Bradley family holds out hope to find sisters missing 17 years

CHICAGO (WLS) -- It's been 17 years since the Bradley sisters, just 10 and 3 years old at the time, went missing in Chicago. Their family is still not giving up hope. A vigil was held Friday to commemorate the anniversary of their disappearance.

Loved ones of the Bradley sisters said prayers and released purple and white balloons at the pedestrian bridge at 35th Street and Lake Park Avenue, not far from the South Side apartment where the sisters - Tionda, 10, and Diamond, 3 -- were last seen 17 years ago.

The girls vanished without a trace. Tionda had apparently left a note that day for their mother, who had gone to work, saying that she and Diamond were going to a nearby school and store. An exhaustive search followed, with a rotating team of 100 detectives working the case around the clock for a time, but Tionda and Diamond have never been found.

Despite the years that have passed, loved ones have held out hope.

"They are my sisters, and I'm the older sister, and I won't ever give up on them. I want them to know that I'm here," said Rita Bradley, the girls' older sister.

"They're our family. They're our family. It's not like we can just forget about them like a puppy or something. They're our family members," said the girls' aunt Shelia Bradley-Smith.

Tionda and Diamond would be 27 and 20 years old today.

Relatives ask anyone with information to call police.