Rumors, myths, & the Tabitha Tuders case
Update in a Series.
Tabitha Tuders departed her residence on Lillian Street on April 28, 2003 at about 7:50am, walked several blocks to catch her school bus, and has been missing since. One witness placed her getting into a red vehicle with a light-skinned black male wearing a red ball cap. She never made it to Bailey Middle School. As the years pass, Nashville's most baffling missing child case has created more rumors than answers.
Lolita Newell, like most residents on Lillian street in east Nashville, will tell you rumors were rampant as soon as Tabitha went missing: Tabitha was walking the streets of Hendersonville, selling drugs. She was working a Las Vegas bordello. She was seen working as a prostitute in Oklahoma. All stories dealing in sex and drugs, two things that had no significance to the thirteen year-old girl except they make good fodder. Lolita's son, Andre, sometimes rode the same school bus with Tabitha, and on the night of April 28, when she was discovered missing, Andre told Lolita, "Mamma, she didn't ride our bus this morning," according to Lolita. Tabitha and Andre were in a group of Bailey Middle School students who caught their bus at the corner of Boscobel Street near South 15th. Except, according to Andre, he did not ride the bus on April 28, 2003, he walked to school. Andre Newell remembers the last time he saw Tabitha: They were with a group, preparing for a program in the cafeteria on April 27, 2003. Tabitha was a "nice girl, friendly," and they shared a class together. During lunch, Tabitha and her friends sat next to the lunchroom table where Andre and his friends sat, and Andre's group would make Tabitha laugh. "She was cool, and would always say 'hi' to you in the halls," Andre says. Although he knew nothing of her personally - their social life did not expand past school - Andre liked Tabitha.
The 'light-skinned black male,' according to neighborhood gossip, was a Hispanic male who lived across the street from the Newell's, known to sport a red ball cap and drive a red vehicle. Lolita Newell says this was reported to Metro Police almost immediately after Tabitha went missing. She does not know the outcome. Since then, this person has moved away, "back to Mexico," according to gossip.
Some residents of Lillian are "section eight," some have lived in the same house for years, and some have lived in the same area for years but recently moved to Lillian Street. Most all have heard of the Tuders case. Newcomers are watched with some suspicion; those who have been in the neighborhood are close-knit and wave to one another. And most everyone will point out "the drug house" in the area. The neighborhood can appear to be racially divided: "Mexicans" are all assumed to be "illegals" and are watched with suspicion by many black residents. One white resident of a neighboring street reports, "I won't go down (Lillian) at night because of (various racial mixes)."
"Several weeks ago," according to one resident, Metro Police investigators contacted a Lillian street resident "wanting to dig up a backyard" because of a concrete slab located in the yard. "They said they got information that Tabitha Tuders was buried under there." According to the resident, the landlord told the investigators, "Tabitha Tuders never came to my house, there is no slab in my yard, and you're not going to dig up my yard." No excavation took place. According to yet another resident, this incident did not take place "several weeks ago," but "over a year ago, at least."
Neither Bo nor Debra Tuders, Tabitha's parents, were aware of this potential excavation. "We've requested a meeting with the Police Chief several times," for any information or updates, Debra says. "We were told he's busy." Bo Tuders echoes the sentiment. "Good luck in getting them to call you," he says of Metro Police Department. Police Chief Ron Serpas has been quoted as saying the Tabitha Tuders case was a "Top Priority."
Brandy Holt, another neighbor, has lived on Lillian for only a few years, but is privy to all of the rumors. Friends with Tabitha's older sister, Jamie, Brandy can tell all of the rumors. When asked for information, she will start by saying, "I heard." But her sincere concern for the missing girl is palatable, and she worries for the family. "There was a Myspace that looked just like Tabitha," she says. "They were hoping it was her. Jamie showed it to me. I don't know what happened with that." She spent time at the Tuders in her teen years, visiting with Jamie. She likes the Tuders. She is convinced Tabitha did not run away from home.
Christie Abu-basha and her fiancé, Joshua Moss, know best about the rumors versus the truth, and the rumors have created heated discussions with others. Joshua was ordering at a fast food restaurant when he overheard two strangers discussing Tabitha's picture on a 'Missing' flyer, calling the girl names. Joshua asked them if they knew her and when both replied in the negative, Joshua said, "Well I do. I've known her since she was born." He then told the strangers they needed to "keep their mouths shut;" his face red and his fists clenched, he ordered his food to go and left. Joshua has known the Tuders for at least 20 years. "Grandma," Hazel Sage, was his grandmother. "Grandma" was also Tabitha's best friend, the Tuder's next-door neighbor to whom Tabitha would run for solace, for company, for chicken nuggets and reading books. "Grandma would cry and cry the last few months she was alive," Christie says, eyes misting, "asking why God would take such a 'precious baby' as Tabitha away."
"The Tuders are very family - oriented," Christie Abu-basha says. Neither she nor Joshua Moss believes Tabitha ran away from home or would get in a vehicle with a stranger, "She was so shy," but they have no idea who would abduct her. Despite (big brother) Kevin's criminal history, and the fact Jamie failed polygraph tests, Christie and Joshua refuse to believe the Tuders siblings would hide information leading to any perpetrators. "Kevin and I used to walk to go pick her up from kindergarten," Joshua says. "He loved her."
What about the Myspace that favored Tabitha? Debra Tuders knows nothing of this. Christie Abu-basha clears it up. "It wasn't Tabitha," she confirms. "Jamie looked that up." As of this writing, Jamie has yet to return this writer's calls.
"Tabitha had such good manners." Christie Abu-basha tells a guest. "Did anyone tell you about Marilyn Beasley? She was the last person to talk to Tabitha. Marilyn Beasley was a homeless person who hung around (Lillian Street). But when Tabitha walked past her that morning, she said, 'good morning, Ms. Beasley.'" Bo Tuders knew Marilyn Beasley. "She wasn't homeless," he explains. "She had a house, but no electricity" or utilities. Bo does not know how anyone would know Beasley was the last person to talk with Tabitha. Marilyn Beasley is since deceased.
So explains Metro police department's arduous task in unraveling fact from fiction, truth from deceit. People who thought they heard, or might have heard; people who saw or did not see. Hearsay turns to first person. Meanwhile, the years pass and the case becomes increasing difficult as memories fade and witnesses move away or die.
Rumors appear to be built from the myth of Tabitha, in an effort to find an answer. Some stories are created from people who love this little girl and enshrine her best attributes. Either way, Christie Abu-basha explains it best when describing the east Nashville neighborhood. "Tabitha," says Christie, "is never forgotten."
