Last week, we shared Part 1 of Junaliza Chappell’s story. By February of 2007, Juna was preparing to leave her husband, Timothy, and start over in California with her 3-year-old daughter, Ashley.
Juna had carefully crafted her exit plan. Ashley was already in California, staying with Juna’s trusted friends, Frank and Grace. Juna had moved some of her belongings into a storage unit there. She had a new job waiting for her, but first she needed to attend job training in Florida. From there, the plan was for Juna to fly back to Atlanta, get her car, and drive west. But Juna never made it to California.
Timothy later claimed that he picked Juna up from the Atlanta airport and took her to Walmart to pick up a prescription. He said Juna went inside and never came back out. From the beginning, there were problems with that story, and by the time investigators tried to verify it, potential surveillance footage was already gone.
Then the situation became even more alarming. Juna’s coworker and friend, Faye, began learning more about Timothy’s past. Around that same time, Timothy seemed to disappear, too, and Ashley was with him. When Timothy was eventually found, he was driving Juna’s car, and Ashley was in the backseat. Inside the vehicle were belongings Juna likely would have taken with her if she had been the one driving to California, including her purse.
Timothy was arrested that day, but not for anything connected to Juna’s disappearance. He was arrested because he was a sex offender who had failed to register, and authorities had found Ashley in his care.
In Part 2, we shift the focus to the women who kept pushing after Juna vanished. Faye kept digging. She searched for more information about Timothy’s past, followed the details that did not add up, and tried to gather anything that might help keep him incarcerated. Now-retired U.S. Marshal Katrina stayed focused on Timothy from a different angle. She had already been searching for him before Juna disappeared. As new information surfaced, the case became darker, more complicated, and increasingly tied to the man Juna had been trying to leave.
If you have any information about the disappearance of Junaliza Chappell, please contact the Atlanta Police Department Missing Persons Unit at 404-546-4235.
Ashley has also created an email address for tips. If you have information but do not feel comfortable contacting law enforcement directly, you can email bringjunalizahome@gmail.com. Tips can be sent anonymously.
