Jonecia Brown, a 16-year-old from Turlock, has been missing since June 24. The Black & Missing Foundation reports that she “is believed to be in danger.”
Sixteen-year-old Jonecia “Nene” Brown of Turlock left a note at home June 24, the day she went missing. It read: “I’m not running away. I’ll be back in one week. Don’t stress, don’t worry. And I have my Android phone on me.”
But since the day she left, her phone has been dead or turned off, her mother and aunt said. “It’s very abnormal for her not to contact any of us,” her aunt “Bambii” Bartholomew said.
Her family said Brown previously ran away from home in late April. They canvassed several cities and contacted her friends to get word out that Brown is a minor and that anyone who sees her should let her know her family loves her.
After getting in touch with her friends and Brown herself, they discovered that she was being sexually trafficked in Oakland. Brown also reached out to her mom. During that time, her family said, she jumped out of a moving vehicle to escape the person holding her.
The Oakland Police Department did not comment for this article about whether officers have arrested or are investigating someone for charges related to human trafficking in connection with Brown.
Her family believes Brown’s disappearance is linked to the people who sexually trafficked her in Oakland. But from their interactions with the Turlock Police Department, the girl’s relatives believe her case is being treated as a runaway rather than trafficking victim.
In a previous statement to The Modesto Bee, TPD spokesperson Dominique Roton said, “We can confirm that the Turlock Police Department is actively investigating a juvenile runaway report.” Roton also confirmed that the department is working with “the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, which has additional resources and has distributed a missing-person flyer.”
She added, “Because this remains an active investigation involving a juvenile, we will not be releasing any additional details.”
Markeena Tullis, Brown’s mother and Bartholomew have again searched for her when she disappeared on June 24 and contacted people in Los Angeles, Salinas, Oakland, Concord, San Francisco and Las Vegas.
Tullis said she hasn’t received any updates from TPD regarding its investigation. “They didn’t have any updates,” she said of their most recent interaction. “They were asking me if I had an update.”
Roton said anyone with information that could assist the investigation is asked to contact Detective Jimenez at 209-668-6518.
This story was originally published July 30, 2026 at 3:05 PM.
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Atmika Iyer covers education for The Modesto Bee. She earned her bachelor’s degree in History at UC Santa Barbara and her master’s in journalism at Northwestern University. Before coming to Modesto, she covered local government, cannabis and education.