In the summer of 1981, a heart-wrenching story began to unfold in Bridgeport, Connecticut, with the disappearance of a young child named Jovonna Stacey Crawford. Just shy of her second birthday, Jovonna was a toddler living with her mother, Mary Corbin, and a brother in the P.T. Barnum Housing Project. On the morning of June 5, 1981, as her mother prepared to leave for work, she entrusted Jovonna's temporary care to her then-boyfriend, Ronald Garrett. The plan was for Garrett to watch the little girl until she could be taken to her maternal great-grandmother, who lived nearby in the same complex and was her regular babysitter. This ordinary day, however, took a devastating turn, as it would be the last time Mary Corbin would ever see her daughter.
The account of what transpired next has remained a point of contention and mystery for decades. According to Garrett, at approximately 10:20 a.m., an unfamiliar boy, estimated to be around 10 or 11 years old, came to the door. He described the boy as African-American with his hair in small braids. Garrett claimed the boy announced that he had been sent by Jovonna's great-grandmother to pick her up. Believing he recognized the boy from the neighborhood, Garrett allowed him to take one-year-old Jovonna, who was reportedly wearing a blue and white jumpsuit at the time. However, Jovonna never made it to her great-grandmother's home. The great-grandmother later stated that she had not sent anyone to collect the child, and the identity of the young boy, if he even existed, has never been confirmed.
When Mary Corbin returned from work that evening and went to her grandmother's house, she was met with the terrifying reality that her daughter was not there and had never arrived. The family was plunged into a nightmare, and an extensive search was launched for the missing toddler. The investigation into Jovonna's disappearance led to the arrest of Ronald Garrett just a few days later. He was ultimately convicted of risk of injury to a minor and served about ten months in prison. Throughout the years, despite the conviction, Garrett has maintained his story about the unidentified boy. The case of Jovonna Crawford is a deeply troubling one, classified as a non-family abduction with suspected foul play. Despite the passage of time, her family has held onto the hope that she might still be alive, perhaps raised by others and unaware of her true origins. The Bridgeport Police Department continues to list her as a missing person, a small face on a poster representing a family's enduring love and an agonizing, unanswered question.
Last Seen: Jun 05, 1981
