DURHAM, N.C. (WNCN) – Each year more than 10,000 people are reported missing to the North Carolina Center For Missing Persons.
In 2019, 46-year-old Tonita Michelle Brooks of Durham was added to that list.
Her case has not received much more attention because it seems as though she vanished into thin air.
You see, Brooks is no stranger to the east Durham area.
She is so well known, even Corporal Green of the Durham Police Department recognizes her.
“I would actually see her myself going to and from work,” Cpl. Green said. “I travel using Liberty Street, and also Holloway Street, so I would see her a few times a week.”
Brooks is disabled and walks with a limp.
If she was not at Long Meadow Park visiting with friends, she would have been in the downtown area.
In fact, that is the last place she was seen in Sept. of 2019.
“It wasn’t unusual for her to be away from home for a few days at a time, but this was an extreme case,” Cpl. Green said.
After two months of hoping she’d come home, her family filed a police report.
Angela Taylor asked Cpl. Green, “Have they heard anything?”
“Nobody has a clue other than terrible rumors that are being spread,” Cpl. Green said.
We heard those same rumors at the park when we showed up to interview Cpl. Green.
People in the park said they heard that Brooks was found dead.
Cpl Green said there is no truth to them.
“She is still a missing person. There is no evidence to say otherwise,” Cpl. Green said.
Brooks is a small woman, described as just 5-feet, 3-inches, and 110 pounds. She has black hair and brown eyes.
You’re asked to call Crimestoppers if you know where she is. However, one can also email Durham Police Cpl. Green at jesse.green@durhamnc.gov anonymously.
