia
  • Classification Endangered Missing
  • Sex Female
  • Race Black
  • Age 22 years old
  • Height and Weight 5'5, 178 pounds
  • Clothing/Jewelry Description A black t-shirt, green shorts and black flip-flop sandals.
  • Distinguishing Characteristics African-American female. Black hair, brown eyes. Tukes's ears are pierced.

Details of Disappearance​

Tukes was last seen going at her sister's residence in Tennille, Georgia on May 10, 2004. She had gone to bed at 10:00 p.m. the night before. She got a call at about 1:15 a.m. and may have stepped outside to talk to the person. When her family woke up at 5:00 a.m., she was gone and there were no indications of forced entry. She has never been heard from again.

At the time of her disappearance, Tukes was working as a babysitter and dating a man; her relationship with her boyfriend has been described as "contentious" and they had an argument just before her disappearance. The boyfriend hired an attorney before police were able to question him about Tukes's disappearance. He maintains his innocence and says he doesn't know what happened to her.

Foul play is suspected in Tukes's case. It remains unsolved.

Last updated April 27, 2023; casefile added.
 
In a media release, Washington County Sheriff Joel Cochran says they are reopening the case of Sonya Lawona Tukes. Cochran says Tukes has not been seen since her disappearance on the night of May 10, 2004. According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Tukes went missing after taking a phone call at approximately 1:15 a.m. Investigators say she stepped outside of her sister's home in Tennille when she got the phone call and hasn't been seen since. Tukes was 22 years old at the time of her disappearance.

Cochran says they have created a joint task force consisting of agents with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation along with the Washington County Sheriff's Office and the Sandersville Police Department. They will be tasked with reexamining Tukes' case.
 
WASHINGTON COUNTY, Ga. (WJBF) – A Washington County mother went missing from her sister’s home near Tennille, Georgia in the early morning hours of Monday, May 10, 2004. Now, there’s a Joint Task Force to help locate Sonya Tukes.

“Sleep with your window up. Sleep with your door open. But now, you better sleep with everything bolted down,” said Sonya Rogers, Tukes’ mother.

Rogers told us, “Milk. Ready to eat.”

Rogers raised four children in the 80s and 90s in what she believed was a safe community. Barbara Tukes, Sonya’s older sister, remembers that time too, enjoying the simple life.

“Playing outside in the mud, playing Hide and Go Seek, jump rope,” she remembered.

Back then, the family said children played all day. By the time Sonya hit 9th grade, it was off to Washington County High School.

“You tell her to do something, she do it. She was a good, sweethearted person,” her mother said.

As soon as her high school career began, it abruptly ended.

“She probably would have finished school, but she got pregnant at a young age,” Tukes said of her sister.

Sonya became a mother at 15 years old.

“She was a good babysitter, so that’s how we knew she was going to be a great mom,” said Tukes, who is also a mother. “She used to always keep my nephew when he come from Atlanta. Bring him to me, I’ll keep him.”

The Tukes family described Sonya as a homebody. Mostly spending time with family and she attended church at Georgia Grove Baptist. She was protective of her son, Quantavious. Even giving her child’s father custody when he was taken away from her by the state. But her sister said there was one thing Sonya could not protect herself from, domestic violence.

“She met him at a young age and she couldn’t be apart from him. Then when the violence got started we used to always try to tell her you’re better than that. You don’t need that,” Tukes said.
 

May 11, 2022

May 5, 2023
 
Sonya Tukes

“Although this search did not yield the results we wanted, we will continue searching for clues and evidence that lead us to her whereabouts,” said Sheriff Joel Cochran. “We are committed to working together, not just as law enforcement partners, but as a community for Sonya and bringing much-deserved closure to the family.”
 

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