Ramona Brown: Left photo at age 3, right photo what she may look like today.

Disappearance 

On the morning of March 6, 1984, what should have been a day of Mardi Gras celebrations turned into a tragedy for the Brown family in the Algiers neighborhood of New Orleans.

Sometime around 3:00 a.m., a fire broke out at the family's home on Memorial Drive. Aubrey and Johnnie Mae Brown lived there with their ten children. As the fire spread through the house, the family scrambled to escape. Two of Ramona's brothers, four-year-old Aubrey Jr. and two-year-old Kevin, died in the blaze.

At first, it was believed that three-year-old Ramona Brown had also died in the fire. However, as investigators searched through the debris, they made a startling discovery that there were no remains belonging to Ramona. Despite extensive searches of the burned home, the surrounding neighborhood, nearby drainage canals, and storm drains, no trace of her was ever found.

For years, many people assumed Ramona had perished in the fire. But as time passed, questions began to grow.

One of the most significant developments came from Ramona's older sister, Simona. She recalled that after the family escaped the burning house, Ramona was outside with the other children. Amid the confusion, an older couple pulled up in what she described as a bronze or brown Cadillac. According to Simona, the couple offered to help watch Ramona while the adults dealt with the fire.

Simona remembered seeing an older Black man driving the car and an older white woman sitting in the passenger seat. Believing they were trying to help during the chaos, she watched as Ramona climbed into the vehicle.

The car drove away.

That was the last time anyone in the Brown family remembers seeing Ramona.

Ramona's mother later said Simona told her about the car the day after the fire. At the time, however, everyone believed Ramona had died inside the home, and the significance of Simona's account was not fully understood. It would be years before investigators began taking a closer look at the possibility that Ramona had survived the fire and was abducted from the scene.

The case took another turn when fire experts questioned whether a child Ramona's age could have been completely consumed by the fire without any remains being recovered. Although the fire claimed the lives of her two brothers, investigators never found physical evidence showing Ramona died inside the house. That absence of evidence has remained one of the biggest mysteries in the case.

Over the years, the Brown family has continued to believe Ramona may still be alive. Investigators reopened the case, and in 2018 New Orleans Police assigned Detective Lamar Lewis to the investigation. In 2024, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children released an updated age-progressed image showing what Ramona may look like as an adult.

Today, Ramona Brown's disappearance is classified as a non-family abduction. More than four decades have passed since the fire, but one question has never been answered.

Did Ramona die in the fire, or did someone take advantage of the chaos and drive away with a three-year-old little girl?

Her family believes they already know the answer.

If you have any information about the disappearance or whereabouts of Ramona Brown, please contact the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678) or the New Orleans Police Department (504) 821-2222.

More than forty years later, Ramona's family is still searching for answers and hoping that someone, somewhere, knows what happened after that bronze-colored car pulled away from the burning house.