Toni Danielle Clark: Missing from California Since 1990

OAKLAND, Calif. — On March 16, 1990, Toni Danielle (some reports list her middle name as Danieele) Clark, 17, left Oakland and headed to her San Bruno home after visiting friends and family. Before she left, the 1979 Chevy Camaro she borrowed from her boyfriend kept stalling. After several failed attempts, the car finally started, and Toni began the drive home.

Shortly after leaving Oakland, the car stalled again on the Bay Bridge. Some witnesses recalled seeing a black male under the vehicle’s hood, and others saw a man walk away.

At 11:40 p.m., a car collided with the Camaro, hitting it from behind.

A witness reported seeing someone standing in front of the car. The witness was riding in a car whose driver swerved to avoid the stalled vehicle. The car following the witness’s car struck Clark’s and knocked it onto the bridge railing. When the occupants of the two vehicles climbed out after the crash, the person who had been standing in front of the stalled car was nowhere to be seen. (Schermerhorn 1990)

The witnesses later said the person standing before the Camaro matched Toni’s description, and she was either opening or closing the hood. Furthermore, the car’s driver door was open but had no lights or flashers turned on.

Six minutes later, police arrived, but Toni was not on the scene. Her bracelet that she never took off, and the car keys were on the passenger-side floorboard.

The U.S. Coast Guard dragged the bay’s bottom but did not find Toni or her clothes.

According to an expert hired by the Highway Patrol, the body would have followed the tide to the Golden Gate Bridge. The police today still believe this is what happened to Toni.

About a week after Toni disappeared, her mother, Gwen Clark, received a strange phone call. On the other end, she could hear someone crying for about 40 seconds, but the caller never spoke. She believed this was her daughter. Authorities could not trace the call due to the short time the caller was on the line and never confirmed Toni was the caller.

After Toni disappeared, Clark put up flyers in the area. She returned a short time later and discovered someone had taken them down.

In August 1990, Gwen charged the media with racism and called for increased coverage of her daughter’s case. She said she had called hundreds of news agencies as well as government officials but received no response. (The San Francisco Examiner, October 11, 1991)

In October 1991, the man who ran into Toni’s car, Jesse Castaneda, then 22, was tried for vehicular manslaughter and charged with tailgating, driving over the speed limit (at least 63 mph), and ignoring a sign declaring the bridge a 50-mph speed zone. Jurors deadlocked 6-6 after seven tries and acquitted Castaneda due to lack of evidence proving Toni was deceased.

Toni was two months pregnant at the time of her disappearance and a student at Peninsula High School.

Sources

• Examiner Staff. “Jury Can’t Reach Verdict in Missing Teen’s Death”. The San Francisco Examiner. October 11, 1991. Fagan, Kevin. “The Other Missing Kids / They quickly faded from headlines and public attention”. The San Francisco Chronicle. December 4, 1998. https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/The-Other-Missing-Kids-They-quickly-faded-from-2975456.php
• Good, Meaghan. “Toni Danielle Clark”. The Charley Project. October 11, 2004. http://charleyproject.org/case/toni-danieelle-clark
• San Bruno Police Department. “Toni Danielle Clark”. Online image. State of California Department of Justice. https://oag.ca.gov/missing/person/toni-danielle-clark.
• Schermerhorn, James. “Girl, 17, Missing on Bay Bridge”. The San Francisco Examiner. March 21, 1990.
• The San Francisco Chronicle. “Drowning Considered”. March 22, 1990.
• The San Francisco Chronicle. “Mother’s Plea”. August 29, 1990.