Twins Missing: Jeannette and Dannette Millbrooks
Dwelling in the private world known only to twins, Jeannette and Dannette Millbrooks spent much of their free time relaxing on their front porch in Augusta, Georgia, talking to one another and watching the world pass by. If anyone spoke to them, they would just smile.
“They didn’t come off the porch,” said their cousin, Yolanda Curry. “I can see their smiles with my eyes closed.”
Dwelling in the private world known only to twins, Jeannette and Dannette Millbrooks spent much of their free time relaxing on their front porch in Augusta, Georgia, talking to one another and watching the world pass by. If anyone spoke to them, they would just smile.
“They didn’t come off the porch,” said their cousin, Yolanda Curry. “I can see their smiles with my eyes closed.”
Then one day – March 18, 1990 to be exact – the fraternal twins left the safety of their beloved porch – and vanished.
What happened to Jeannette and Dannette is a mystery, but their family has never given up hope of finding them. If by any chance the girls, who are 44, are reading this story, Curry wants them to know this: “I love them and I will
never stop looking for them until the day I die.”
Just days before their 16th birthday, the twins headed out to visit a family friend. Their 12-year-old sister, Shanta (shawn-TAY’) Sturgis, begged to go with them, but the teenagers didn’t want their baby sister tagging along. Jeannette and Dannette made it to their friend’s house at about 4 p.m., then walked on to what was then a Pump-N-Shop gas station and convenience store near the intersection of 12th Street and MLK Boulevard. They went inside and bought chips and drinks. The store clerk later told their sister that the twins seemed fine. It was about 4:30 p.m. when the clerk, busy at a cash register, saw the twins leave the store. She caught a vague glimpse of a vehicle outside, but didn’t see enough to give sheriff’s deputies a detailed description, or to say whether the twins got in or what direction they might’ve gone.
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s Robert Lowery says it’s “extremely rare” for two siblings to be abducted together by a non-family member. It does happen, however. In 1975, sisters Katherine and Sheila Lyon, aged 10 and 12, went missing in Wheaton, Maryland and have never been found. In 1997, sisters Kati and Kristin Lisk, ages 12 and 15, were murdered after being abducted outside their home in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. In 2014, Amish sisters Delila and Fannie Miller, 7 and 12, were abducted in upstate New York. They were released within 24 hours following an AMBER Alert, but not before they were sexually abused. Their kidnappers told police they used a dog to lure the girls to their car, and that they had intended to keep the girls as slaves.
Lowery, vice president of NCMEC’s Missing Children Division, says while it’s important not to raise false hopes, “It’s important that we not give up hope, because a number of these long-term missing kids have been found and reunited with their families. Some amazing things have happened.”
For example, Jaycee Dugard was found alive after 18 years in captivity in California. Three girls who were abducted and held – much of the time in chains – in a Cleveland house for a decade are free today because one of them escaped and called law enforcement. And when she was 23, Carlina White of New York discovered she had been abducted as an infant, contacted NCMEC, and was reunited with her biological family.
Law enforcement is appealing to the public for any information that might help them find the Millbrooks twins, any observations or memories that would help shed light on the case would be greatly appreciated.
Jeannette and Dannette Millbrooks are African-American. When they went missing, their black hair was styled in soft, shiny loose curls known as Jheri curls. Both have brown eyes, pierced ears and scars on their navels from operations shortly after birth. Dannette was 5 feet 6 inches tall, 130 pounds and bowlegged. She was last seen wearing a white top with Mickey Mouse on it (both girls loved watching cartoons), white jeans and black shoes. Jeannette was 5 feet 4 inches, 125 pounds. She was last seen wearing a blue pullover shift, a white turtleneck, a beige skirt, white stockings and white sneakers. The twins were in the ninth grade at Lucy Laney High School.
The photo on the left shows Dannette as a teenager. She was 15 when she went missing. The image on the right is an age progression showing what Dannette may have looked like at age 39.
The photo on the left shows Jeannette as a teenager. She was 15 when she went missing. The image on the right is an age progression showing what Jeannette may have looked like at age 39.
View their poster: http://www.missingkids.com/poster/NCMC/736454/1#poster
If you have any information, please call NCMEC at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678) or the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office in Augusta, Georgia (706) 821-1080.