Laresha & Wanda Walker
Nashville is the capital of Tennessee and has a population of just under 700,000 people, according to the 2020 census. The city was founded in 1779 and grew quickly because of its proximity to the Cumberland River. Nashville became a railroad hub in the 19th century, aiding the growing population even more. Nashville is known as Music City, the nightlife is unrivaled, and has a few professional sports teams. This city has so many events going on all the time. The capital building sits atop a large hill, and it honestly feels like you can see for miles. A few interesting facts about Nashville, Tennessee, is that a man named William Walker, who was from Nashville, became the president of Nicaragua in 1856. There has not been another American to become the president of another country since William accomplished this.
The next tidbit about Nashville is that the first ever seeing-eye service dog was brought to the United States and came to this growing city. This next fact is a bit on the dark side is that the architect of the capital building is buried inside the wall.
One of the areas for this quarter’s Merlot Files cases is just south of downtown Nashville and only a few blocks from the historical music row. If you don't know about music row, it is where some of the world’s greatest hits were recorded and produced. This area is called Edgehill and is described as a quaint neighborhood that is relatively small but bursting with modern personality and historic charm. Edgehill has that urban-suburban feel, and most people rent their homes. Over the years, the area has changed drastically, with businesses moving in and out. In the 1950s, Nashville’s Urban Renewal program destroyed hundreds of rental homes and properties along 12th Avenue when the street was expanded. This could have been the start of the decline of this neighborhood.
This area is starting to be gentrified, but this also raises property taxes and makes this area less affordable than it once was. I looked to see the housing market right now, and man I would not have suspected these residences being this expensive. To buy a house in this area cost an average of 750,000 dollars but to rent it is only $1400 which leads me to believe there is a significant number of public housing properties in this area. From our experience in this area, there are some very old run-down homes right alongside these modern brand new large housing units. I can definitely see the property cost difference. According to neighborhoodscout.com Edgehill neighborhood has a per capita income that is lower than 96.5% of all the neighborhoods in America. So this area has very low income and, there is an especially high percentage of incarcerated people (1.1%) living in the Edgehill area.
The apartment this victim lived in looked a bit rundown when Whitney and I visited but looking at records for the property from 2016 the Edgehill apartment was a pretty nice place to live. These apartments are part of a community housing project and in 2015 Housing and Urban Planning inspected the property and it was rated very high. It was given a 94/100 score when the rest of Tennessee was averaging less than 84 out of 100. I will post an image of the property back in 2016 and then a picture of 2022.
The neighborhood the second victim lived in is called Maplewood heights. It is northeast Nashville and honestly looked a bit more rural than other suburban areas in Nashville. Houses around here nowadays sell from 350,000 to 1.1 million dollars for a single-family home. This is a tiny neighborhood in my opinion with just about 500 people living on the few streets it covers. It took us about 15 minutes to drive from where one victim went missing in south Nashville to where the other victim went missing in North Nashville. Not very far at all.
We like to give an overview of crime in the area but I wanted to check out the crime during the time that our two victims went missing. I will say this was a mother-daughter duo that went missing at completely different times. We are talking years apart. The daughter Laresha Deana Walker went missing in 1999 and Wanda Walker disappeared in 2016. Honestly, in 1999 the crime in Nashville was down from years prior. Same with 2016, crime was on a decline in both years. However, Nashville isn't the safest place, to say the least. It is rated a 3 out of 100. The violent crime rate is almost 3 times higher in Nashville than the national average. While property crime looks a lot better it is almost double the national average.
LaResha Deana Walker was born January 2, 1979 to Wanda & Sidney Walker. LaResha was known to her family by her middle name Deana. And was one of 3 kids. I couldn’t find much about LaResha as she was extremely private and her story takes place before social media ran our world. One thing I do know is that she was the mother to a little boy named Rayvon and she was like most mothers, protective over her baby boy. She was very selective in who was allowed to watch him and LaResha was always checking in on him when he was not with her. Thankfully, her mother and sisters lived nearby and she could trust them to help her when she needed a babysitter. But even when it was her family keeping Rayvon, she would regularly check in on him throughout the day.
LaResha was just hired through a temp agency, Nashville Career Advancement Center, to work at Peterbilt Motors there in Nashville and in late October/early November of 1999, her and Rayvon moved into their own place. It was a modest duplex off of Edwards Avenue on the outskirts of the city. I have never seen duplexes built on lots as large as these. It was a white two story almost townhome style of duplex in what appeared to be a quiet street. There are several of these duplexes down this road. Maybe 10-12 free standing units. It was very clean and neat while we were there. According to Neighborhood scout, it sits right at the average for crime statistics now. Back in 1999 it could have been different, but in 2023 it is not the worst area of Nashville.
Friday, November 19, 1999, LaResha, her son, & her sisters had been visiting at their father’s house. Plans were made with her sister, LaKesha, for her to drop off Rayvon while she had to run an errand or two. One of these errands that we know about is that LaResha needed to get an estimate on a car repair for her 1995 Maroon Oldsmobile Achieva. She had mentioned to her sister that she was going to take it to a mechanic in Murfreesboro. Murfreesboro is just under 40 miles southeast of Nashville. Why she was going all the way to Murfreesboro is still unknown. Perhaps she was recommended to this mechanic specifically, maybe she was getting a deal on the repairs, or with it not being as large of a city, they just had better prices. She did tell LaKesha that it would be the following day before she would pick up Rayvon. She had planned to drive down first thing Saturday morning and would pick him up on her way back into town. When LaResha walked out the door from dropping off her son around 8pm , would be the last time her sister sees or hears from her.
Photo: Navigating Advocacy Podcast
Remember, this is before every person has a cell phone and a ring doorbell so tracking people was a bit more difficult. It is believed that LaResha went back to her apartment. Around 9:30-10:00pm LaResha called her dad and they chatted for a bit. Sydney doesn’t specifically state what they talked about just that a conversation had happened.
The following day, when LaKesha did not hear from her sister as to when she was going to be by to pick up Rayvon, she drove out to her sister’s apartment. She found lights on, music blaring and the screen door locked. The lights and music being on seemed strange to her as she would usually turn everything off. She noticed the clothes that LaResha had been wearing the day before when she dropped Rayvon off were there along with the medication LaResha had to take on a daily basis for a heart condition. She even noticed that it had appeared as though perhaps two people had been sitting on the bed. LaKesha turned the music down and then left. Maybe LaResha was out running errands still as her car was not at the residence as nothing at the house seemed out of place.
When no one in the family had been able to make contact with LaResha and after LaKesha had returned to her sister’s residence the following day, her mother filed an official missing persons report on November 21.
Early investigations from police warranted a potential lead when a neighbor stated they heard LaResha arguing with someone outside of her apartment the night of November 19. There wasn’t a description released of who this may have been, I couldn’t even find if the neighbor saw who it was she was arguing with or if she only heard the argument.
On Wednesday, November 24, LaResha’s father mentioned to the media, who originally were supportive and shared LaResha’s story, that a few spots that may be blood near the front door. Police collected samples but I could not confirm if the spots were tested and returned as blood or not. Police have stated that they believe she was kidnapped.
The missing persons report described LaResha as a 5’7” Black female with Brown eyes and black hair. She weired between 190-200 lbs. She has a surgical scar on the left side of her chest from an operation related to her heart condition. She has pierced ears and she has one upper front tooth trimmed in gold with the letter “D” on it. Interestingly enough, LaResha’s car has never been found either. The 1995 Oldsmobile Acheiva had a Tennessee license plate number 419-ABG. It also had a very distinct long scratch down the driver side. It has been 23 years since LaResha or her car have been seen
Her family took in her son Rayvon and raised him reminding him of who his mother was. As if losing his mother wasn’t enough, Rayvon found himself in trouble as a teenager. March 18, 2014, was the Tuesday of spring break for Rayvon. He was in his junior year and was 16 years old. LIke most teens on spring break they are itching to get out of the house and hang out with friends. Rayvon threw on his Georgia Hoodie and some khaki pants but grabbed an extra set of clothes and set out with his cousin Quintavious Patton, his girlfriend Diana Reyes, and Donte Swanier. Rayvon jumped into the silver car and they drove around a bit. They had a few stops around town, a car wash, a gas station and then to Kmart.
The four then went to the Knights Inn Motel where surveillance footage shows that at 9:10pm Rayvon had changed into his second set of clothes, wore a black bandana over his face and some white rimmed sunglasses owned by Diana Reyes. I couldn’t find what happened at this motel but when they left the Knights inn, Rayvon and Quintavious swapped their clothes. Rayvon giving Quintavious his North Carolina hoodie and Rayvon putting his Georgia hoodie back on.
While cruising around, a plan was formed to rob someone for some money so that Diana Reyes could pay for a motel room as she had run away from home.
Donte drove to a neighborhood looking for a target and found two hispanic men standing in a yard near a vehicle. Rayvon and Quintavious jumped out, Quintavious had a gun he gotten from Donte. Rayvon ran over and grabbed the first man and they ended up rolling around a bit on the ground. Quintavious told the man to let Rayvon go and shot the gun hitting Moises Zarate. Both Quintavious and Rayvon then returned to the car and they sped away. After filling in Donte on what had happened, they drove back to the Knight’s Inn and Donte rented a room for the evening at 9:48pm. The 4 end up going to a couple of other places. One restaurant that only Donte got out at, a liquor store where DIana stole abottle of liquor and then they all returned to the hotel around 10pm.
The four stayed the night and the next morning Donte took Rayvon home. It wouldn’t be until May 9. 2014, that a detective would come speak with Rayvon at the school. He told the detective that Quintavious shot Mr. Zarate and that Donte drove and had the gun.
As luck would turn out, police had already been watching Donte for some time. The Hermitage Precinct had been granted a warrant on March 7, 2014 to place a GPS tracker on Donte’s silver Hyundai Elantra. When they learned that a GPS tracking device was within 80 yards of this murder they dug deeper into Donte’s whereabouts that evening. Finding surveillance footage from the shell gas station as well as the the motel they were able to connect the dots on who was with Donte. Warrants for cell phones confirmed the 4 were together and that is how police connected Rayvon.
20 days after speaking with police, Rayvon was arrested and taken to the east Nashville juvenile detention center. Where he stays for 9 months. While in prison, Rayvon was still in contact with his high school teachers and being only 4 credits away from graduating, the school worked with him so that he could finish with the help of a company called Chance Light.
In the ultimate success story, Rayvon focused on his future and when he was released from the detention center he continued his education and attended Nashville State where he received a degree to become an electrical engineer and now owns his own business.
Before Rayvon finished his degree, his family was hit yet again when his grandmother falls to the same fate as his mother.
Wanda Faye Walker was born on June 24th, 1956. She was a mother to three daughters, a retired school teacher, and a grandmother to many when she disappeared on October 5th, 2016. Wanda was described as an outgoing, say what she means kind of woman. She was not only the matriarch of the family but she was the heart and soul. Wanda was working part-time at the local dollar tree store enjoying her retirement. This dollar tree was only two miles away from the apartment Wanda lived in with her cousin.
This was in the Edgehill neighborhood, this is the neighborhood south of downtown Nashville. She went by many names granny, mom, and even GG to those that loved her. On this Tuesday in October, Wanda was scheduled to work at Dollar Tree. She left her apartment to make the two-mile drive to her work but he car was having problems that day and ended up overheating so Wanda calls up her boyfriend to help fix it. All the reports say that he brought oil and filled up her vehicle but if it was overheating it would have needed coolant and not oil. The boyfriend states he fixed up the car and then the couple went their separate ways. So Wanda should have been on her way to work right, well she would never make it there. Wanda was a 60-year-old woman so no one really knew she was missing until a few days later when her adult children realized no one had spoken to her. On October 5th Nashville was seeing a decline in humidity but still pretty warm temps. The high was 88 degrees and a bit cloudy out. A timeline of Wanda’s whereabouts that last day has never been released so it is hard to pinpoint where she was and what she was doing before she vanished. From most news sources it says Wanda was last seen at her apartment by a family member on October 4th, however, wouldn't the boyfriend be the actual last person to see if she was on her way to work and then didn't show up? Or did she return home after the car was fixed and this is when she was seen by the family member? I would assume the family member that saw her last was her cousin since that is who she lived with but I could be completely off base making those assumptions. Very little has been released about these two disappearances.
When the family realizes no one has spoken to Wanda their hearts sank because like Whitney already discussed, 17 years earlier they went through this same situation when Laresha and her vehicle vanished. Wanda’s other daughter said in an interview that she called Rayvon Laresha son and Wanda’s grandson to let him know that his grandmother was missing and he couldn't believe this was happening to his family again.
The family started their own search, they had been down this road before and knew they needed to get Wanda’s picture out as quickly as possible. They printed and passed out flyers. They would knock on doors, honestly anything they could think of to find their beloved grandmother.
On October 13th just over a week since anyone had any contact with Wanda, her daughter found the Nissan Maximum Wanda was driving that day, just two blocks from Wanda’s apartment in an alley. Police would come out and take the vehicle to search for evidence. The doors were locked, and inside was her purse, with personal items. There was also a significant amount of blood that would eventually be tested and concluded to be Wandas. One peculiar thing found inside the vehicle was a type of flowery shrub called a Privet. This is sometimes used in flower arrangements or ornamental hedges so not an uncommon plant that would lead to the suspect as it would happen on TV.
What did come from the vehicle being found is that police now knew Wanda didn't go off on her own and foul play was suspected. The police spoke with the residents that lived around where the car was found to see if they knew how long it had been there and based on this they found out the vehicle had been there about a week. This means that soon after Wanda disappeared it would be left in that alleyway.
Authorities believe it was left there because of the familiarity of the location, they also believe she got into an altercation with someone she knew and was most likely killed because of the amount of blood found. They believe Wanda and her daughter's cases are not connected or they at least have zero reasons to believe they are. Quantesa Chambers who is one of Wanda’s daughters told News Channel 5 during a press conference. “We’re definitely praying for closure. We’re definitely praying that we don’t go another year without knowing what happened to my Granny. Having closure would give us a sense of peace and allow us to grieve and figure out what happened to my grandmother. It’s hard not knowing." Wanda Walker is an African-American female. Blonde hair, brown eyes. 5 foot 7 inches tall, 180 pounds Wanda's natural hair color is brown, but she had been coloring it blonde for several years before her disappearance. She styled it in a short afro. Her ears are pierced. She would be 66 years old today.
LaResha was described as a 5’7” Black female with Brown eyes and black hair. She weired between 190-200 lbs. She has a surgical scar on the left side of her chest from an operation related to her heart condition. She has pierced ears and she has one upper front tooth trimmed in gold with the letter “D” on it. She would be 44 years old today.
As this missing persons case is many years old, we struggled with what action oriented advocacy we could provide to this case. We didn’t feel a honk and wave would produce the amount of attention it deserved. There is no definitive areas we could search to gather volunteers. This lead us to creating a mail out campaign where we took the missing flyers of Wanda and LaResha and mailed them to over 100 addresses around the area in hopes someone could remember what happened.
If you have any information about the disappearance of LaResha Walker or Wanda Faye Walker please contact the Metro Police Department Cold Case Unit at 615-862-7803. You can also
call Nashville Crime Stoppers anonymously at 615-74-CRIME. There is an 11,000 dollar reward for information about Wanda’s disappearance.
