Account
Dec 12, 2008
Jul 20, 2022
Daphne
Jones
52
26
66 inches
135 lbs
Black / African American
Female
In the winter of 1999, Daphne Philisia Jones, a 22-year-old student at the University of New Orleans, was at a pivotal moment in her life. Having recently discovered she was two months pregnant, she made the significant decision to leave her life in New Orleans behind and return home to Maryland to be with her mother. Daphne had been living in the university dorms but had moved into an off-campus apartment after learning about her pregnancy. She had a part-time job as a hostess at the renowned Brennan's Restaurant, which she planned to leave. Her plane ticket was already purchased for a flight scheduled just six days after she was last seen. According to her family, the father of her unborn child was pressuring her to have an abortion, a choice she refused to make. In response to this pressure, her mother had urged her to come home where she would be cared for. The last known sighting of Daphne was by her grandmother, who dropped her off at her apartment. An eerie feeling was said to have washed over her grandmother as she drove away. Daphne was scheduled to work a 3:00 p.m. shift at Brennan's that day but never arrived. Sometime during when she should have been at work, she made a distressing phone call to her cousin, sounding upset. The following afternoon, concern grew, and her family gained access to her apartment. The scene they discovered was unsettling; the lights were off, but the television, heater, and an iron were all on. Food had been left out, and her backpack containing her identification was found inside, suggesting a hasty departure. In the years that followed Daphne's disappearance, her family held onto hope, though the passage of time brought more sorrow. Tragically, her mother, father, and the grandmother who last saw her have all since passed away. Her mother was a staunch advocate for her daughter, even appearing on television to highlight the disparity in media coverage for missing women of color. Her family believes that foul play was involved in her disappearance and that she may be deceased. At the time of her disappearance, Daphne was described as being 5'5" and weighing 130 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. She has a distinctive tattoo of a Chinese symbol on her right shoulder. She was last seen wearing a yellow pullover jacket, blue jeans, and sneakers. The case of Daphne Philisia Jones remains an unresolved and sorrowful mystery, a story of a young woman on the cusp of a new chapter in her life who vanished without a trace.
Jan 03, 1999
New Orleans
Louisiana
Orleans Parish
3133
New Orleans Police Department 7th Police District
New Orleans
Louisiana
Orleans Parish
70127
Lawrence Dupree
Police Commander
10101 Dwyer Road New Orleans, LA 70127, Louisiana
5046586070
Local
Law Enforcement
A-7992-99
New Orleans Police Department 7th Police District
5006
Brown
Brown
Brown
05/16/2026
