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Case Description

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Tonya Clemmons, a 26-year-old woman from Seattle, Washington, was last seen in November 1983. Her disappearance was reported by a family member on November 5, 1984, nearly a year after she was last seen. Clemmons had a close relationship with her family, and her disappearance during the holidays was especially concerning, as she would usually contact her loved ones even during difficult times.

At the time of her disappearance, there were suspicions that Tonya could have been a victim of ...Read More
Last Seen: Nov 05, 1983

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Victim Details

May 04, 2010

Jun 19, 2023

Tonya

Clemmons

66

26

64 inches

120 lbs

Black / African American

Female

In the autumn of 1983, a 26-year-old woman named Tonya Lee Clemmons vanished from Seattle, Washington. The last confirmed contact with Tonya was on November 5, 1983. She was a Black / African American female with black hair and brown eyes, standing at 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighing around 120 pounds. A notable characteristic was a deformity in her left arm. The circumstances surrounding the last time she was seen are veiled in uncertainty, a prelude to the decades of questions that would follow for her loved ones. The official report of Tonya's disappearance did not occur until a year after her last known contact. On November 5, 1984, a relative alerted the Seattle Police Department that they had not seen or heard from Tonya in nearly a year. This significant delay in reporting her missing created immediate challenges for investigators, as the trail had grown cold and memories of potential witnesses had faded. The lack of information regarding the specific events leading up to her disappearance left a void in the initial investigation, a void that has been difficult to fill in the subsequent years. The years stretched into decades with no resolution in Tonya Clemmons' case. In May 1993, her case was linked to the Green River Killer, Gary Ridgway, due to the location of her disappearance and her known presence in areas of sex work. However, her remains have never been found, and this connection remains a strong suspicion rather than a confirmed fact. The Seattle Police Department continues to hold the case, with the hope that someone, somewhere, holds the key to unlocking the truth of what happened to Tonya. The investigation into her disappearance remains open, a silent testament to a life interrupted and a family left without answers. Her case serves as a poignant example of the many unsolved missing persons cases that linger in Seattle and across the country, a somber reminder of the enduring pain of not knowing.

Nov 05, 1983

Seattle

Washington

King County

No

8493

Seattle Police Department

Seattle

Washington

King County

98104

610 5th Avenue, Washington

2066255011

Local

Law Enforcement

84-452621

1984-11-05

Seattle Police Department

Black

Brown

Brown

06/11/2026


Area Last Seen: