Marlena Danyele Childress went missing at 4 years old in 1987 in Union City, Tennessee. Her stepbrother and a shop owner saw her talking to a man in a red two-door sedan with Kentucky license plates.

Two months later, police questioned Marlena's mother who claimed she had killed Marlena while disciplining her and a local man helped her dispose of the body in the Obion River. The mother recanted her confession and made conflicting statements about Marlena's disappearance, including selling her to pay off a drug debt and being abducted by a family friend.

Despite initial charges, the mother's charges were dropped due to lack of evidence and she moved to Kentucky. Marlena was reportedly seen in Anniston, Alabama with a different Childress family but these sightings were never confirmed.

Marlena's case was reopened in 2002 after her mother stabbed her son, but as of 2018 remains unsolved.

If you have any information on the disappearance of Marlena, please contact the Obion County Sheriff's Department at (731) 885-5832.