Name: Fonda Lockridge
Age: 26 years old
Last Seen: June 15, 1995
Location: Grand Rapids, Michigan
Status: Still Missing
Case Information
26 year old Fonda Lockridge was last seen in Grand Rapids, Michigan on June 15, 1995. She disappeared after leaving home to walk to a nearby party store.
Background
Fonda had two young daughters, a 6 year old and 15 month old, at the time of her disappearance. Her loved ones say it’s uncharacteristic of her to leave without warning.
Her daughters have few memories of their mom, but everyone that knew her says she had a “great personality” and was “the life of the party.”
“She’s a human being like everybody else,” her daughter Tashica Lockridge told Wood TV. “Besides what she was doing out here in the streets or the life that she decided to live, she was still human.”
The children were raised by their aunt after their mother disappeared.
Disappearance
Around 11:00 pm on June 15, 1995, Fonda Lockridge left home to walk to a nearby party store located at Oakdale and Eastern in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Fonda never returned home.
On the night of June 16, 1995, a relative saw her at the corner of Hall and Prospect and gave her $5. She hasn’t been seen or heard from since.
Her sister reported her missing to the Grand Rapids Police Department after she failed to return home.
Investigation
Lockridge was a sex worker at the time of her disappearance. Thriteen women were murdered and four went missing from the Grand Rapids area between 1993-1996, all of whom were sex workers. In October of 1996, the killing abruptly stopped.
Nine of the thirteen women who were killed were last seen on Division Avenue, near where Fonda was last seen. Three more were last seen a couple blocks away.
In 2023, forensic genealogy connected Garry Artman to the 1996 murder of Sharon Hammack in Grand Rapids. A jury took just 30 minutes to find him guilty of rape and murder.
On his deathbed, Artman confessed to 11 murders, 10 of which happened in Grand Rapids. He died in January 2024.
The investigations into the women’s cases are being handled through five different police agencies (Grand Rapids, Kent County, Walker, Muskegon and Wyoming), who are comparing the details Artman provided with unsolved cases.
Based on the details he provided, investigators have only been able to definitively tie him to two Grand Rapids murders, Sharon Hammack in 1996 and Cathleen Dennis in 1995.
Fonda Lockridge’s case, as well as most of the other Grand Rapids’ cases, remains unsolved.
Appearance
Black female with black hair and brown eyes. Fonda stood 5’4 tall and weighed 110 pounds at the time of her disappearance. Her ears are pierced.
Investigating Agency
If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Fonda Lockridge please contact the Grand Rapids Police Department at (616) 456-3400, or Silent Observer at (616) 774-2345.
Resources & Further Information
Fonda Lockridge – NamUs
Fonda Lockridge – The Charley Project
‘It’s Time:’ 29 Years After Grand Rapids Woman Vanished, Daughters Speak – WoodTV
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