Pennsylvania : Tonee Turner
This week we are navigating advocacy in Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh to be exact. Situated in southwest Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh has a population of just over 300,000 people and is known as the Steel City. If I were a sports person, I would bet money that that’s why they call their football team the Pittsburgh Steelers. It was named the steel city after the process to make steel was revolutionized by switching from charcoal to coal in the melting process. Pittsburgh’s surrounding area has large coal deposits and steel fabricators began popping up near coal mines to save money during the fabrication process. Pittsburgh being situated by 3 navigable rivers also allowed for easy transportation and distribution. If you fancy architecture, the second nickname for Pittsburgh is the city of bridges because it has 446 of them.
As with most cities that grow quickly, crime is a steady struggle within Pittsburgh. It sits at number 7 on neighborhood scout crime index. Meaning it is safer than only 7% of other neighborhoods. In 2019, Pittsburgh reported over 20,000 murders, over 140,000 rapes, over 200,000 robberies, and over 940,000 assaults. These are all just under double the state average.
Not all statistics of Pittsburgh are negative… The world’s first Tyrannosaurus Rex fossil is on display at the Carnegie Museum of Natural Science, the first commercial radio station in the world KDKA was founded, in 1920, 80% of the glass made in the US came from Pittsburgh, and there are more than 700 public stairwells in the city limits and they are maintained by the Inspector of Steps.
The world’s first Modern Art Museum was opened in 1895, the Carnegie Museum of Art.
Art was a big part of 22 year old Tonee Marie Turner’s life. She herself was a talented artist who loved dancing, studying nutrition, attending concerts, and black history. Tonee spent her days working as a full-time fabricator at Studebaker Metals in the Pittsburgh suburb of Braddock just 8 miles away. When she wasn’t working there she was teaching ceramics classes at the Carnegie Library of Braddock.
On Monday, December 30, 2019, Tonee was on first shift at the fabrication plant. She worked from 8am until 4pm. A couple of hours after work, roughly 6pm, she went to a nearby tearoom on Murray Avenue called Dobra Tea in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood. While at the tea room, she was texting back and forth with her sister for a bit and then Tonee hopped on the city bus to head south towards her home in Hazelwood. Her usual stop was just 3 miles away at the corner of Giddings Street and Hazelwood Avenue. The bus driver recalls seeing her step off the bus at this stop before he carried on his route.
Dobra Tea
The following day Tonee’s aunt received a phone call from a firefighter around 11 am who while out riding his bike the evening before, came upon Tonee’s purse, a pair of shoes and a ceramic pot. He says he found the purse, shoes and pot on the Homestead Grays Bridge pedestrian walkway. He grabbed the purse and carried it home with him hoping to return it to its owner but left behind the other items. Inside he found Tonee’s cell phone, a journal, a water bottle and keys. Finding Tonee’s aunt’s number in the phone, he reached out to her. Tonee’s aunt said that Tonee had a habit of losing her phone so at first she wasn’t too concerned. The man returned all of the items in Tonee’s purse to the family that Tuesday. He told them then that there were also shoes and a ceramic pot left on the bridge that he didn’t have hands to carry on his bike. Tonee’s family headed to the bridge but found nothing there.
Homestead Gray’s Bridge
The bridge is over a mile away from Tonee’s bus stop. She did not frequent the area to her family’s knowledge, so how did her purse and phone end up on the bridge? With her family not able to recover the shoes or the ceramic pot, how could they verify if they were indeed Tonee’s?
Tonee’s mother Darlene called Tonee’s residence in hopes to find her there and that she had just lost her phone again or had left it behind on the bus, but she received no answer. Later that day, the family learns that Tonee didn’t make it into her scheduled shift at 8am. Tonee was reliable to a fault and this created major concerns. Darlene called the Pittsburgh Police Department and reported Tonee missing.
Pittsburgh Police put out a post on social media asking for public help the following day. No tangible leads came from the post despite the over 850 shares. Family members each posted about Tonee’s disappearance and someone mentioned seeing her in the nearby Hill district. Family and police canvassed the area knocking on doors and handing out flyers but there was no sign of Tonee.
Family also put out on social media requesting the shoes and ceramic pot to be turned in, hoping it would lead to some potential evidence. No one ever came forward with the items. Tonee’s sister, Sydnee, posted early in her disappearance that they believed Tonee may be traveling down Interstate 80 and for people to please keep their eyes peeled. Sydnee utilized the power of social media by making the Facebook group “Tonee Turner Missing” very quickly to widen the net when searching for more information.
Given where the items where found, the theory of suicide was one of the first on the list. Searches below the bridge and in the water were conducted but no body was found. They even went through Tonee’s journal to potentially see where her mind could possibly be. A few notes indicating some sad moments but nothing to indicate major instabilities that would push Tonee to take her own life.
In past cases where a person had jumped from this bridge, their bodies are always found. Investigators seem to believe that Tonee made it home because the red jacket she was seen wearing earlier in the day was found in her home but they were not able to verify this as her roommate was out of town for the holidays.
With hope dwindling with each passing day, the Braddock community riled together for a vigil for Tonee. Tonee was very active in the area. Hosting gallery openings, helping teach classes and bringing a light to the neighborhood. Over 100 people attended the vigil supporting the family.
Tonee’s family has continued to push for media coverage but as you see with most cases of missing persons the stories began coming fewer and further between. Tonee being a woman of color could be a reason as to why her story is not shared more. No new leads have arisen regardless of the police department saying it’s still an active case.
February 29, 2020 in honor of Tonee’s love for dance and the arts a dance party benefit was held at the Cobra Lounge.
Photo credit: Blackpressusa.com
Tonee was missing for almost a year when her family held a silent march. Not just for Tonee but for all of the missing people in Pennsylvania and the world. When Tonee was last seen she was wearing a black zip up jacket, grey shirt with orange letters spelling out “habla espanol” on the back, grayish cargo pants, and possibly a black head wrap.
Tonee is 5’2” tall weighing approximately 130 lbs. Has piercings in her ears, nose and bottom lip. She has a tattoo on her left shoulder of a spiral.
If you have any information, have seen Tonee Turner, or saw her items on that bridge that evening, please contact the Pittsburgh Police Department at 412.323.7800.
Sources:
https://uncovered.com/cases/tonee-turner-pittsburgh-pa
https://youtu.be/AB3NX7PP8r8
https://www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/news/friends-and-family-of-missing-tonee-turner-gather-to-pray-for-a-safe-return/
https://www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/news/tonee-turner-march-for-the-missing/
https://www.facebook.com/sydnee.turner.9
https://www.essence.com/news/tonee-turner-disappearance-pittsburgh/
