Overview

Last Seen: May 28, 1974
Location: Thonotosassa, Hillsborough County, Florida
Age: Approximately 12–13 years old
Birth Name: Sonya Bonita Burgess
Known As: Sandra Yeoman
Status: Missing; disappearance remains unsolved

Main circumstances: Sandra left her home in Thonotosassa at about 8:30 a.m. and was reportedly heading toward her school bus stop. She never reached school. Authorities say there have been no confirmed sightings or communications from Sandra since her disappearance. Decades later, her sisters continue working with investigators and publicly appealing for information.

Detailed Case Breakdown

Sandra Yeoman Missing Since 1974 in Thonotosassa, Florida: What Happened to the 13-Year-Old?

Sandra Yeoman was only 13 years old when she disappeared from Thonotosassa, Florida, on May 28, 1974. More than five decades later, her disappearance remains unsolved, and her sisters are still searching for answers about what happened to her.

Sandra has also been identified by her family by her birth name, Sonya Bonita Burgess. Her case remains an active missing-person mystery associated with the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.

Brief Case Summary

Last Seen: May 28, 1974
Location: Thonotosassa, Hillsborough County, Florida
Age: Approximately 12–13 years old
Birth Name: Sonya Bonita Burgess
Known As: Sandra Yeoman
Status: Missing; disappearance remains unsolved

Main circumstances: Sandra left her home in Thonotosassa at about 8:30 a.m. and was reportedly heading toward her school bus stop. She never reached school. Authorities say there have been no confirmed sightings or communications from Sandra since her disappearance. Decades later, her sisters continue working with investigators and publicly appealing for information.

Sandra Yeoman Disappears on Her Way to School

On the morning of May 28, 1974, Sandra Yeoman left the Thonotosassa home where she was living and headed toward her school bus stop.

According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, she left at approximately 8:30 a.m. Sandra never made it to school and seemingly disappeared without a trace. Investigators have reported no confirmed subsequent sightings or communications from her.

Sandra was a young Black girl with black hair and brown eyes. A publicly available missing-person listing gives her height as approximately 5 feet and her weight as approximately 89 pounds at the time she disappeared.

Sandra Was Also Known as Sonya Bonita Burgess

One of the most important details to emerge publicly decades later is Sandra’s birth name.

During coverage of the 2023 Missing in Florida Day event, Sandra’s sister Iris Morton identified her missing sister’s birth name as Sonya Bonita Burgess. Sandra was known as Sandra Yeoman when she disappeared.

Having both names associated with the case may be important when reviewing older school records, photographs, family documents, newspaper archives or other records dating to the early 1970s.

Her Sister Says She Was the Last Family Member to See Sandra

Sandra’s sister, Iris Morton, was only about five years old when Sandra vanished.

Morton later said family members and friends told her that she had been the last person in the family to see Sandra. The disappearance remained with her throughout her life and ultimately helped motivate her continuing search for answers.

Decades after Sandra disappeared, Iris and another sister, Roxanne, became publicly involved in efforts to bring renewed attention to the case.

Family DNA Was Submitted in the Search for Answers

A significant development occurred during Missing in Florida Day on October 19, 2023, an event where relatives of missing people could meet with investigators and provide information and DNA.

Iris traveled from Germany to Tampa specifically to participate.

She provided a DNA sample in connection with Sandra’s case. The initiative was designed in part to strengthen missing-person DNA profiles that can potentially be compared with unidentified-person cases and other forensic evidence.

Iris also spent time revisiting locations where the sisters grew up and searching for photographs of Sandra.

The lack of surviving photographs has become an unusual and particularly difficult part of the family’s search.

Sandra’s Sisters Asked the Public for Photographs

In November 2023, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office featured Sandra’s disappearance in an episode of its Unfinished Business cold-case series.

Sandra’s sisters Iris and Roxanne appeared alongside Special Investigator Dan Bendig to discuss what happened and renew the appeal for information.

Their request extended beyond asking witnesses to come forward. The sisters also appealed to anyone who attended school with Sandra, knew her family or might have preserved an old photograph to search through their collections for an image of Sandra.

For a family that has spent decades without answers, even recovering additional photographs of Sandra would restore a piece of a childhood largely lost to time.

What Investigators Know

The central circumstances remain strikingly limited.

Sandra was in Thonotosassa on the morning of May 28, 1974. She left at about 8:30 a.m. intending to go to her school bus stop. She did not arrive at school, and there has been no publicly confirmed trace of her afterward.

Publicly available information does not establish whether Sandra voluntarily went somewhere else, encountered someone she knew, was abducted or experienced another circumstance.

There is likewise no reliable public documentation establishing that Sandra is deceased.

For that reason, her case should be described as an unsolved missing-person investigation, rather than a confirmed homicide.

Renewed Investigation and Public Attention

The strongest publicly documented renewed investigative effort came in 2023.

First, Iris Morton participated in Missing in Florida Day and submitted her DNA. Then, within weeks, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office devoted an episode of Unfinished Business to Sandra’s disappearance and brought her sisters together with a special investigator.

The episode was released in early November 2023 and again placed Sandra’s disappearance before the public nearly 50 years after she vanished.

In April 2025, The Doe Network added Sandra to its missing-person database as case 5138DFFL, further expanding the online records available to researchers and people comparing missing and unidentified-person cases.

As of September 2026, I found no reliable public announcement identifying a suspect, confirming what happened to Sandra, reporting that she had been located, or announcing an arrest.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office continues to direct anyone with information regarding missing persons to its non-emergency number at 813-247-8200.

Why Sandra Yeoman’s Case May Still Be Solvable

More than half a century creates enormous investigative challenges. Memories fade, witnesses die, neighborhoods change and records can disappear.

Modern investigations, however, have resources that were unavailable in 1974.

Family DNA can potentially assist comparisons with unidentified remains. Digital databases allow investigators and independent researchers to compare cases across jurisdictions. Digitized yearbooks, newspapers and school archives can also reveal photographs or connections that were once nearly impossible to locate.

Sandra’s sisters’ decision to provide DNA and publicly discuss the case therefore matters even decades after the original investigation.

Someone may also still possess information that never reached law enforcement.

The Search for Sandra Continues

Sandra Yeoman disappeared during what should have been an ordinary school morning in May 1974.

Her sisters grew up while Sandra remained frozen in time as the young girl who never came home.

Their message more than five decades later remains simple: they want to know what happened to their sister.

Anyone who remembers Sandra Yeoman or Sonya Bonita Burgess, attended school with her, lived in the Thonotosassa area in 1974, possesses photographs of her, or has information concerning her disappearance should contact the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.

Even information that seemed insignificant at the time could help investigators reconstruct Sandra’s final known hours.