Tiffany Whitton, 26, went missing from Marietta, Georgia, on September 13, 2013. She was last seen running from a Walmart Supercenter around 2 am, after being confronted by plain-clothes loss-prevention officers for shoplifting. She darted into the night, barefoot and without her purse or cell phone, and was never seen again.
Even though Tiffany has been missing for nearly 10 years, I only learned about her story recently. I believe her case lacks coverage due to her lifestyle. Tiffany fell into addiction and was a regular user of heroin and methamphetamine at the time of her disappearance. She was involved with sleazy characters, which included her boyfriend, a registered felon, and her circle of drug “buddies.” From a young age, she got into a habit of petty theft, stealing mostly low-budget items for seemingly no reason at all; items that were useless or that she didn’t really need. The stealing reflected signs of kleptomania more than anything else; an impulse control disorder characterized by the irresistible urge to steal.
Many times, victims with addictions like Tiffany don’t receive enough attention. There are people who play the blame game and believe those with addictions are the cause of their own demise. In many ways, they are; however, regardless of the struggles someone may experience, no one deserves to be unaccounted for, especially without a thorough investigation. Tiffany has a family and her loved ones, particularly her mother, continue to search for answers. She left behind a daughter, who is now 15, and wonders about her mother.
Here’s more about Tiffany.
Tiffany’s Backstory
Tiffany Michelle Whitton was born on January 30, 1987, in Kennesaw, Georgia, a western suburb of Atlanta. Her mother Lisa Daniels and father (whose name is not mentioned publicly) divorced soon after she was born. She has a younger sister, Summer, and a half-brother, Blake.
As a child, Tiffany was happy, rambunctious, passionate and headstrong. Tiffany and her mother were nearly inseparable. However, Tiffany began showing signs of problematic behavior as young as 2 years old. At this age, Tiffany’s mother would find toys in her daughter’s toy box that didn’t belong there. When confronted, Tiffany lied, claiming that someone gave her the toys. The truth was, she stole them from her daycare center. Tiffany’s pathological lying worsened with age and drug use.
Lisa recalled that her daughter loved animals and elderly people. Tiffany had dreams of becoming a veterinarian, but these aspirations fell short when she dropped out of high school as a sophomore. Before that, she was a cheerleader. At age 16, Tiffany gave birth a baby girl, who she gave up for adoption. It was a decision that affected her deeply.
At 21 years old, Tiffany gave birth to her second child, a daughter she named Addison. That same year, in 2008, she began using OxyContin recreationally, a prescription opiate medication, which segued into heroin use. For a few years, Tiffany was able to hide her drug use from her family. But with time, her behavior became more erratic and flighty, Lisa caught on.
Once very close to her mother, Tiffany became estranged from her family and left her daughter in the case of her mom. Lisa used tough love to try to encourage her daughter to swerve back on the right path, but to little avail. Tiffany was stuck in the throes of addiction.
In her late teens and early 20s, she worked as a bartender and waitress at Hooters, a sports bar and grill chain. Around this time, she was caught stealing a $3 pair of flip-flop sandals from a local Walmart. Stealing from department stores like Walmart became a pattern of behavior that Tiffany engaged in up until the last moment she was seen.
Tiffany Falls Into Addiction and Crime
In 2011, at the age of 24, Tiffany was arrested for organizing a home invasion with several other people. The invasion was prompted by unpaid drug dues. Tiffany claimed the victim stole $60 from her and she wanted her money back. However, it was found that the victim owed Tiffany money for drugs.
In late 2012, Tiffany served a brief prison sentence. While incarcerated, Tiffany’s daughter remained in the care of her mother, Lisa. Lisa was stern with her expectations and forbid Tiffany from seeing her 3-year-old until she was clean from drugs.
Tiffany’s grandmother, Anita Boyette, stayed in touch with Tiffany throughout her prison stay. She also picked her up when she was released. Anita found a drug rehabilitation center for Tiffany, where she checked herself in. She saw her prison release as an opportunity to change. Her experience at the facility was positive; she stayed clean from drugs, met friends in recovery and started working at the International House of Pancakes (IHOP), a restaurant chain, in Marietta, Georgia.
At this time, Tiffany took her sobriety very seriously. Unfortunately, it only lasted a few months.
Tiffany, now 25, was in a seemingly healthy relationship. She met her boyfriend (whose name won’t be mentioned for privacy purposes–and because he has nothing to do with the case) when she was 10 years old, and their relationship spurred from a reunion of sorts. He bought Tiffany a car and a cell phone, and they looked to purchase a home together. However, Tiffany started using drugs again and subsequently cheated on her boyfriend. He ended their relationship because of her infidelity.
In between places to live, Tiffany shared a motel room with Sheila Fuller, another IHOP waitress. She wasn’t there for long, because Sheila kicked her out after Tiffany stole from her.
This series of events led Tiffany to meet Ashley “Red” Christopher Caudle, then 28, her newest boyfriend. They got together only a few months after she was released from prison in the summer of 2012.
A Toxic Union
Like Tiffany, Ashley also had a young daughter, Charlie, though he had full custody.
Together with Ashley, Tiffany started using methamphetamine in the same home they shared with Charlie. Unbeknownst to Ashley, Tiffany was also using heroin. Ashley was against heroin and only learned of Tiffany’s addiction when she began showing signs of opiate withdrawal. Eventually, he became responsible for funding her habit as well as his.
The couple lived somewhat of a transient lifestyle, moving from place to place with Charlie. The three of them transitioned from motels to a trailer park and drug houses. Wherever they went, they were overheard arguing loudly and often. The police were called on several occasions. Their incessant arguing once caused them to be evicted from a trailer home; on another occasion, they were kicked out of a motel. The toxicity kept up until the day Tiffany went missing.
Through the chaos, Tiffany developed a maternal relationship with Charlie, who called her mom. Tiffany taught her how to respond to adults with “yes ma’am,” and yes, sir,” and cared for her lovingly. Nonetheless, Tiffany hadn’t seen her own daughter in months.
Tiffany Faces Consequences of her Drug Use
It wasn’t long before Tiffany’s coworkers caught notice of her addiction. She was notorious for showing up high, sometimes with fresh track marks on her arms. When she did, her supervisors sent her home. However, in August of 2012, Tiffany was caught stealing from IHOP on a restaurant security camera. She was subsequently fired.
Because of Tiffany’s choices, her mother ceased all contact between her and her young daughter. Tiffany told her mother that she didn’t feel normal without drugs in her system.
Tiffany’s grandmother, Anita, still kept in touch with her. On September 8, 2013, six days before she went missing, Tiffany, Ashley and Charlie went to Anita’s home to do laundry. Anita was the only family member who ever met Ashley.
On one occasion, Tiffany told her grandmother she’d see her in “a month”—a month often being Tiffany’s reference point—and another drug binge began. Anita asked her granddaughter time and again to come home, but she wouldn’t part from Ashley.
Toward the end of August 2013, Tiffany was living with Ashley and his daughter in a house in Powder Springs, a small city in Cobb County, Georgia. It was a home where other drug users couch-surfed and took up residence, as needed.
The Day Tiffany of Tiffany’s Disappearance
Around midnight on Friday, September 13, 2013, Tiffany and Ashley visited the home of a friend, Stephen Weinstein, to do methamphetamine.
Around 12:30 am, Tiffany and Ashley borrowed Stephen’s truck and drove to a local 24/7 Walmart Supercenter in Marietta; one of Atlanta’s largest suburbs. They arrived a few minutes after 1 am and began shopping. Stephen stayed behind with another friend and drug user, Jason Zuccarini; a man Tiffany dated briefly before moving in with Ashley.
Security officers watched Tiffany and Ashley closely on camera. It was an odd hour to shop for clothes and the couple shopped for nearly an hour without purchasing anything. They suspected from Tiffany’s constant movements that she was high on drugs. She was seen taking clothes off shelves, putting them in her cart, and then placing them back on the shelves, and so on.
Around 2 am, Ashley told Tiffany it was time to leave the store. Tiffany didn’t agree and argued with Ashley. Ashley headed to the truck to charge his phone, leaving Tiffany inside. Momentarily, he returned to the store to pay for his own items, which included a portable speaker and clothes for his daughter. Ashley removed a large wad of cash from his wallet to pay for the items.
On their way out, Tiffany was approached by security officers, who suspected she stole a t-shirt worth less than $15. The officers were dressed in plain clothes and allegedly did not identify themselves as loss-prevention staff. She called for Ashley, who stood ahead of her, seemingly oblivious to what was happening. When he turned around, he saw three men: two were holding Tiffany by the arms and the other was carrying her purse. He threatened them with a knife to let her go.
Tiffany kicked and screamed when the loss-prevention officer grabbed the strap of her purse. She let go of the purse, which contained her cell phone, wallet and identification, and broke free from the guards. She then kicked off her flip-flops and took off running. She ran toward the back of a local Chil-fil-A.
She hasn’t been seen since.
Tiffany was 5’2″ and weighed 100 lbs. She had blonde hair and green eyes, but was known to frequently change her hair color. She had several tattoos, which included Chinese symbols on the inside of her left wrist, a butterfly on her hip, and a tattoo on her lower back, right shoulder blade, right foot and right buttock.
The Investigation
Surveillance footage from inside the Walmart was seized by investigators. The footage showed loss-prevention officers waiting at the door, anticipating Tiffany’s return. (Keep in mind, this footage was seized months later, as Tiffany was reported missing in January 2014.)
The footage revealed that Tiffany was confronted by two loss-prevention officers, not three, as Ashley recalled. He also wasn’t seen holding a knife, as he claimed, but standing passively as the ordeal took place.
Shortly after Tiffany fled the scene, Ashley went to the parking lot to look for her. He didn’t re-enter his truck because he was afraid he’d be arrested. The truck contained illicit substances and drug paraphernalia.
Instead, Ashley checked the truck for Tiffany, then crossed Highway 41 (a four-lane parkway, also known as Cobb Parkway) to search the area. Across the street was the IHOP where Tiffany previously worked, as well as other businesses including a Krispy Kreme and a Metro Lodge extended-stay motel.
Outside the IHOP, Ashley sat on a bench and waited for friends to pick him up. Stephen, the friend that he and Tiffany used drugs with earlier, showed up with two unknown females. Stephen later described Ashley as “a charismatic guy,” but also “full of shit and a piece of shit.”
Meanwhile, Sheila, Tiffany’s old roommate, walked from IHOP to Walmart to buy a pack of cigarettes. She noticed a red truck in the parking lot. Soon after, she saw Ashley sitting on the bench outside IHOP. He sat there for one-and-a-half hours.
Ashley asked if she heard from Tiffany, and she said no. She asked Ashley why he didn’t call Tiffany and he said he couldn’t, because he was charging his phone in the car. He also said he had Tiffany’s phone on him—which wasn’t true, because it was in the bag seized by loss-prevention officers.
Ashley returned to Stephen’s house and drove around looking for Tiffany. Ashley ultimately believed Tiffany would return to Stephen’s house. Stephen told police that he genuinely believed Ashley didn’t know where Tiffany was.
The next morning, Ashley returned to his home in Powder Springs. Still, there was no sign of Tiffany. He called a few acquaintances of Tiffany’s, including an ex-boyfriend, along with local hospitals and jails. He also cleaned out his truck to remove the paraphernalia inside. Two weeks later, he told his own probation offers that he was unable to locate Tiffany since that night.
Tiffany’s Family Gets Involved
Tiffany’s family members wondered about her. It wasn’t unlike Tiffany to disappear for months at a time. Family noticed that Tiffany, who had been very active on Facebook, abruptly stopped using the social media platform on September 1, 2013. However, because Tiffany was on parole at the time, her mother suspected she was keeping a low profile to avoid penalty.
In November 2013, Tiffany’s grandmother received a letter from a lawyer representing Walmart, requesting $150 for the items Tiffany stole. If the $150 was paid, they would drop the allegations without a civil suit. The letter prompted Anita to contact Ashley, who then informed her, two months later, that Tiffany was missing.
During the conversation, Anita asked Ashley, “You didn’t call us and let us know that she was gone?” He oddly responded, “I wish I had that purse I bought her. It was a Coach purse, and it was really expensive.” Anita replied, “You can’t afford transportation, but you’re buying Coach purses?”
Before Thanksgiving, Tiffany’s mother also contacted Ashley directly. The family waited to hear from Tiffany during the holidays, anticipating her return. But on January 10, 2014, with still no word from her, Lisa contacted police to file a missing person’s report.
Investigators Overlook Tiffany’s Case—at First
Because of Tiffany’s history of substance abuse and criminal activity, the first detective assigned to the case didn’t give it much thought. He believed Tiffany would turn up eventually or she would be arrested somewhere. He told Lisa that Tiffany was a just junkie who was probably on a binge.
A month later, the case was reassigned to another detective, Jonnie Moller, who found the delay in her reported missing person’s status to be concerning. She believed Tiffany was deceased, but the lack of a clear timeline made it difficult to follow. She also felt Ashley had something to do with her disappearance.
As a result of Jonnie’s investigation, the Powder Springs home where Ashley lived with his daughter, and where Tiffany lived before her disappearance, was raided by police in March 2014. Police discovered an environment filled with dog feces and used syringes, and they seized marijuana, methamphetamine and firearms. Eight people, including Ashley, were arrested on charges related to possession. Most of them knew Ashley from childhood. His daughter and another child were placed in the temporary custody of a local social services agency.
As a result of the raid, the same officers retrieved a warrant to search Ashley’s mother’s home in Marietta in July 2014. They brought in cadaver dogs to aid with the search, but nothing of substance was found.
Ashley is Arrested on Other Charges
In late 2015, Ashley pled guilty in Cherokee County, Georgia, to possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, and possessing of a firearm as a convicted felon. These charges were in connection with the Powder Springs home raid. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison with a minimum of 10 to serve, because the judge believed he was not cooperating in Tiffany’s investigation.
Tiffany’s Case is Transferred to a Third Detective
When Detective Jonnie Moeller left the detective bureau to teach at the city’s police academy, Tiffany’s case was transferred to a third detective. A year later, Detective Mike Freer felt he made a break in the case.
A meth trafficker being prosecuted by the Cobb County district attorney, said he heard from some friends that months after Tiffany disappeared, Ashley and some of his friends drove to Lake Allatoona—which covers more than 12,000 acres and sits 34 miles north of Atlanta—where they threw a concrete-filled barrel over Bethany Bridge. He also said there was damage to the bridge, which Detective Freer confirmed.
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources used sonar equipment to search the area and found a large object located 40 feet underneath the bridge. However, when two state patrol divers investigated, they found a large piece of concrete that had fallen during bridge construction.
In 2016, Tiffany’s case was turned over to the new cold case squad in Marietta, Georgia. It has remained a cold case ever since.
Tiffany Makes Contact
On January 5, 2014, four months after Tiffany disappeared, and five days before her family reported her missing, her half-brother, Blake Whitton, received a call. He believes it was from Tiffany.
The call was made via a calling app by an unknown number. When he answered, he says it was Tiffany, who wished him happy birthday and apologized for calling late. He knew it was her because she called him by a nickname, “Mudbug,” that only they would know.
This alleged contact has never been explained.
Contact Authorities With Information On Tiffany Whitton’s Disappearance
If you have any information about Tiffany Whitton’s disappearance, or leading up to her disappearance, contact the Marietta Police Department at 770-794-5300 or the Cobb County District Attorney at 770-528-3032.
My Two Cents Corner ⤵️
Wow, what a sad turn of events.
I’m not an expert on this case by any means. I’m just someone with an interest in true crime, and I know there’s a lot I don’t know about it.
But if I were to support a theory on what might have happened to Tiffany, I believe she was abducted from an area near the Walmart parking lot. I also think it’s possible that she was kidnapped and forced into sex-trafficking.
I read a few comments on Reddit from users who live in the area and have frequented the Walmart in Marietta. They described it as seedy and sketchy, especially at night, and the parking lot as a hotspot for illegal activity. Ashley Caudle, for one, sold drugs in that parking lot. These Reddit users also describe people banging on their vehicle windows, not once, not twice, but on three separate occasions, and furiously begging for a rides.
If Tiffany ran barefoot from the loss-prevention officers, I don’t find it unusual to believe that she banged on the window of whatever car was nearby, begging for a ride home. It’s possible that at 2 am, she ran into an unsavory character who saw an opportunity. The young woman was without her possessions and her location was unaccounted for. It’s also possible that Tiffany wasn’t killed by an unsavory character, but perhaps she did drugs with a group of unfamiliar people—or folks she knew peripherally—and suffered an overdose.
Either way, someone knows something, because there’s no way that a woman just vanishes in thin air. The area where she went missing is lined with numerous restaurants and small businesses. Unfortunately, because the case wasn’t reported until January, none of these locations had the surveillance footage to potentially retrace Tiffany’s steps.
Thank you for reading. May we hope that Tiffany Whitton’s family finds answers soon.
Resources
- Disappearance of Tiffany Whitton – Wikipedia
- Episode 9: From Shoplifting to Missing – Tiffany Whitton – LordonARTS Uncovered
- Missing: The Curious Anomaly of Tiffany Whitton’s Disappearance – Esquire
- Missing Walmart Shopper Attracts No Empathy from the Police | Tiffany Whitton Case Analysis – Dr. Todd Grande
- Possibly Dumped Off Bridge! Searching For Missing Woman Tiffany Whitton! – Exploring With Nug
- VANISHED from Walmart with boyfriend | Unsolved disappearance of Tiffany Whitton – Crime Time with Mal
- The Disappearance of Tiffany Whitton Part 1 – Sworn Podcast
- The Disappearance of Tiffany Whitton Part 2– Sworn Podcast
- Closing Statements: The Disappearance of Tiffany Whitton – Sworn Podcast