FBI Renews Search for Tabitha Tuders With $50K Reward After 23 Years

More than two decades after Tabitha Tuders went missing in East Nashville, Tennessee, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has announced a $50,000 reward for information leading to her recovery. Tuders, 13, disappeared on her way to school on the morning of April 29, 2003.

Despite an extensive investigation, authorities could not find her at the time. On April 29, 2026, which marked the 23rd anniversary of her disappearance, the FBI announced a reward of up to $50,000 in an effort to generate new leads.

“The FBI is offering a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to the recovery of Tabitha Tuders and the prosecution of the person(s) responsible for her disappearance. She was last seen on the morning of April 29, 2003, at her residence in Nashville, Tennessee,” the agency said on social media.

Investigators have also shared an age-progressed image of the victim. To help people identify Tuders, the FBI said she has a birthmark on her stomach and a scar on her finger. She was 5'1" tall and weighed 100 pounds at the time of her disappearance.

Tuders walked to a bus stop at the corner of 14th and Boscobel Streets to commute to Bailey Middle School. On the morning of her disappearance, she left her home at around 7:50 a.m. and followed her usual route to the bus stop, which was about a block away.

However, she never boarded the bus. After her parents returned home from work in the afternoon, they realized Tuders was missing because she had not returned at her usual time of 4:00 p.m. Her parents later contacted her school and learned that she had not attended classes that day.

As the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department and the FBI began investigating the case, a young witness said that Tuders was walking toward her bus stop but stopped beside a red vehicle. The witness further claimed that she got into the front passenger seat before the car turned around and drove away.

Meanwhile, Tuders’ relatives and neighbors participated in the search by distributing flyers in the region. However, these efforts did not lead to any suspects. Investigators also noticed that several registered s– offenders lived near Tuders' home. Although all such individuals were questioned, police found no evidence against them.

Twelve years after the disappearance, authorities received an anonymous tip claiming that Tuders was living in Nebraska. However, when Nashville police investigated the claim, they found the information to be false. Then, in 2020, authorities obtained another lead and searched a six-acre rural property in Bon Aqua, Tennessee.

Once again, investigators returned empty-handed as no evidence was found at the property. The case remains an active missing persons investigation. People with possible information about Tuders can contact their local FBI offices or call Nashville Crime Stoppers at 615-742-7463.