Toni Clark- Missing for 20 Years

Photo Credit: CharleyProject.org

Toni Danielle Clark left a cousin's home from Oakland, CA to drive back to her parents' home in San Francisco, CA on March 16, 1990. She was 17 years old a the time. The car she was driving, a Chevrolet Camaro that was her boyfriend's, kept stalling and had trouble starting before she left a friend's house in Oakland, CA. It stalled on the San Francisco Bay Bridge and at 12:00 AM, another car collided with it. There was damage from behind. Six minutes later police found the car, but Toni was not in it and nowhere to be found.

It was assumed that the impact of the accident swept her under the water below the bridge. The U.S. Coast Guard dragged the bottom of the Bay but not one single trace of her was to be found. It is a believed that a week later her mother received a phone call from a girl who she believes was her daughter. The girl on the other line was crying for 40 seconds, then hung up. The phone call was unable to be traced. Authorities still believe that she drowned the night of the accident. They believe the motorist hit the car from behind on accident while Toni was at the front end of her car, and the impact threw her overboard . However, there is still much doubt in that theory. Besides the suspicious phone call, witnesses report seeing an African American man looking under the Camaro, then leaving the scene. Also, no one says they saw Toni's body going over the railing. Her bracelet that she never removed from her wrist was found in the passenger seat of the car along with her car keys.

Toni Clark was a senior in high school who loved tack, swimming and dancing. She would now be 39 years old.

Toni was last seen wearing a black tube top with lace, black linen shorts, light blue jean jacket, white loafers; a two gold nugget ring on her right hand and a gold chain bracelet. Most importantly, she was 2 months pregnant when she went missing! 
Toni was 5'3" when she vanished, and was about 110 pounds. She had black hair, brown eyes and gaps between her teeth. There is a mole on her left calf and a scar on her right knee. Her ears are double-pierced.

Toni's disappearance is one that concerns me because she was pregnant and authorities have just written it off. Yes, it is a possibility that she drowned, but they have not one single piece of evidence that points to it. Thinking about the phone call and the bracelet that was found, I believe someone could have possibly picked her up. Six minutes is plenty of time for someone to go missing without a trace. She was a teenage girl, alone at midnight with no possible way to get away from anyone who would want to take her. I wonder about the person who collided with the car. Did he just drive away after the accident or was he there the whole time? If he was, he probably would have seen something. If he was the one who harmed her, he could have easily thrown her body over the bridge, knowing it would never be found, despite the fact nothing was found with the search of the bay.
Even if her she did drown and her death was accidental, why close the case? Was there any evidence from the front of the car to show it impacted Toni enough to send her flying over the bridge? If the impact was that strong, surely there'd be something left at the scene to show for it. And wouldn't it still be a hit and run?? My biggest disappointment in this case is that it is closed. Even if foul play is not present, this is still at least a hit and run accident, because there is no record of a motorist calling 911 about the dilemma.

 Wesley Shermantine (L) and Loren Herzog (R) went on a meth-fueled killing spree for two decades. Photo credit: CharleyProject.org.

   However, a recent turn of events has brought up a new possibility of Toni's fate that night on the bridge. In 1999 Wesley Shermantine and Loren Herzog, two prominent methamphetamine users, we arrested in San Joaquin County in California for multiple murders. Herzog was sentenced to life in prison, and Shermantine was sentenced to death row for their meth-fueled killing spree that spanned from the mid 1980s-1999. In 2012, Shermantine revealed not only more chilling information about all the murders, but decided to reveal where some of the remains were. (Due to this, Herzog comitted suicide in January 2012). Inside an abandoned well on a small farm by Linden, California, the remains of 16 year-old Chevelle Wheeler and 25 year-old Cyndi Vanderheiden were discovered. Cyndi had vanished from a bar in Linden on November 14, 1998. Chevelle vanished outside of her high school in Stockton on October 16, 1985. 

 Joann Hobson (L) and Kimberly Ann Billy (R) both vanished in the '80s from Stockton, CA. Their remains were discovered in a well in Linden, CA. They were victims of the Speed Freak Killer. Photo Credit: Charleyproject.org.

In March 2012, the remains of four more victims would be found. Two were identified as 19 year-old Kimberly Billy and 16 year-old Joann Hobson, both missing from Stockton, California. Joann vanished on August 29, 1985 and was last sen leaving her home during the middle of the night. Kimberly was last seen on December 11, 1984. The third victim remains unidentified, and is a "Mixed-Ancestry" or African American female. A fetus was also discovered, and investigators say she was pregnant. They believe the girl was 16-18 years old and about 5'1"-5'4". Shermantine also claimed there was a pregnant African American woman in one of the wells. 

Chevelle Wheeler (L) and Cyndi Vanderheiden (R) were found in an abandoned Linden Well in 2012. Photo Credit: CharleyProject.org

Now, Toni was 17 and 5'3" at the time she vanished. Her physical description and circumstances could mean she may have been a victim of the Speed Freak killers. I wonder if anyone has ever tested her to be the unidentified woman in the well. The only thing that throws this off is Toni was only 2 months pregnant when she vanished, and the unknown woman found may have been farther along. Still, Toni could have been farther along then she thought. I believe she is a very good possible match, but was unable to find out if they ever compared the two. The Speed Freak Killers are also thought to have been involved in the disappearances of other missing persons not too far from the Linden and Stockton areas, such as Gayle Marks, Theresa Biers, Susan Bender, Michaela Garecht, Phillip Martin, Sylvia Standly and Ruth Leamon.

Toni Danielle Clark age progressed photograph. Photo Credit: charleyproject.org 

 Bottom line is, there is no evidence pointing to her drowning. I'd like to see her case investigated more, because I know there's more there than what meets the eye. It should not be a closed case either way. Toni's mother believes she did not drown and is still searching for her to this day. Please look at her photo and remember Toni Clark, because she could still be out there somewhere.
If you have any information about the disappearance of Toni Danielle Clark, please contact:
 

San Bruno Police -Department Phone
 415-877-8965

**Toni's Website:  
http://www.myspace.com/missing_toni_clark

**Source: 
Toni Clark
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/c/clark_toni.html
http://crimesearchersonline.com/index.php?option=com_sobi2&sobi2Task=sobi2Details&catid=3&sobi2Id=911&Itemid=1
Cyndi Vanderheiden
http://crime.about.com/od/missing/ss/Cyndi-Vanderheiden.htm
Chevelle Wheeler
http://crime.about.com/od/missing/ss/chevelle-wheeler.htm
SFK
http://www.sercity.com/fetus-remains...freak-killers/