The Missing
Angela Mae Rader and Tammy Lynn Akers
Roanoke, Virginia
💔🕯️ STILL MISSING: Two 14-Year-Old Girls Vanished Together in 1977 — What Happened to Angela Rader and Tammy Akers? 🕯️💔
On February 7, 1977, two 14-year-old friends, Angela Mae Rader and Tammy Lynn Akers, disappeared from Roanoke, Virginia. They were dropped off at William Ruffner Junior High School by a relative, but neither girl attended classes that day. Instead, they were last seen hitchhiking through the city, reportedly heading toward Florida.
Neither girl has ever been found, and their families have spent decades wondering what happened to them.
Angela and Tammy were just teenagers. They should have been worrying about school, friends, and growing up. Instead, their lives became part of a decades-long mystery that remains unsolved.
💔 Who Were Angela and Tammy?
Angela Mae Rader
Angela was 14 years old when she disappeared. She was approximately 5’2″ tall, weighed around 100 pounds, and had brown hair and blue eyes.
One distinctive identifying feature was her protruding left eye.
Today, Angela would be 64 years old. An age-progressed image has been created to show what she may look like as an adult.
Tammy Lynn Akers
Have you seen this child? Tammy Lynn Akers
Tammy was also 14 years old. She stood approximately 5’4″ tall and weighed around 82 pounds. She had red hair and blue eyes.
Her distinguishing characteristics include:
- A protruding navel.
- A black-colored mark on her left cheek.
- Scarred earlobes.
When she disappeared, Tammy was wearing a green short-sleeved sweater, jeans, suede shoes, and a suede jacket.
Today, Tammy would also be 64 years old. Age-progressed images have been created in hopes that someone might recognize her.
🕯️ Troubling Questions Surrounding Their Disappearances
Angela and Tammy had reportedly run away together on previous occasions. Because of their history, authorities initially did not take their disappearances as seriously as they should have.
Several months later, one of the girls’ mothers reportedly received a telephone call from someone claiming to be her daughter and saying she was okay. There were also unconfirmed reports that the girls had been seen together in a grocery store after disappearing.
But perhaps one of the most troubling aspects of this case involves a family acquaintance named Earl Conrad Bramblett.
The girls’ mothers told authorities that Angela and Tammy had worked for Bramblett in 1977. Tammy’s mother described her daughter as being friends with Bramblett and his wife and frequently spending time at their home.
Investigators eventually considered Bramblett’s possible involvement in the girls’ disappearances. In 1980, he reportedly made a disturbing statement at a party, saying he wished he had not “hurt Tammy” back in 1977.
Bramblett later maintained that the comment was misunderstood and denied having anything to do with the girls’ disappearances.
He was subsequently convicted of murdering Blaine and Teresa Hodges and their two children in 1994. He was executed in April 2003 while continuing to maintain his innocence in those murders and the missing girls’ cases.
Importantly, Bramblett was never charged in connection with Angela or Tammy’s disappearances.
🔎 Searches, Suspicions, and Unanswered Questions
Eight months after Bramblett was sent to death row, authorities excavated the yard of the residence where he had been living around the time the girls vanished. Nothing was found.
Investigators also wanted to search inside the home, including the basement, but the property’s current owners did not grant permission.
Bramblett offered his own explanation, claiming he believed Tammy had died in a bonfire in central Florida in 1980. However, there is no evidence supporting that theory.
To this day, the circumstances surrounding both girls’ disappearances remain unknown.
💔 Two Families Still Deserve Answers
Angela’s mother passed away believing her daughter was still alive. Tammy’s family, meanwhile, believes she is deceased and that Bramblett may have been connected to her disappearance.
Two girls. Two families. Decades of unanswered questions.
Angela and Tammy disappeared together, and their cases remain open and unsolved. Somewhere, there may be someone who remembers those girls, knows where they went, or has information that has never been shared with investigators.
Could someone recognize their age-progressed photographs? Could someone remember seeing them hitchhiking in Roanoke in February 1977?
They were only 14 years old. They deserved the chance to grow up, and their families deserved to know what happened to them.
🕊️ PLEASE HELP KEEP ANGELA AND TAMMY’S STORIES ALIVE.
Anyone with information about either disappearance is urged to contact:
📞 Roanoke City Police Department: 540-853-5305
📞 Additional department contact listed by NCMEC: 540-853-2212
Angela Mae Rader
- Missing since: February 7, 1977
- Missing from: Roanoke, Virginia
- Age at disappearance: 14
- Current age: 64
- NCMEC Case Number: 786461
Tammy Lynn Akers
- Missing since: February 7, 1977
- Missing from: Roanoke, Virginia
- Age at disappearance: 14
- Current age: 64
- NCMEC Case Number: 786744
💔 Please share both girls’ stories. Even after all these years, one person coming forward could make a difference.
Angela and Tammy were never forgotten. They deserve answers, and their families deserve the truth. 🕯️
Sources:
Have you seen this child? Angela Mae Rader
Missing Person / NamUs #MP1782 | NamUs
Angela Mae Rader – The Charley Project
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