Account
Oct 01, 2010
Aug 11, 2022
Althedia
Vaught
57
42
67 inches
68 inches
150 lbs
155 lbs
Black / African American
Female
In the winter of 2009, 42-year-old Althedia Vernon Vaught was living in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with her three adult children. On the evening of January 19th, she told her family she was tired and was going to bed. However, around 11:30 p.m., she received a phone call and promptly left her home, taking only her cell phone with her. She was last seen wearing only her pajamas and slippers, leaving behind a heater and television that were still on, suggesting she did not intend to be gone for long. This departure was highly uncharacteristic of Vaught, who was described as a reliable employee at the nursing facility where she worked and was eagerly anticipating the birth of her grandson, due any day. The days following her abrupt departure turned into a period of anxious waiting for her family. Their concern grew when, on January 24, 2009, Vaught's dark green 1995 Infiniti was discovered abandoned in a parking garage at Hillcrest Hospital in Tulsa. There was no sign of Vaught at the scene, nor any indication of a struggle. Investigators reviewing the hospital's security footage made a curious discovery. The footage showed that approximately 35 minutes before Vaught's car entered the parking garage, a white 2003 Chevrolet extended cab pickup truck had also entered the garage. The truck, which had a distinctive insignia of three triangles on both doors, was seen leaving the garage after Vaught's car had been parked. Police later identified and interviewed the driver of the truck, but have not publicly connected the vehicle or its driver to her disappearance. The investigation into Althedia Vaught's case has been fraught with troubling details and unanswered questions. Her family's attempts to reach her were met with a disconnected cell phone for the first six months after she vanished. When the number was eventually reconnected, a man answered, claiming to have purchased the phone and that he was unable to remove her voicemail message. The case is further shadowed by a past family tragedy; Vaught's sister was the victim of an unsolved homicide in New York in 1989, though authorities do not believe the two cases are related. The prevailing theory among investigators is that Vaught met with foul play. Her sudden disappearance in her sleepwear, the abandonment of her car, and the strange circumstances surrounding the security footage all point to a deeply unsettling mystery that remains unsolved, leaving her family with lingering questions and a profound sense of loss.
Dec 02, 2009
Tulsa
Oklahoma
Tulsa County
9119
Tulsa Police Department
Tulsa
Oklahoma
Tulsa County
74103
Joe Campbell
Detective Sergeant
600 Civic Center, Oklahoma
9185969143
Local
Law Enforcement
2009-004303
2009-12-02
Tulsa Police Department
Black
Brown
Brown
06/26/2026
