Left and Center: Lenoria circa, 1995
Right: Age Progressed to age 16
Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance
Missing Since: July 20, 1995
Missing From: Tacoma, Pierce County, Washington
Classification: Non-Family Abduction
Date Of Birth: January 3, 1992
Age: 3 years old
Height and Weight: 3’0″ and 40 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: African American Female, Black hair, Brown eyes, Lenoria was diagnosed as having cocaine in her system when she was born and as a results she has ADHD; attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, she had recently started taking the prescription medicine Norpramin to control her condition, her hair was braided at the time of her disappearance and her nickname is “Noira”
Clothing/Jewelry Description: A black t-shirt with an imprinted image of the television character Barney on it and blue/turquoise pants
NCMEC Number: 806901
Details of Disappearance
Lenoria was last seen on July 20th 1995 in Tacoma, Washington. She was last known to be in the company of her great aunt, Berlean Williams. Williams initially told authorities that she and the child visited a convenience store and a car wash before heading to a Target store on South 23rd Street. She claimed that Lenoria disappeared while inside the store. She has never been seen or heard from again.
Authorities believed Williams statements until Target management produced the security camera videos from that day. Lenoria was not shown on any of them but they did show Williams entering the store alone. No traces of Lenoria were found in the area. It should be noted that Williams has changed her story of how Lenoria disappeared at least 4 times.
She at one point claimed that Lenoria was abducted from the Target store parking lot. Investigators found no evidence this statement was true. She also told them that the child simply wandered away from their residence and additionally claimed two unidentified African American male subjects kidnapped the child near their residence.
She then claimed that Lenoria was alive and living in an undisclosed location. It should be noted that it took an hour for Williams to report Lenoria’s disappearance to the police. She apparently called her daughter at 8:47 am and said she didn’t know where Lenoria was and called the police at 9:42 am to report the child missing. She had no explanation for whys he waited so long to do so.
Lenoria was in her great aunts custody at the time of her disappearance and Williams was in the process of adopting her. She also ran a daycare center at the time. Her mothers legal rights for her were terminated by 1995 and the identity of her father is unclear. She never actually lived with her mother before her disappearance.
Up until Lenoria was 2 years old, she lived with relatives in Spokane, Washington whom her mother gave her to when she born. Her mother lived in Arkansas at the time of her daughters disappearance. She told investigators that she attempted to talk to Lenoria over the phone about two days before her reported disappearance but Williams didn’t permit it.
Williams was placed under house arrest for 4 months after Lenoria’s disappearance for failure to provide case information, her daycare center was also shut down by the state. She has never been charged or implicated in her great nieces disappearance and her attorney maintains that her varying accounts of how the child vanished were due to constant pushing by law enforcement investigators. She has been called the primary suspect in the case.
All of Lenoria’s other relatives have been ruled out as suspects in her disappearance. They’ve considered the theory that Lenoria died from an accidental overdose as a result of the medication she was prescribed for her ADHD. The medicine Norpramin is a tricyclic antidepressant. She has only been taking the medication for a few days prior to her disappearance and it’s not usually prescribed to young children.
Norpramin is said to have a number of serious side affects which includes skin rash, seizures, and even death which can occur within the first few days of taking it. Investigators have stated there’s no evidence to support this theory however.
Investigators have stated they believe foul play might have been involved in Lenoria’s case. Her disappearance is currently classified as a non family abduction but investigators also believe she might be alive and in a location unknown to police. She lived in the 1900 block of south Sheridan Avenue in the Hilltop neighborhood area of Tacoma at the time of her disappearance.
Lenoria’s disappearance remains unsolved but investigators keep her case open and hope to locate her.
Investigating Agency
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Tacoma Police Department 253-798-4721
Source Information
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children