On a Tuesday evening, October 19, 1999, in Christiana, Tennessee, 16-year-old China Renee Videon finished her shift at the Bi-Lo grocery store and set out to run a few errands. A junior at Riverdale High School, she had recently purchased her first car, a 1999 black Mazda Protege. That evening, she stopped by the Just Image beauty salon to visit her mother, Suzanne.
After chatting for about half an hour, she mentioned she still needed to get gas and was planning to see a friend for a little while before heading home for her 8:30 p.m. curfew. This was the last time her mother would ever see her. When China failed to return home and didn't respond to pages—which was highly uncharacteristic of her—her family grew deeply concerned and reported her missing.
Initially, law enforcement treated China's disappearance as a runaway case, a theory her family never subscribed to given her responsible nature and future plans, which included ordering a class ring. It wasn't until eight months later, in June 2000, that a significant development occurred: China's Mazda Protege was discovered abandoned in the parking lot of an apartment complex in south Nashville. The vehicle appeared to have been sitting there for a long time. Inside, investigators found the groceries she had purchased the night she vanished, but the car had been wiped clean of any fingerprints or DNA evidence, and there were no signs of a struggle. This discovery shifted the focus of the investigation towards the strong possibility of foul play.
As the years passed with no answers, the case grew cold, though investigators continued to follow any leads that emerged. A renewed push in the investigation around 2015 brought a glimmer of hope when authorities announced they had identified two persons of interest, men identified only as 'Chris' and 'TJ,' who were managers at the Bi-Lo where China worked. Reports suggested that China may have been seen at the home of these two men after she left the beauty salon. One of the men, TJ, was reportedly living in South Carolina and had allegedly made statements to people about being involved in China's murder. Despite detectives traveling to South Carolina and expressing confidence that an arrest was imminent, no arrests were ever made. The disappearance of China Videon, a young woman with a promising future, remains an unsolved case classified as an endangered missing person, leaving her family with unanswered questions and a profound sense of loss.Last Seen: Oct 19, 1999
