In a quiet neighborhood in Augusta, Georgia, lived a lively set of 15-year-old twin girls, Dannette and Jeannette Millbrook. As similar in appearance as they were in spirit, the girls brought a sense of vibrant energy to their family of seven. Under the tireless care of their single mother, Mary “Louise” Sturgis, the family strived to live a peaceful life. Amid the playful banter and shared chores, the sisters were a beacon of warmth, their laughter filling the modest family home. Their younger sister, Shanta Sturgis, would often look up to them, their bond making the challenges of life more bearable.
However, the ordinary serenity of their lives took a tragic turn on a day that started just like any other – March 18, 1990. It was a typical Sunday, the air warm at 70 degrees, as the family joined their community at Christ Presbyterian Church on Laney Walker Boulevard. The girls were in high spirits, blending into the joyous chorus of hymns, their youthful voices echoing through the church hall. After the service, they picked up dinner for the family, a mundane task they performed with their usual cheerfulness.
But this time, the ordinary had a cruel twist. The girls realized that with their recent move to Cooney Circle, they needed bus fare for the week to reach Lucy C. Laney High School. The solution seemed straightforward – a 2-mile trek from their new home to their old neighborhood. As they set out on this journey, little did anyone know that it would mark the beginning of a mystery that would haunt their family and the Augusta community for decades to come.
The first stop was on Forest Street, at the house of their godfather. The girls were known and loved in the neighborhood, their old home on 12th Street serving as a cornerstone of memories. Their next stop was Agnes Jones’ house, an old acquaintance who saw them walk past her house. A visit to their cousin Juanita’s house on Tin Cup Lane followed, where they asked Juanita to walk home with them. Unfortunately, her mother wouldn’t let her go.
Their journey led them to their sister’s house on Picquet Avenue, just across the road from a club known as the High Hat. With familiar sights and sounds surrounding them, the twins must have felt safe, the comfort of their old neighborhood still fresh in their memories. Their sister recalled seeing them leave her house, heading towards the Pump and Shop convenience store on 12th and MLK.
As the afternoon grew late, the girls arrived at the convenience store around 4:30. The clerk remembered selling snacks to the twins, their bright smiles as memorable as ever. But when asked about the direction the girls took after leaving the store, the clerk was uncertain.
As the last rays of sunlight faded, so did the last confirmed sighting of Dannette and Jeannette Millbrook. The realization hit hard – the girls had vanished, their whereabouts unknown. The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office was alerted, and an investigation began. The street they had known as Milledgeville Road was now a potential crime scene renamed MLK Boulevard, adding another layer of confusion to the unfolding mystery.
As darkness settled, a family waited anxiously, their hearts heavy with an unspoken fear. A community held its breath, praying for the safe return of their beloved twins. And as the investigation unfolded, the echoes of laughter that once filled the Sturgis home seemed like distant memories. The day that started like any other had turned into a day that would leave an indelible mark in the annals of Augusta’s history. The Millbrook twins, who had left home with hope and innocence in their eyes, were now at the center of a mystery that would turn colder with each passing day.
Investigation and Emergence of New Clues
As the weeks turned into months and then years, the case of the Millbrook twins went cold. Their family was left waiting in a painful limbo, grappling with the distressing absence of their beloved girls and the lack of progress in their case. Mary “Louise” Sturgis, the twins’ mother, expressed her anguish succinctly – “It’s just like ain’t nothing happening. All we get is hearsay.”
Richmond County Sheriff’s Office maintained its missing persons report, stating that the girls had left their Cooney Circle home to visit a family friend near 12th Street and MLK Boulevard. But the leads were few and far between, the hope of finding the girls diminishing with every passing day.
Yet, the family refused to give up. The younger sister, Shanta Sturgis, participated in a Cold Case Project interview, relaying the story of her sisters’ disappearance, pleading with the public for any information that could bring closure to their family’s ordeal. The family continued to believe that someone out there knew something – a small piece of information that could end their search.
In June 2017, almost three decades after the girls’ disappearance, a podcast called The Fall Line took an interest in the cold case. The hosts, Laurah Norton and Brooke Hargrove, began a meticulous examination of the case, retracing the girls’ steps on that fateful day. Their work led to the increase of the reward for information on the case from $10,000 to $11,000, raising public awareness, and rekindling hope that the mystery could finally be solved.
During their research, Laurah and Brooke focused on several places the twins had visited on the day they vanished – the gas station, Underwood Homes, the twins’ school, and areas where their friends hung out. As they dived deeper into the case, they began to discover new evidence that challenged the previously accepted narrative of the girls’ disappearance.
One such revelation came in a 2019 Oxygen documentary that presented evidence that the girls might have been picked up and brought to their father’s home on 3rd Street after leaving the convenience store. Everyone who knew the twins attested that they would not have willingly gotten into a car with a stranger, suggesting that the person who picked them up was likely someone they knew and trusted.
The documentary also introduced a potentially critical witness – a man currently in prison who claimed to know something about the events of that day. He alleged that a drug party had taken place at the twins’ father’s house on 3rd Street, and this was where the girls were last seen. Laurah and Brooke shared this information with the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office.
However, the Sheriff’s Office dismissed the prisoner’s story as unrelated to the Millbrook twins’ case. Adding another twist to the case, the girls’ sister Shanta claimed their father, John Millbrook, had always acted suspiciously, even though there’s no clear evidence to suggest he was involved in their disappearance.
As more years passed, the mystery deepened, and the fragments of information came together to form a dark and complex puzzle. The story of Dannette and Jeannette’s disappearance evolved from a simple missing person case into a tale of unanswered questions, hidden truths, and potential cover-ups.
The Enduring Mystery
Despite the twists and turns of the investigation, and the passage of more than three decades, the mystery of Dannette and Jeannette Millbrook’s disappearance remains unsolved. However, new clues have fueled renewed efforts to uncover the truth and have highlighted the enduring hope for justice and closure.
In a shocking revelation that further complicated the case, the family disclosed a disturbing detail from the day of the girls’ disappearance. According to Shanta Sturgis, the twins had mentioned being followed by a white van after picking up dinner from church. The only person they could connect to such a vehicle was a local man referred to as “Raper man Charles,” who lived near them on 12th Street. This detail, initially overlooked, presents a chilling new angle to the girls’ vanishing.
As if in a grim sign of hope, for many years, it was believed that unidentified human remains discovered in the Shaws Creek area of Aiken County might be those of the missing twins. However, a private examination by the Aiken County Coroner ruled out this possibility, dashing any hopes of a resolution through this lead.
The story of Dannette and Jeannette Millbrook continues to grip the Augusta community, and anyone with any information about the twins whereabouts are asked please report to the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office immediately.
Deep Lore 