On March 5, 1984, Ramona Brown, 3, and her family woke up the night before Mardi Gras to flames devouring their home. Little Ramona was believed to have died in the fire with her siblings. Now police say she might not have been in the house at all.
So, where is Ramona Brown?
The New Orleans Police Department said the night of the fire, Ramona’s parents, Johnnie Mae and Aubrey survived along with seven of her eight siblings. Unfortunately, 4-year-old Aubrey Jr. and 2-year-old Kevin were found dead among the rubble, the police said. However, firefighters said they don’t recall finding the remains of Ramona. NOPD Detective Lamar Lewis told the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children they didn’t even think she was at the house to begin with.
Now, the police and the organization have embarked on a search to find if Ramona is still alive. Their latest development is releasing images of what she may look like now, forty years later.
Lewis said Ramona’s sister, Simona, suggested she might have been taken just before the home went up in flames. Ramona’s other sister, Tiffany, told the NCMEC she remembered Simona trying to explain to her parents decades ago that a biracial couple stopped by in a gold-colored Cadillac with wings on the back and picked up their little sister. She recalled the white woman having long hair and the Black man having short hair, both of them appearing old and thin.
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In 2018, a 42-year-old Simona found the courage to approach police on her own and shared her memory of that night once more. “My brother Kevin encouraged me to reopen the case because he thought about Ramona all the time.”
Simona met with Detective Lamar Lewis with New Orleans Police. “I received the cold case in 2018,” said Lewis. “Simona is positive she had Ramona’s hand that night. She remembers everything, the car that pulled up and the description of the couple that offered to help the family watch Ramona.” Lewis says he believes Ramona did not die in the fire that night and that there is a good possibility that the 3-year-old was taken.
Shortly after the fire, their grandmother said she received strange phone calls with no one speaking on the line. There was just silence. The family always wondered if these calls were from Ramona or the people who took her.
Today, Ramona would be 43 years old. Her family still believes she may be out there somewhere. But to at least bring closure of what happened to her is what the NOPD is aiming to do.
“My heart goes out to the family. I am not a superhero or anything, but I am determined to figure this one out,” Lewis told the NCMEC.