33°56′47″N 84°31′18″W / 33.9464°N 84.5218°W
Tiffany Whitton | |
|---|---|
 Photo Whitton posted on her Facebook page shortly before her disappearance | |
| Born | Tiffany Michelle Whitton January 30, 1987 |
| Disappeared | September 13, 2013 (aged 26) Marietta, Georgia, U.S. |
| Status | Missing for 11 years, 2 months and 3 days |
| Nationality | American |
| Height | 5 ft 3 in (160 cm) |
| Criminal charge(s) | Use of drug-related items, theft by taking[1] |
| Criminal penalty | 41⁄2 months in prison |
| Criminal status | On parole |
| Children | 2 |
| Mother | Lisa Daniels |
In the early morning hours of September 13, 2013, Tiffany Whitton, (born January 30, 1987[2]), of Powder Springs, Georgia, United States, was observed apparently shoplifting by loss prevention officers at a Walmart in nearby Marietta. They gathered to confront her at the store's exit, but after a brief struggle, she broke free and fled. She has not been seen since.[3]
At the time, Whitton, who had a criminal record, was jobless, addicted to heroin and crystal methamphetamine, and in a difficult relationship with her boyfriend, Ashley Caudle, who was at the Walmart with her. Caudle noted her failure to return that night, going to a nearby restaurant where she had previously worked to look for her, but did not contact the police or her family. Whitton's mother, who was used to her frequent and sometimes lengthy unexplained absences, went to the police in January 2014.[4]
The investigation is continuing, but while police say new leads come regularly, none of them have proven useful. Due to Caudle's criminal history, false statements about events that night he made later, and his failure to inform authorities or Whitton's family when he was unable to locate her, he is considered a person of interest.[2][3][4] Currently serving a lengthy prison sentence for drug and gun charges, he denies any involvement in Whitton's disappearance or knowledge of her whereabouts.
In 2016, journalist Tom Junod wrote an article about Whitton's disappearance in Esquire, seeing the media silence on the case as an exception to what is called missing white woman syndrome. While Whitton is white, her troubled past and criminal record made her a less attractive subject to report on, he noted; her mother complained that some television shows that devote airtime to these cases had told her they were not interested in her daughter's disappearance. Junod also reported that Whitton's half-brother Blake said he received a phone call from her in January 2014, almost four months after she was last seen.
- ^ Per Georgia's online inmate lookup at "Find an Offender". Georgia Department of Corrections. Archived from the original on May 8, 2016. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
- ^ a b Noll, Jessica (April 20, 2018). "Finding Tiffany Whitton". WXIA. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
- ^ a b Junod, Tom (April 29, 2016). "Missing: The Curious Anomaly of Tiffany Whitton's Disappearance". Esquire. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
- ^ a b Capelouto, J.D. (August 14, 2017). "Four years ago, Tiffany Whitton disappeared into the night — what happened?". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved August 31, 2018.