TN TN - China Videon, 16, Murfreesboro, 19 October 1999

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Last thing I'll say tonight and then I will pipe down and go to bed. I personally think the age progression photo is so terribly way off. China has a cute little nose, but they gave her a nose that appears hooked and long, the also essentially removed her upper lip and they made her eyes dark blue when they were a very bright and much lighter blue. I never understood why they don't just take the original photo and photoshop a few lines, age the skin a bit. Nope, they have to get someone to do a terrible "artist rendering". Okay, I'm done. Whew!
 
EntreNous said:
Thank you so much for posting this. I was one of the last people to see China although for the life of me I don't remember that day at all. Although I was there when China was I was busy with a client. I'm a hairstylist that worked in that salon which has since gone out of business. I do still work with one of the stylists from that salon at that time and China's mother is still her client.

China was not at the salon that day for a service. Her mother was there having her nails done and China had stopped by to say hello and chat with her mother. China made a phone call to a friend and left after staying only about 30 minutes. We never saw her again.

There was not a great deal of follow up on this case which is very sad and frustrating.

If anyone has any information to add it would be greatly appreciated. Sadly, it seems if a case is not in the news it sometimes doesn't get as attention.

I wish I could believe that China is alive somewhere but I don't think she is. :(
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I know the pain & frustration you are going through. My sister also went missing in 1999 (Sept). It took a lot of perseverance and determination to finally get answers in my sister's disappearance and be able to find her and bring her home so she can rest in peace. You have to keep on the police dept. Get in touch with the local media/newspaper to get her story out there to keep the public informed. Don't give up even though it's been this long, you are her voice and have to keep her story alive. There are answers out there, somebody know something. I will keep her in my prayers & hope you find your missing friend. God Bless ~Shelly
 
Tennlyn said:
Out of the blue, 16-year-old China Videon told her mother, “Mom, don’t be sad if I died.”
http://www.murfreesboropost.com/mother-searches-for-answers-in-daughters-disappearance-cms-7149

What on earth was going on in China's life? Was someone at school or work threatening her? Stalking her?
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maybe she became involved in a controlling relationship with an older male who threatened her with hurting her family or something if she pushed him away... that was honestly my gut instinct.
 
EntreNous said:
Last thing I'll say tonight and then I will pipe down and go to bed. I personally think the age progression photo is so terribly way off. China has a cute little nose, but they gave her a nose that appears hooked and long, the also essentially removed her upper lip and they made her eyes dark blue when they were a very bright and much lighter blue. I never understood why they don't just take the original photo and photoshop a few lines, age the skin a bit. Nope, they have to get someone to do a terrible "artist rendering". Okay, I'm done. Whew!
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hi!
so awesome of you to show up for china.

what do you think of the possibility of china having been coerced (or forced) into a relationship with an older, controlling man who perhaps was stalking her for awhile. maybe he told her that if she told anyone anything about him and what he did to her, he would hurt her family. this seems to be a time-tested tactic of many abusers of young women and children to keep them isolated and obedient to them.
the fact that china told her mom 'don't be sad if i die' is so incredibly haunting and striking and suggests to me that she was trying to let her mom know that terrible things were going on but she couldn't say anything specific. it's as if she was telling her mom to move on with her life because there was no hope of escaping this evil guy and she didn't want people in her life to be put in danger because of her situation.
 
EntreNous said:
Last thing I'll say tonight and then I will pipe down and go to bed. I personally think the age progression photo is so terribly way off. China has a cute little nose, but they gave her a nose that appears hooked and long, the also essentially removed her upper lip and they made her eyes dark blue when they were a very bright and much lighter blue. I never understood why they don't just take the original photo and photoshop a few lines, age the skin a bit. Nope, they have to get someone to do a terrible "artist rendering". Okay, I'm done. Whew!
Click to expand...

on a whole other tack: was china's father around? sorry if this piece of info has been mentioned, but i'm wondering if she dealt with tricky things and had a deeper sadness in her than people realized, making suicide a possibility. she could have seemed peppy and happy on the outside but was actually dealing with a lot of inner turmoil. did her mom have financial issues? any stress at home?
--do you know what her friends were like? what kind of crowd did she run with? was she around heavy partiers/drug users at all? did you ever see her wth boys/ hear about boyfriends?

---someone earlier in this thread mentioned that there was 'gossip' going around about her after her disappearance but it was all hushhush. do you have any idea what this gossip was referring to?

anyway, thanks so much for answering everyone's questions. this is a very decent, helpful thing of you to do :)
 
I was also just thinking that it might be extra helpful for China's family to making a facebook page for her and her disappearance. It seems that there were rumors and gossip going around, and it could be the perfect way for people who went to school with her to be reminded of the case and to speak up.

thinking of this sweet girl and hoping that she will be found!!!
 
Redux said:
From the above:



That sounds somewhat promising. At least they're still investigating.
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I feel like the town, and most importantly some of China's friends and classmates knew more than they were letting on. Perhaps they knew of a shady man or highschool kid China started hanging out with, or knew generally about more private activities in her life (romance, etc). This is why I think a Missing Person facebook page set up by the family would be very helpful for exposure. Perhaps people didn't come forward in the past because they were scared for themselves (especially high school kids) but now that time has passed and perhaps some have moved away, they would feel safer to come forward + a facebook page would remind them of the case.

I really feel like this is a very solvable case... more people just need to talk about what they know.
 
i know that china's mother is not married to her father. i've also wondered if perhaps there was someone she was working with at Bi-Lo which was a grocery store chain in this area. i have a hard time believing China would have done something to harm herself since she was asked by her mom to pick up a couple items from the store on her way home that day. when china's car was discovered in a parking lot in the next county over several months later, the bag and remains of those items were still in the car. i keep going back to the possibility of someone she worked with may know what happened.
 
Goose Creek Man is “Person of Interest” in Cold-Case Murder of 16-year-old Girl
By Raymond Owens
Published: September 8, 2015, 7:33 am Updated: September 8, 2015, 7:35 am

[...]
Det. Steve Craig says, “she was a normal 16-year-old girl. She had a job. She was working to pay for a car that she bought for herself. She lived at home with her mother and her sister.”

But that all changed on October 19, 1999. “She had stopped at the grocery store. She had gotten some groceries and she was on her way to go back and see the two people at the apartment, Chris and TJ. And nobody’s seen or heard from her since.”

They say Chris and TJ are persons of interest. TJ is now living in Goose Creek.

[...]
If you have any information about the person who murdered China, call crimestoppers at 554-1111.
 
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A little additional information here...

http://www.abcnews4.com/story/29991492/goose-creek-man-suspected-in-16-year-old-cold-case

GOOSE CREEK, S.C. (WCIV) -- Rutherford County Sheriff's detectives are back in Tennessee after investigating a 16-year-old cold case in Goose Creek.

China Videon, 16, went missing on Oct. 19, 1999, and was legally declared dead several years ago.

Investigators said she was seen in the home of two men who worked as managers with her at a TN grocery store. She had been seen previously by her mother at a nail salon and then buying groceries from the BiLo where she worked.

Detectives said her car was found abandoned in the summer of 2000 at an apartment complex in Nashville. They said the groceries were still in the car.

One of the suspects, known only as "T.J.," has been living in Goose Creek for more than a decade and has reportedly told people about killing Videon officials said.

Investigators said the other suspect, "Chris," lives in Alabama.

RCSO officials said they've been operating covertly for almost a year but now they hope someone will come forward with information on the crime since they do not have enough evidence to make an arrest.

"At this point we are closer than we ever have been," Detective Steve Kohler said. "We want to make sure our case is sealed up and a great case to prosecuted. There's some things we want to look into a little further."
 
Interview with China's mother. Hoping this is the break they need!

"Mom of Murfreesboro teen who disappeared 16 years ago wants closure"

http://wkrn.com/2015/09/21/mom-of-murfreesboro-teen-who-disappeared-16-years-ago-wants-closure/

“It seems like it’s been a long, 16, torturing years, actually,” Videon said. “She’s deceased; I felt it when it happened. It was in the middle of the driveway by the gas tank and I felt it.”

The mother continued, “It was 7:50 that night. I felt it. I can’t explain that. It was something that went from my head, all the way through my body down to my feet.”
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“It’s an open wound still,” Videon said. “You wonder everyday what really happened and how it happened, and if you ever will find her remains. There’s no body that’s been found at this time.”
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Videon is hopeful that her daughter’s cold case can be solved, so she can close this chapter of her life.

“You want some closure and some justice served,” she told News 2.
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Hoping her case gets resolved. Knowing the details more, it seems like she was killed at the apartment. For what, I don't know.
 
Vigil planned Monday for girl missing 16 years

Read more: http://www.wsmv.com/story/30614332/vigil-planned-monday-for-girl-missing-16-years#ixzz3skTEbKyT

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (AP) - A Middle Tennessee high school student who disappeared 16 years ago will be remembered Monday on her 33rd birthday.

The Daily News Journal (http://on.dnj.com/1PZQ57S ) says grade school friends of China Videon are sponsoring the vigil and invited Videon's friends to attend. Videon attended Riverdale High School in Murfreesboro.
 
http://wkrn.com/2015/11/30/vigil-held-on-what-would-have-been-missing-teens-33rd-birthday/

Sheriff: Arrest ‘imminent’ in 1999 Murfreesboro missing teen cold case

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WKRN) – Rutherford County Sheriff Robert Arnold told News 2 an arrest is “imminent” in the case of China Videon, a teenager who disappeared without a trace 16 years ago.

Videon vanished from Murfreesboro on Oct. 19, 1999 at the age of 16. Eight months later in June 2000, her car was found abandoned at the South Brook Apartments on Linbar Drive in Nashville.

Friends gathered Monday, what would’ve been her 33rd birthday, to honor her life with a candlelight vigil

“All of us are finally coming together to celebrate her life and the times we had with her,” friend Angela Mathews said.

The vigil was held at Barfield Crescent Park off of Veterans Parkway in Murfreesboro.
 
Bumping, hopefully they still have everything they need to work towards making an arrest.
 
TedMac said:
http://wkrn.com/2015/11/30/vigil-held-on-what-would-have-been-missing-teens-33rd-birthday/

Sheriff: Arrest ‘imminent’ in 1999 Murfreesboro missing teen cold case

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WKRN) – Rutherford County Sheriff Robert Arnold told News 2 an arrest is “imminent” in the case of China Videon, a teenager who disappeared without a trace 16 years ago.

Videon vanished from Murfreesboro on Oct. 19, 1999 at the age of 16. Eight months later in June 2000, her car was found abandoned at the South Brook Apartments on Linbar Drive in Nashville.

Friends gathered Monday, what would’ve been her 33rd birthday, to honor her life with a candlelight vigil

“All of us are finally coming together to celebrate her life and the times we had with her,” friend Angela Mathews said.

The vigil was held at Barfield Crescent Park off of Veterans Parkway in Murfreesboro.
Click to expand...

This Imminent arrest statement was about 7 months ago. I wonder if they are waiting on DNA, I know it can take up to a year, if the lab is doing it for free. Hoping they get the guy soon and there is justice for China.
 
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