Key facts
- Name: Dannette Latonia Millbrook and Jeannette Latrice Millbrook
- Born: April 2, 1974
- Age at disappearance: 15
- Last seen: March 18, 1990, ~4:30 p.m.
- Location: Pump-N-Shop, 12th Street & Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Augusta, Georgia
- Height / build: Dannette: 5’6″, 130 lbs, “bowlegged”; Jeannette: 5’4″, 125 lbs; both Black, Jheri curls, pierced ears; navel surgery scar
- Status: Still missing — Richmond County Sheriff’s Office, open investigation
- Investigating agency: Richmond County Sheriff’s Office, Criminal Investigations Division
The walk for chicken
On the afternoon of March 18, 1990, 15-year-old twins Dannette and Jeannette Millbrook told their mother, Louise, they were walking to Church’s Chicken on Laney Walker Boulevard in Augusta, Georgia. They mentioned something that should have stopped the day cold: a man in a van had been following them.
They went anyway. They were 15, and Church’s Chicken was a walk they’d made before.
Their route took them past their godfather’s house, where they stopped to ask for $20 for bus fare. Their cousin offered to walk with them, but it was getting dark soon and she wasn’t allowed. They continued to their older sister’s home, about 15 minutes away — she had recently given birth and couldn’t join them either.
(A note on the day’s sequence: this article compresses the afternoon for readability. Per the Wikipedia account, the twins first walked to Church’s Chicken for lunch, returned home, and told their mother about the man in the van; the stops at the godfather’s house, the cousin’s, and the older sister’s came afterward, on the walk that ended at the Pump-N-Shop.)
The last confirmed sighting of the twins was at about 4:30 p.m. at the Pump-N-Shop at 12th Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The clerk, Gloria, remembered them buying chips, candy, and soda. Then they walked out into the late afternoon, and they were never seen again.
Dannette wore a white Mickey Mouse shirt, white jeans, and black shoes. Jeannette wore a blue pullover with a white turtleneck, a beige skirt, white stockings, and white sneakers. Both had Jheri curls and pierced ears. They were students at Lucy Laney High School with no history of running away.
They would be 52 years old today.
The case that was closed — wrongly
What happened to Dannette and Jeannette after 1990 is a second disappearance: the disappearance of their case.
When the twins didn’t come home, the family was told to wait 24 hours before reporting them missing. The original case file was reportedly lost. Then, in 1991 — one year after two 15-year-old girls vanished — the case was closed. The family was told, at various times, that the twins had “aged out” of the system, and even that they had been found. They were removed from the national missing-persons registry. At one point the family was given a false story that the girls had been placed in foster care or adopted.
None of it was true. The twins were never found. Their case had simply been buried.
It stayed buried for more than two decades — until their sister Shanta Sturgis began pushing for it to be reopened in 2013. What she uncovered shamed the system: a Richmond County sheriff’s official would later admit that “a terrible injustice has been done for the last 20 years.” In 2017, the family submitted DNA to aid identification efforts. In 2023, Sgt. Randall Amos of the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office declined to comment to Dateline about the case’s status.
The twins’ father, John Millbrook, died in 2021 — without ever learning what happened to his daughters.
The van, the suspect, and the Doe
The man in the van the twins mentioned that afternoon has never been identified. Over the years, one name has surfaced repeatedly in connection with the case: Joseph Patrick Washington, a man serving 17 life sentences who died in 1999. Some investigators and advocates have considered him a possible suspect in the twins’ disappearance. He was never charged in their case, and the connection remains speculative.
In 1993, the remains of an unidentified young woman were found in Aiken County, South Carolina, just across the river from Augusta. For years, advocates hoped the Jane Doe might be one of the twins. She was compared against both girls — and ruled out. She was not Dannette. She was not Jeannette.
The twins’ story finally reached a national audience through the Fall Line podcast’s first season and a two-hour Oxygen special that aired November 23, 2019. A $10,000 reward, raised in part through podcast listeners, is offered for information.
Thirty-six years after two 15-year-old girls walked out of a convenience store with chips and candy, their case is open again — but the decades it spent closed can never be recovered.
Theories: what might have happened
Abduction by the man in the van. The theory with the most direct support: the twins themselves reported being followed by a man in a van that day, and they vanished within the hour. Two girls together are hard to take without planning or force — and the van suggests both.
Joseph Patrick Washington. He has been named by some as a possible suspect, and his record — 17 life sentences — makes the speculation understandable. But speculation is what it remains: he died in 1999, was never charged in the twins’ case, and no evidence publicly ties him to them. This must be labeled as rumor, not fact.
They ran away. The theory the system defaulted to for years — the one that got their case closed. Against it: no history of running, no contact in 36 years, no trace anywhere, and a family that never believed it. The “runaway” label here was not an investigation; it was an erasure.
Have information?
Contact the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division at (706) 821-1020 (non-emergency dispatch: (706) 821-1080). A $10,000 reward is offered. In an emergency, dial 911.
Timeline
- April 2, 1974 — Dannette Latonia and Jeannette Latrice Millbrook are born.
- March 18, 1990, afternoon — The twins tell their mother a man in a van is following them, then walk to Church’s Chicken.
- March 18, 1990, ~4:30 p.m. — Last seen at the Pump-N-Shop, 12th St & MLK Jr Blvd, Augusta, buying chips, candy, and soda.
- March 19, 1990 — Family reports them missing after being told to wait 24 hours.
- 1991 — Case closed; family told the twins “aged out” / had been found; removed from national registry. False foster-care story given.
- 1993 — Aiken County Jane Doe found; later compared and ruled out as the twins.
- 1999 — Joseph Patrick Washington dies in prison; never charged in the twins’ case.
- 2013 — Sister Shanta Sturgis pushes for reopening; sheriff admits “a terrible injustice has been done for the last 20 years.”
- 2017 — Family submits DNA for identification.
- 2019 — Fall Line Season 1 and two-hour Oxygen special (Nov 23) bring national attention; $10,000 reward.
- 2021 — Father John Millbrook dies without answers.
- 2023 — Sgt. Randall Amos declines comment to Dateline.
- Today — Still missing. Case open with Richmond County Sheriff’s Office.
FAQ
Are Dannette and Jeannette Millbrook still missing?
Yes. As of October 2026, the Millbrook twins have been missing for 36 years. Their case is open with the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office.
Were the Millbrook twins ever found?
No. Neither Dannette nor Jeannette has ever been found, alive or deceased.
Why was the Millbrook twins’ case closed?
In 1991, a year after they vanished, the case was closed and the twins were removed from the national missing-persons registry. The family was told at various times that the girls had “aged out,” had been found, or had been placed in foster care/adopted. None of it was true. The original file was reportedly lost. The case was reopened after their sister Shanta Sturgis campaigned for it in 2013.
How old would the Millbrook twins be today?
Dannette and Jeannette were born April 2, 1974. They turned 52 in April 2026.
Who is Joseph Patrick Washington?
Washington was a convicted offender serving 17 life sentences who died in 1999. Some have named him as a possible suspect in the twins’ disappearance, but he was never charged in their case and no evidence publicly connects him to them.
Was the Aiken County Jane Doe one of the twins?
No. An unidentified young woman found in Aiken County, SC in 1993 was compared against both twins and ruled out.
How can I help?
Share this case file. If you have any information, contact the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division at (706) 821-1020. A $10,000 reward is offered.
Sources
- Official / law enforcement: Richmond County Sheriff’s Office, Criminal Investigations Division (706-821-1020).
- News: The Augusta Chronicle coverage of the Millbrook case; Dateline NBC, “The Disappearance of Dannette and Jeannette Millbrook” (2023).
- Reference: Wikipedia, “Disappearance of Dannette and Jeannette Millbrook”; The Charley Project.
- Media: The Fall Line podcast, Season 1: “The Disappearance of the Millbrook Twins” (2017); Oxygen, “The Disappearance of the Millbrook Twins” two-hour special (Nov 23, 2019).
Corrections (October 2026 fact-check): minor — added a note clarifying the sequence of the twins’ afternoon of March 18, 1990 (the article compresses it; per Wikipedia, the Church’s Chicken trip and the report of the man in the van came before the stops at the godfather’s, cousin’s, and sister’s homes). All core facts verified against Wikipedia and the Charley Project. Found an error? Tell us via the About page and we will fix it promptly and note the change here. Last verified October 2026.