AUBURNDALE, Fla. — “Justice for Tonya” — that was the call from family and friends of Tonya Whipp Friday evening as they gathered in Auburndale City Park to hold a prayer vigil to mark one year since the 38-year-old was last seen.
For Whipp’s sisters, it’s been a year of questions.
“For lack of a better word: Hell,” said Jenny Shelton of what her sister’s disappearance has meant for their family. “Not knowing is detrimental to our everyday life.”
Loved ones came together to pray and call for answers. Shelton said Whipp was last seen on May 26, 2023, and her absence has left a void in the lives of those who knew her.
“She’s the life of the party. Always made you cry, laugh. You’d cry because you’d be laughing so hard. She’d give the shirt off her back to anybody,” Shelton said.
Purple decorated the park, from the shirts attendees wore to ribbons tied to light poles and trees.
Loved ones said the color was picked not just because it’s Whipp’s favorite, but also because it’s the color that represents domestic violence awareness.
Whipp was in a relationship with Russell Carroll when she disappeared, and he is the only suspect authorities have identified in the homicide investigation.
Carroll was arrested earlier this month and charged with stealing money from Whipp’s bank account after she was reported missing. The nonprofit group We Are The Essentials joined the search early on, which included talking to Carroll.
“In the beginning, we interviewed him three times,” said We Are The Essentials President Nico Tusconi. “All three times, and this was while it was just a missing persons case, all three times, he had three different stories.”
Carroll has maintained his innocence. Police have searched the home he shared with Whipp twice, most recently last week. Shelton said so far, family hasn’t learned anything new.
“It’s forward movement, which is great in any case,” Shelton said. “But, I mean, in a case like this, it is a process, and we know it takes time. We know APD and the chief are doing everything, everything in their power to find whoever hurt my sister.”
The search for Whipp continues, but police say she is presumed dead.
“I believed it probably a week or two after she became missing,” said Whipp’s sister, Robin Klotzbier. “We talked every, single day. So, I knew something was wrong when she didn’t call me. But we’re going to find her.”
Anyone with information on this case is asked to reach out to Auburndale Police at (863) 965-5555 or We Are The Essentials at (516) 253-0610.
Sarah Blazonis
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