The Disappearance of Tamala Wells

The Detroit Police Department has investigated Tamala Wells's disappearance since August 2012. The investigation was complicated from the start by two significant factors. First, police initially treated Tamala's case as a voluntary adult departure, telling her mother Donna that because Tamala was an adult she could have gone anywhere. Second, when Tamala's vehicle was located three days after her disappearance, her boyfriend Rickey Tennant searched the car before contacting police, which investigators stated destroyed potential forensic evidence. Detroit Police Sergeant Marcellus Ball said publicly: "He reported the vehicle gone, and then he found it himself, and before calling us, he took it upon himself to go inside the vehicle and to search the vehicle, and that's when he called us. And that was very odd and disturbing to me."

Tennant was questioned by police multiple times over the years. He reportedly failed a polygraph examination. In a 2015 interview with The Huffington Post, Tennant made public statements about Tamala that Donna and investigators found deeply concerning, including calling her a headache and saying he was looking at it as one headache being better than two. In 2016, Sergeant Ball stated that everything led investigators back to Tennant in some kind of way, but acknowledged that suspicion alone was insufficient: "We're still investigating. Just because you believe something to be true, you have to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt, and right now, we can't do that." Tennant has consistently denied any involvement. He has never been charged or named as an official suspect.

In 2021, an anonymous tip led activist Minister Malik Shabazz to a house at 14870 Indiana Street in Eaton, Michigan, where a source claimed Tamala had been seen approximately 18 months earlier. The house had since been firebombed and abandoned. Detroit police stated that viable tips would be investigated. In 2022, a new detective was assigned to the case as part of a departmental cold case initiative. Community members have continued to canvass Detroit neighborhoods and advocate for Tamala's case. Over the years, investigators received more than 1,000 tips. None have led to an arrest.

14870 Indiana Street — Eaton, Michigan

In March 2021, nine years after Tamala's disappearance, activist Malik Shabazz announced he had received an anonymous tip that Tamala had been seen at this house on Indiana Street in Eaton, Michigan, approximately a year and a half prior. The house had since been firebombed and abandoned before the tip could be fully acted upon. Detroit police confirmed they would investigate any viable tips related to the case. The tip was not confirmed and no arrests followed.