Althedia Vernon Vaught, 42: Vanished After Receiving A Mysterious Call In 2009
It has been close to 15 years since anyone has seen or heard from Althedia Vaught, and her family still waits for an answer as to what happened to the mother of three.
On January 19, 2009, Althedia spent the day cleaning her house in Tulsa, Oklahoma. After setting everything in order, the 42-year-old told her two youngest children that she was tired and was going to bed. However, around 11:30 p.m., Althedia received a phone call from an unknown person. Only taking her cell phone with her and still wearing her pajamas, Althedia left her home without telling anyone where she was going. Her son was in the living room watching a basketball game, but he said he didn’t recall hearing her car start. Althedia didn’t put on any of her jewelry, which was left on her nightstand. She even left her television on in her bedroom, suggesting that she didn’t intend on being gone long.
A few days later, on January 24, Althedia’s vehicle was found abandoned inside the Hillcrest Medical Center parking garage. Surveillance footage shows her car driving into the garage around midnight. However, investigators were unable to determine who was driving the car. Another vehicle, a truck with a triple triangle design on the side, pulled in next to Athedia’s dark green four-door 1995 Infinity J30 with the Oklahoma license plate number 804 ZPN about half an hour later before driving off. That driver has never been identified.
The Investigation Uncovers Althedia’s Children’s Theories
Early on in the investigation, Althedia’s children told a news station that they believed their mother was kidnapped but still alive. According to them, months after Althedia went missing, her voicemail was changed from a music recording to Athedia simply saying her name. They said she sounded as if she was under the influence of drugs.
“She’s a strong woman,” her son Thomas said in 2013. “I know she’s still alive out there somewhere.”
Althedia has missed her children growing older and having children of their own. They have all moved forward, and one of her sons even served time in jail. The family has suffered from her absence, and all these years later, there are still many unanswered questions in this cold case.
“It would be very important to us,” Thomas previously said. “It would save a family. We’re losing my brother. My sister is struggling. I’m struggling. It would save a whole family.”
“The two guys that were persons of interest, searched their cars and houses and found no blood or anything,” Alethia’s daughter Teanna Thomas added. Still, police fear that foul play may have been involved in her case.
Althedia Vernon Vaught: What To Know
At the time of her disappearance, Athedia was approximately 5 feet 7 inches to 5 feet 8 inches tall and 150 to 155 pounds. She had black/dark brown hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing her pajamas.
Anyone with information is urged to contact the Tulsa Police Department at (918) 596-9143, Crime Stoppers at 918-596-COPS, or their local authorities.
Please share this story about Althedia Vernon Vaught to help bring a concerned family answers. She is our sister, and her life matters.
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I found her on the national database but could not find her on any local missing sites. She was very kind and always singing and dancing. I hope wherever she is that she is at peace. It would be such a blessing to her family if this case was solved. It has been ten long years without their mom!
It would be interesting if the authorities known who was driving the other vehicle. Its simple for them to run the plates and identify who it is registered to. The changing of her voicemail, sometime after she disappeared is real suspicious. It sort of appears that she or someone was trying to maintain, a presence at her home, when she was not there. That makes me real suspicious.
I assume it requires her to enter a password or something similar, to change the voicemail. Also, I assume she would need a password or code, to access and retrieve any messages remotely. So, I wonder, if the phone company could trace where the phone call came from.
I am a former detective with the Veterans Administration Police. I was big on trying to understand or learn the process involved in doing different things at the VA. The same goes into the process of changing the voicemail. I have to enter a password to retrieve my voicemails on the cell phone.
Has anyone posted her case on Websleuths or any other Cold Case websites.