The Missing Valedictorian: What Happened to Cleashindra Hall?
A teenager just weeks away from graduation never made it home from work, and more than 25 years later her family is still searching for her.
Cleashindra Hall was having the time of her life in May 1994. The 18-year-old had just attended her senior prom and was getting ready for her graduation from Watson Chapel High School in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Cleashindra — known as Clea to family and friends — was a superstar at her high school. An honor roll student, she was graduating at the top of her class and scheduled to give a speech at commencement. After graduation, she was going to Boston to attend a leadership conference, then she would be starting an internship at a pediatrician’s office. She saw it as the first step towards her ultimate goal — she wanted to be a doctor. She had received a scholarship to Tennessee State University and was scheduled to enter their pre-med program in the fall. Clea was on the road to adulthood, and she could hardly wait.
In order to save extra money for college, Clea had a part-time job working for Dr. Larry Amos. Amos wasn’t a medical doctor; he ran a non-profit organization out of an office attached to his home. Clea, who lived only a few blocks away, did clerical work for him after school and on weekends.