Diamond Yvette Bradley

Diamond, circa 2001; Age-progression to age 23 (circa 2020)

  • Missing Since 07/06/2001
  • Missing From Chicago, Illinois
  • Classification Endangered Missing
  • Sex Female
  • Race Black
  • Date of Birth 11/25/1997 (26)
  • Age 3 years old
  • Height and Weight 3'0, 40 pounds
  • Clothing/Jewelry Description Violet and purple ponytail holders in her hair.
  • Distinguishing Characteristics African-American female. Black hair, brown eyes. Diamond has a scar on the left side of her hairline. She normally wears her hair braided in the back with four ponytails. Diamond has deep-set eyes.

Details of Disappearance

Diamond was last seen at her family's residence in the 3500 block of South Lake Park Avenue in Chicago, Illinois on July 6, 2001. Her mother departed for work at approximately 6:30 a.m. Diamond and her older sister, Tionda, stayed at the house during the morning. Their mother, Tracey Bradley, discovered that the girls were not inside their residence when she returned at approximately 11:00 a.m.

Tionda apparently left a note stating that she and Diamond planned to walk to a nearby school and store. Tionda was enrolled in summer classes at Doolittle Elementary School at the time, but school officials said that she was absent the day of her disappearance.

Several neighborhood children told authorities that they saw Tionda and Diamond playing outside of their residence at approximately 12:00 p.m. Neither child has been heard from again. An extensive search of the surrounding areas produced no clues as to their whereabouts.

Diamond is described as being independent and naturally timid but talkative. Her family said that she often fought with her siblings in 2001. Diamond enjoys eating peanuts and ramen noodles.

Authorities said that Tracey was not cooperating with investigators in relation to her daughters' cases. She shoved a police officer who requested that she accompany him to the precinct to discuss new leads in March 2002. Tracey was placed in handcuffs and taken to the station, where she briefly spoke with investigators. Her attorney arrived shortly thereafter and stopped the interview.

Authorities said that Tracey missed several scheduled appointments with detectives in the past. Tracey's spiritual advisor told the media that officers had violated her rights by forcibly taking her to the precinct. Authorities said that Tracey was physically combative and they needed to restrain her in handcuffs.

Tracey's mother voluntarily took a polygraph exam shortly after Tionda and Diamond disappeared as a matter of cooperation. She is not being called a suspect in her daughters' disappearances. Authorities are interviewing most of the girls' relatives and friends once again as the investigations continue. They searched the children's great-grandfather's Wisconsin home but found no evidence.

Some investigators theorized that Diamond and Tionda were taken by a North African man who had paid child support for one of them until the summer of 2001, when he learned he was not her father. FBI agents went to Morocco to investigate the lead, but did not find any evidence that the Bradley children had been there.

Police believe Tionda would have contacted her loved ones by now if she could have; they think both children are either deceased or have been taken out of the country.

The Bradley sisters' cases remain unsolved.

Updated 10 times since October 12, 2004. Last updated September 23, 2021; age-progression updated.