Tonia Gay Aldrich, 38, was last seen in the early morning hours of March 29, 1997, leaving Chris’s Place in Elyria, Ohio, and walking east on Clark Street toward Concord Avenue. Her walk home was short, but she never arrived; only her purse was later found on her mother’s doorstep the same night. Her mother brought the purse inside and did not report anything missing until several days later when Tonia’s brother realized she had not returned for her belongings.

A single mother who kept close contact with family, Tonia spoke with her brother’s wife several times a week, making her sudden silence unusual. She may have been depressed at the time and needed daily seizure medication, which she did not have with her. Described as a white woman with brown hair and brown eyes, she wore reading glasses, had a panda bear tattoo on her right shoulder and possibly a small star on her left, with pierced ears and navel. No activity has been found on her credit cards, Social Security number, or driver’s license, and the case remains open with the Elyria Police Department.

Did anyone who frequented bars in Elyria in 1997 recall seeing Tonia that night or remember details that could help her family and investigators?