Episode 183: Cheretha Morrison

A young mother disappears on the south side of Chicago, leaving behind a complicated puzzle of suspicion and rumors. Where is Cheretha Morrison?

Episode Media

Cheretha’s Porsche Cayenne found in Rogers Park *(Cook County Sheriff’s Office)*

Episode Sources

Episode Transcript

Welcome back to Bite-Sized Crime. This week I’m bringing you a missing persons case with more questions than answers, a complicated web of truth and rumor. This episode discusses sensitive topics, so listener discretion is advised.

Cheretha Morrison was sweet and sunny, someone who could make the best out of any situation. She was always the one to lighten the mood and encourage others to join in the fun. Cheretha was also a homebody, preferring to watch movies on the couch instead of going out on the town. Her family was everything to her, and she always made time for those she loved.

Cheretha married young, giving birth to a son when she was just 17. Even after she and her husband separated, Cheretha remained close to his family, especially his nieces. She was like a big sister to them, and they stayed in constant contact over the years, even when they lived in different cities.

When Cheretha was in her early 30s, she started a new relationship with a man she met through a mutual friend. Cheretha eventually became pregnant and gave birth to a daughter she named Gloryious. Cheretha loved the little girl more than anything. According to her family, Cheretha’s singular focus was making her daughter happy.

In the winter of 2021, 37-year-old Cheretha was living in Englewood on the south side of Chicago, Illinois. She worked in home health care and had clients all over the city. As COVID-19 restrictions began to ease, Cheretha was able to pick up more work to support her and her now 4-year-old daughter and the child she had on the way. Cheretha was four months pregnant, and little Gloryious was excited to be a big sister.

On the evening of Thursday, February 25, 2021, Cheretha talked to her niece Rashonda on the phone, telling her that she was going to come by her workplace in the morning to pick up some items for Gloryious. On Friday morning, Rashonda got to work around 9:00 and texted Cheretha a reminder. Cheretha didn’t respond, which wasn’t too unusual, but by the time Rashonda’s shift was over, Cheretha still hadn’t shown up. Rashonda told The Vanished Podcast that she wasn’t overly worried; she figured her aunt had gotten caught up with other plans and would reach out later. But that evening, Rashonda logged into Facebook and saw something she never expected: Cheretha’s picture and a post saying she was missing.

Rashonda immediately reached out to the rest of the family to try and figure out what was going on. Cheretha wasn’t responding in the family group chat, and she wasn’t answering her personal phone or her work phone. Not only had Cheretha promised to swing by Rashonda’s workplace that morning, she had also been planning to meet up with her adult son. When she didn’t arrive, he drove to her house. He told NBC 5 Chicago that his mom wasn’t home, but her door was wide open.

Then, the family got a call from the Chicago Police Department: Cheretha had failed to pick up her daughter from school. This, above all else, was a sign that Cheretha was in trouble. She would never forget Gloryious.

As is often the case with stories of missing Black women, there is very little information about the actual police investigation. There were no social media posts or press releases in 2021 from either the Chicago PD or the Cook County Sheriff’s Office regarding Cheretha’s case, and her story didn’t hit the news until her abandoned car was found three days after she disappeared and police finally issued a missing persons alert.

On March 1st, Cheretha’s silver 2016 Porsche Cayenne was found parked in a tow away zone on the corner of Winchester and Birchwood in the Rogers Park neighborhood, 20 miles away from Cheretha’s home in Englewood. Inside the car were Cheretha’s jacket and a crowbar. A large sum of cash sat in the passenger seat. Police impounded the car and sent it to the lab for processing.

Cheretha’s family tried to make sense of the situation, but it was strange to them that Cheretha’s car would be so far from her usual stomping grounds. The family later learned from police that Cheretha had previously gotten parking tickets in that same area. As far as they knew, Cheretha didn’t have any friends in Rogers Park; could she have been visiting one of her home health clients? And why had she parked in a tow away zone?

A witness told police that they had seen a tall Black man parking the car in the tow away zone several days before it was discovered, and no one had come by to move it. Snow had accumulated on the car over the weekend. A parking ticket had been placed on the windshield.

The discovery of Cheretha’s car is one of the few straightforward parts of this case. Everything else seems to be a confusing mess of facts and rumors.

First, early news reports stated that Cheretha was last seen dropping her daughter off at Earle Elementary School on W. 62nd Street around 9am on February 26th. However, the official statement from Cook County is that Cheretha was last seen driving near her house on South Throop Street. The family has questioned whether it was actually Cheretha dropping Gloryious off at school or if the little girl was dropped off by someone else entirely. They have never seen any surveillance footage showing Cheretha at the school that morning, and some of her daughter’s statements have cast doubt on the entire timeline.

Cheretha’s niece Zkoria told The Vanished that four-year-old Gloryious showed signs of distress in the days following her mother’s disappearance. She was suddenly afraid of riding in cars and would beg family members not to put her in the trunk, saying that something bad was going to happen to her if they did. This sudden change of behavior was alarming to the family; had Gloryious witnessed something bad happening to her mother? Had someone put Cheretha in the trunk and then taken Gloryious to school to cover it up?

Naturally, the family’s suspicions turned to Cheretha’s boyfriend. Glenn Miles was Gloryious’ father and likely the father of Cheretha’s unborn child. But Cheretha’s relationship with Glenn was marred by violence. Glenn was arrested for domestic battery in 2017, and in 2018, Cheretha filed for an order of protection against him. Glenn had also been arrested several times for assault and weapons offenses, being cited as a habitual criminal in 2019. But way back in 2004, long before he met Cheretha, Glenn was sentenced to 20 years in prison for murder. He was eventually released on parole. It’s unclear if Cheretha knew about his murder charge.

However, there was another problem – Glenn was married. When Cheretha found out early in their relationship, it kicked off a toxic love triangle that lasted for years. Cheretha had gotten into several altercations with Glenn’s wife, one of which allegedly took place not long before Cheretha disappeared in spite of the fact that the wife had an order of protection against Cheretha dating back to 2019. The order was set to expire in May of 2021, just a few months after Cheretha went missing. With all of this going on, Cheretha’s family wondered whether Glenn or his wife had anything to do with Cheretha’s disappearance, but police have never publicly named them as persons of interest.

Another theory centered on the money in Cheretha’s car. Some family members have stated that the amount was upwards of $3500; this was especially strange because Cheretha didn’t usually carry much cash. What was she doing with that much money, and why was it sitting out in the open? If someone had harmed Cheretha, why had they left the cash behind?

There was also the question of the source of Cheretha’s money – not just the cash in the car, but the money she used to fund her extravagant lifestyle. She leased multiple apartments at a time and always drove luxury vehicles. Her salary from working in home health care wouldn’t have been enough. Her niece Lachina told The Vanished that the family wondered whether Cheretha was working as a “street girl” or possibly scamming men for money. Is it possible that Cheretha crossed paths with the wrong person at the wrong time?

As I mentioned before, Chicago police have not been forthcoming with information about the investigation, which has been frustrating for Cheretha’s family. They have been asking for Cheretha’s phone records since day one, but police have never turned them over. Her niece Robbin told the Chicago Sun Times that she wishes police would do more to solve the case. “I don’t feel like they do enough. I don’t feel like they care about us, especially when we’re Black, they don’t care. It’s hard. It just doesn’t come to an end. We just want help, we just want closure.”

What we know for sure about Cheretha’s disappearance is simple: She disappeared on February 26, 2021, from the south side of Chicago. She was last seen in Englewood driving her silver 2016 Porsche Cayenne, which was later found abandoned in Rogers Park.

What we don’t know about Cheretha’s disappearance is much more complicated. Who did she encounter that day, and did they want to hurt her? Why did she have so much cash, and why was it left behind? Was Cheretha really the one who dropped off Gloryious at school? What did her daughter see?

In January of 2025, the Chicago Police Department re-issued Cheretha’s missing persons bulletin in the hopes of drumming up new leads. Her sister Oretha told the Sun Times that the family just wants to know the truth. “Whether it’s good or bad news… You’ve gotta be strong to go through this. I’m really hoping that this year we get some closure.”

As of this recording, Cheretha Morrison has been missing for over five years. At the time of her disappearance, she was four months pregnant. Cheretha is described as a Black woman approximately 5’ tall with black hair and brown eyes. She has a lip piercing and multiple tattoos, including the word “Gloryious” on her left forearm. If you have any information about the disappearance or current whereabouts of Cheretha Morrison, please contact the Chicago Police Department’s Special Victims Unit at 312-747-8380.

And if you or someone you know is in an abusive relationship, please contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or text START to 88788. Help is free and confidential.