(NewsNation) — Numerous leads have surfaced since Diamond and Tionda Bradley went missing from their Chicago-area home 22 years ago, but a recent lead about a woman in her 20s living in Houston has given the family renewed hope.
“You can’t emotionally process it, you just have to deal with it,” April Jackson, the sisters’ aunt, said of the 16 times women have come out of the woodwork saying that they were either Diamond or Tiana.
But a woman who came forward in May piqued the family’s interest. She claimed to be Diamond Bradley and had the same scar on her head as the long-missing woman.
Jackson said the woman showed a genuine interest in discovering her true identity and was willing to undergo a DNA test.
“She went by herself along with another friend to go get that DNA test,” Jackson said. “So that was different for us, versus the FBI making someone else go and get their fingerprints and DNA taken.”
Tracy, the girl’s mother, went to Texas to try to connect with this woman.
However, the meeting did not go as expected as the woman and her friend felt uncomfortable meeting with Tracy because “they preferred to just wait until the DNA returned,” said the sisters’ great aunt, Sheliah Bradley-Smith.
Bradley-Smith expressed concern over the emotional toll such encounters can take on Tracy, who has been tirelessly searching for answers.
The family is now waiting for the results of the DNA tests conducted by the FBI, hoping for a breakthrough that will provide clarity and possibly lead to a reunion with their missing loved ones.
The upcoming broadcast of an Investigation Discovery program Sunday night has promised to reveal significant information related to the case.
The families urge anyone with information to reach out to their local FBI office or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to help bring resolution to this heartbreaking mystery.