Name: Paula Michelle Burnette
Case Classification: Endangered Missing
Missing Since: September 17, 1996
Location Last Seen: Harrison, Hamilton County, Tennessee
Date of Birth: June 15, 1975
Age: 21 years old
Race: White
Gender: Female
Height: 5'1"
Weight: 110 lbs.
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Blue
Nickname/Alias: Maiden name Caudill
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Pierced ears
Dentals: Available
Fingerprints: Unknown
DNA: Unknown
Clothing: Unknown
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Unknown
Burnette was last seen about 06:00 a.m. at her residence in Harrison, Tennessee on September 17, 1996.
She was in an estranged relationship with her husband, Donald Ray Burnette, when she was last seen on September 17, 1996. This case is still classified as a missing person but is being handled as a homicide investigation due to the violent history within the marriage.
In October 1996, Paula Burnette's driver's license was found in the 9500 block of Harrison Bay Road, Harrison, Tennessee. Two months after she was last seen, her estranged husband, Donald Ray Burnette, took an Amsouth branch bank manager and her family hostage. After driving them around the countryside all night, he forced the woman to rob her own bank. A month later, Donald Ray Burnette and an accomplice, James Travis White, were arrested.
In April 1997, Paula Burnette's purse/address book washed into a Chattanooga home's backyard in the Tyner community. In July 1997, authorities searched the old Savannah Valley Water Plant .
Agency Name: Hamilton County Sheriff's Office
Agency Contact Person: Det. Jeff Baker
Agency Phone Number: 423-622-0022
Agency E-Mail: jeffbaker@HCSheriff.gov
Agency Case Number: 96-25306
Hamilton County Sheriff's Office
NamUs MP# 4480
Added: Prior to 2011; Last Updated: 05-18-2022 - By: Htmlcnvtr
Questions or comments? Please contact appropriate member of the Area Team
** Listed information is from the time of disappearance.
Return Home