Left and Center: Telethia circa, 1978
Right: Age Progressed image
Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance
Missing Since: September 10, 1978
Missing From: Baltimore, Baltimore City, Maryland
Classification: Endangered Missing
Date Of Birth: July 15, 1971
Age: 7 years old
Height and Weight: 3’4″ and 60 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Black Female, Black hair, Brown eyes. Telethia was missing her two of her front teeth at the time of her 1978 disappearance and she is also known by the nickname “Lee Lee”
Clothing/Jewelry Description: A blue t-shirt with “Collington Square” imprinted across the front and a pair of blue gaucho Levi’s jeans
Details of Disappearance
Telethia was last seen in Baltimore, Maryland on September 10th 1978. She lived with her mother, Emma Good, at their residence located in the 1500 block of Montpelier Street. That day her mother attended an anniversary service for the mission at Mount Sinai Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ on South Broadway. She dropped Telethia off at her aunt’s house two blocks away from her own home while she attended the service.
Telethia was last seen playing with three other young girls near her aunt’s home that evening. When Emma came back that night to pick up Telethia following the church service, she found her niece and the girl’s aunt searching for her. After they were all unable to find her, Emma filed a missing persons report on Telethia at 10:00 pm that night. An extensive search of the area turned up no evidence of her whereabouts.
Police searched the Clifton Park area and Lake Montebello for any signs of the child but no physical evidence was ever recovered during the search efforts for Telethia. Due to this, it’s unclear how exactly she disappeared. They were also unable to locate the girls who were seen playing with the child when she was last reported seen.
The possibility that Telethia ran away was investigated but was quickly ruled out as a potential explanation for her disappearance. She had no prior history of such behavior and she enjoyed attending school. She was also not known to wander off anywhere alone as she usually went with a group when venturing into Clifton Park or near the lake.
Emma said she believed someone had abducted her daughter but that she was still alive somewhere. She was separated from the girl’s father, Vernon Good. He had visitation rights to the child every weekend and had spent the last two weeks of summer with her. Vernon was interviewed about Telethia’s disappearance and his home was searched for evidence but he was quickly ruled out as a suspect in the case.
Telethia’s mother worked at Citicorp Financial Inc. when her daughter vanished. The company helped to raise a $1,000 reward for any information leading to the child’s whereabouts or her safe return.
There was a report that a suspicious looking man was seen in the neighborhood at the time of the child’s disappearance but no description for him was ever released. While not publicly named, police do have one suspect in Telethia’s case. A man who is also suspected of committing a murder ten years after Good’s disappearance.
On February 2nd 1988, eleven year old LaTanya Kim Wallace was abducted while she walked home after leaving the Park Avenue Branch of the Enoch Pratt Library in the Reservoir Hill area of Baltimore, Maryland. Two days later, her fully clothed body was discovered in the backyard of a residence in the 700 block of Newington Avenue. She had been sexually assaulted and stabbed to death multiple times.
Her body was found carefully placed at the back door of the home. She was lying on top of her raincoat and her blue book bag was placed carefully next to her. It appeared as though whoever killed LaTanya cared enough about her to place her carefully in an area where she’d be found quickly. Police suspect someone attacked her and killed her nearby before carrying her body down an alley until placing her in the backyard.
Despite an extensive homicide investigation, LaTanya’s killer has not been positively identified. Soon after she was murdered, a man who had been acquainted with the girl emerged as a primary suspect in the case. Police suspected that since she knew the man, she might’ve gone to meet him after leaving the library. There was also allegedly physical evidence that could show he was involved but this hasn’t been proven.
The man has not been publicly identified but his possible involvement as well as other aspects of the Wallace murder were written into a book known as “Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets.” In the book, he was referred to as “The Fish Man” as he was a fishmonger previously. He has a history of sexual assault and was generally said to be creepy.
Police attempted to see if they could link him to any other crimes like LaTanya’s murder. Investigators discovered that his business partner lived on Montpelier Street in 1978 and he frequently visited him there. Telethia physically resembled LaTanya and she’s the only other child missing from the area that he could be connected to. The suspect was shown a picture of Telethia and he initially claimed he knew her. He later denied this and said he did not recognize her.
The suspect never admitted to being responsible for LaTanya’s death or Telethia’s disappearance and he has since died. Police have been unable to verify if he was in the neighborhood on the day she went missing but he continues to be considered a suspect in the case.
Telethia was adopted by her parents when she was six months old in Newark, New Jersey. The family moved to Baltimore in 1973 and both Emma and Telethia moved into the house on Montpelier Street just a year before her disappearance. She was recently made aware of her adoption. Telethia was a second grade student at Coldstream Elementary School. She has relatives in New Jersey and Virginia.
Telethia’s disappearance remains unsolved and foul play is possible.
Investigating Agency
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Baltimore Police Department 443-984-7395
Source Information
International Missing Persons Wiki