NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — The month of June marks more than two decades since five Nashvillians disappeared without a trace.
The trail has seemingly gone cold in many of the cases, but detectives with the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) are still looking for answers as another year goes by.
Next week, it will have been 24 years since authorities began investigating the disappearance of local historian Mayme Johnson. Some cases have been unsolved for even longer, with a few hitting nearly four decades this month.
One of the oldest is that of Jennifer Wyant, a 21-year-old who vanished on June 28, 1980, not long after moving out from her parents’ house and starting her life on her own.
Even after so many years, the smallest tip could still be a vital clue. Below are five missing persons cases out of Nashville that are now over two decades old and any known information regarding the circ*mstances of their disappearances.
Ricky Franks: Missing since June 7, 1985
Ricky Lee Franks was 24 years old when he was last seen by his mother on June 7, 1985. He had been living in a group home in Dickson and, for an unknown reason, decided to travel back to Nashville, where his mother lived.
His mother was driving down Norvel Avenue when she happened to see Franks walking toward her house. Investigators said she stopped and had a brief conversation with him before continuing on to the store.
Police know Franks made it to the house because his stepbrother reported seeing him there. However, by the time his mother returned home from the store, Franks was gone.
Authorities said Franks only spent about 15 minutes at the home before leaving, but where he went is still unclear. Now, almost 39 years later, no one has seen or heard from Franks since.
In a 2022 interview, MNPD Cold Case Detective Matthew Filter told News 2, “There is a possibility that Ricky could still be alive,” as officials have received tips about possible sightings.
Franks is 5-feet, 10-inches tall and weighed around 145 pounds at the time of his disappearance. He has dark blonde hair and blue eyes.
Marcus Rutledge: Missing since June 8, 1998
Tennessee State University student Marcus Rutledge was last seen at his apartment off Park Dale Drive on June 8, 1998. He was just 23 years old at the time.
His girlfriend reported him missing after she was unable to get ahold of him that day. According to police, his girlfriend went to his apartment to look for him and he was nowhere to be found. What she did find was somewhat unusual.
Rutledge’s dog was shut in the bathroom with no food and only the toilet to drink from — something that investigators said appeared to be uncharacteristic of his behavior.
Detectives had few leads in the case until July 1, 1998, when they found his car at an apartment complex on the west side of Nashville. However, nearly 26 years later, authorities are still trying to figure out exactly what happened to the missing college student.
Police believe foul play may have been involved. At the time of his disappearance, Rutledge was 6 feet tall, weighed around 190 pounds and had black hair and brown eyes.
Mayme Johnson: Missing since June 12, 2000
Mayme Hart Johnson was 85 years old when she seemingly vanished from the West Nashville apartment she shared with her son. When her son woke up around 6:30 a.m. on June 12, 2000, he initially didn’t think much about her being gone.
He told authorities Johnson would occasionally leave their apartment on Bosley Springs Road around that time. However, he started becoming concerned when she hadn’t returned by lunchtime.
A maintenance employee recalled seeing Johnson around 6:30 a.m. that same morning, but police said she was never heard from again after that. It’s thought that Johnson may have been in the early stages of Alzheimer’s Disease.
According to documents in the Tennessee State Library and Archives, Johnson was a teacher, home demonstration agent and local historian. A collection of herresearch notes pertaining to the history of Tennessee churchescan still be found in the state archives.
It is unlikely that she would still be alive today at 109 years old, but investigators are continuing to look for answers in her disappearance. At the time, Johnson was 5-feet, 5-inches tall, weighed around 120 pounds and had gray and white hair with brown eyes.
Andre El: Missing since June 23, 1997
The last time anyone spoke to Andre El, a young Nashville father, was around June 23, 1997. A variety of circ*mstances have made the case one of the most mysterious and difficult to solve.
According to police, there was a large time gap between when El was reported missing and when his family last spoke to him. The official missing person report was filed nearly six months later on Jan. 4, 1998.
El’s father and mother had already passed away by the time he disappeared, so the only family he had left was an uncle in Pennsylvania, an aunt in Georgia and the mother of El’s young child, who also lived hundreds of miles away in Atlanta.
At the time of his disappearance, El lived at an apartment complex at 2621 Airpark Drive in East Nashville. It’s the same area where he is believed to have last been seen, but the details remain murky.
Detectives still aren’t sure who last saw El in person. Authorities suspect that his disappearance may have been linked to some type of “criminal activity” and have said that foul play is likely.
However, the scarcity of tips and the time gap before the missing person report was filed has made the case difficult to solve. El was 25 years old when he disappeared. He had black hair, brown eyes, weighed about 220 pounds and was 6 feet tall.
Jennifer Wyant: Missing since June 28, 1980
Jennifer Wyant’s disappearance is one of the oldest active missing persons cases in Nashville. She was 21 years old, had just moved out on her own and her friends told police Wyant was excited about life.
On Friday, June 27, 1980, Wyant went out to lunch with some coworkers and told them how she planned to go to a softball party over the weekend. However, she never showed up for work the following Monday — something that officials said was very unusual for her.
Unable to reach her, Wyant’s parents filed a missing person report that same day. During their investigation, detectives learned Wyant had attended the softball party on June 28 and went back to her apartment at 293 Tanglewood Court. That’s the last time anyone saw her.
Investigators searched her apartment and said they found it “undisturbed.” Her new car, a black TransAm with a big gold bird on the hood, was also still parked in the parking lot.
Little was publicly known about the events following Wyant’s return home from the softball party until investigators released new information they had received from her neighbors in 2021.
Her neighbors reported hearing screaming that night. When they looked out the window, they said they saw four people forcing a woman into a dark four-door sedan. Police believe that woman was Wyant.
According to authorities, her neighbors reported that same information to a security guard at the apartment complex, but the security guard never notified police.
UNSOLVED TENNESSEE: Find more of the state’s cold cases, missing persons, and other mysteries →
It wouldn’t be until Dec. 11, 1980, that detectives would find Wyant’s Tennesse driver’s license nearly 15 miles away from her apartment on Blue Lake Road in Rutherford County.A housing complex was under construction in the area at the time.
Police brought dogs to search the area, but there was still no trace of Wyant. A motive for the alleged abduction is unknown, but investigators believe Wyant was targeted, and foul play is suspected in the case.
At the time of her disappearance, Wyant was 5-feet, 3-inches tall, weighed about 125 pounds and had brown hair and brown eyes.
Anyone with information on any of these cases is asked to contact the MNPD 615-862-8600or theMNPDs Crime Stoppers Divisionat615-742-CRIME.
