In the spring of 2012, a mother of four named Shalonda T. Harts vanished from Richland County, South Carolina, leaving behind a void of information and a family desperate for answers. On April 8th of that year, the 30-year-old reportedly left her apartment on Bent Tree Lane following a disagreement. This departure would be the last time her life followed any known pattern.
After leaving her residence, Shalonda, who was known to her loved ones as 'Tank,' was seen by her mother in the vicinity of Broad River Road. A friend also reported seeing her later in the Hollywood Hills subdivision of Columbia. From that point on, all communication from Shalonda ceased, and no one has reported hearing from her since.
At the time she went missing, Shalonda was described as being 5'4' tall and weighing approximately 130 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. She has a distinctive tattoo on her hand, located between her thumb and index finger, of the word 'Dank' with hearts above it. When last seen, she was wearing a green t-shirt, long khaki pants, gray sneakers, and a pink bandana. Compounding the difficulty of the search was the fact that Shalonda did not own a vehicle or a cellphone, limiting the potential for digital or physical tracking of her movements after her last known sightings. The absence of these common modern tools has left investigators with very few leads to follow.
The investigation into Shalonda Harts's disappearance was opened by the Richland County Sheriff's Department, but the case has grown cold over the years with few details emerging. Her four children were left without their mother, and a family has had to endure more than a decade of uncertainty. The case is a somber reminder of how quickly a person can disappear, leaving behind only questions and heartache. The overview of the case remains one of limited information; Shalonda Harts, a young mother, left her home after an argument and was seen twice more before she disappeared without a trace, leaving a family to wonder what happened on that April day.Last Seen: Apr 8, 2012
