Danielle Tamara Brown

• Missing Since 02/05/2010
• Missing From Tallahassee, Florida
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Female
• Race White
• Date of Birth 08/30/1988 (35)
• Age 21 years old
• Height and Weight 5'2, 130 pounds
• Clothing/Jewelry Description A yellow South Pole shirt, South Pole blue jeans and designer high-heeled sneakers. Carrying a purple Boost Mobile cellular phone, a key ring with a teddy bear and other charms attached, a brown and beige Coach wallet and a brown and gold Coach purse.
• Associated Vehicle(s) Silver 1994 Buick LeSabre with the Florida license plate number 694YBX (accounted for)
• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Red hair, brown eyes. Brown has a tattoo her right foot and a tattoo of a bright pink, blue and purple butterfly on her upper back between her shoulder blades; a photo of the butterfly tattoo is posted with this case summary. Her ears are pierced. Her natural hair color is black, but it was dyed auburn at the time of her disappearance.

Details of Disappearance

Brown was last seen leaving her residence in the 7200 block of Springhill Road in Tallahassee, Florida at 8:30 p.m. on February 5, 2010. She was driving her father's silver 1994 Buick LeSabre with the Florida license plate number 694YBX. She was with her ex-boyfriend, Elijah James III, at the time. A photo of James is posted with this case summary.

Brown's last contact was when she spoke with a friend on her cellular phone at 11:35 p.m. She said she was dropping James off at his mother's home in the 7000 block of King Post Way in Miccosukkee, Florida. Brown has never been heard from again.

On February 8, Brown's car was found abandoned at the Pavo City Refuse Site in Pavo, Georgia. The vehicle's license plate, vehicle identification number and one armrest had been removed and the interior had been intentionally burned; an accelerant was used. There was no sign of Brown at the scene, but her blood was on the driver's seat, on the driver's side window and in the trunk.

James had been seen driving the car after her disappearance, and he was charged with arson in Georgia and grand theft in Florida. Later, the theft charge was dropped, as authorities aren't sure which state state he was in when he stole the car.

On February 15, Brown's cellular phone and pieces of her driver's license turned up on the roadside in Beachton, Georgia, just over the Florida state line. The other belongings she carried are still missing. Authorities reclassified Brown's case from a missing person to a homicide a month after her disappearance.

James and Brown met about five years before her disappearance. He lived with her for six months in 2007, until he was arrested for cocaine possession and incarcerated for fifteen months. He admitted he had a drug problem. After his release, he violated probation when he tested positive for marijuana in June 2009 and was jailed until November. Brown's friends stated they weren't romantically involved when she disappeared and she was only trying to assist him with his life.

James was convicted of the arson of Brown's car in February 2011. A short time later, he was charged with her murder. He was tried in the spring of 2013. The prosecution introduced DNA evidence from Brown's car and from a shovel James had bought the day after her disappearance; her blood was on the blade.

James was convicted of second-degree murder; the prosecution had sought a first-degree murder verdict and the death penalty. He was sentenced to life in prison.

Brown graduated from the North Florida Cosmetology Institute. Prior to her disappearance, she maintained daily contact with her family. It's uncharacteristic of her to leave without warning and foul play is suspected in her case, which remains unsolved.