The chilling case of Franklin Delano Floyd, the man at the center of Netflix’s 2022 documentary The Girl in the Picture, is one of the most disturbing child abduction and abuse cases in U.S. history. Floyd, a convicted sex offender and career criminal, died in 2023 on Florida’s death row—but the damage he caused spanned decades, multiple states, and left a haunting legacy of unanswered questions.
A Stolen Childhood
Suzanne Marie Sevakis was only about 5 years old when Floyd abducted her in the 1970s. He had briefly married her mother, who was later jailed for writing bad checks. During her short sentence, Floyd vanished with Suzanne and her baby brother Phillip. While Suzanne’s two younger sisters, Allison and Amy, were found in foster care, Suzanne and Phillip disappeared.
Decades later, Phillip resurfaced and was identified, but Suzanne never learned her real name. For most of her life, she lived under fake identities created by Floyd, who moved her from state to state.
A Life Lived in Lies
Before abducting Suzanne, Floyd had already served time for kidnapping and raping a 4-year-old girl. Over the years, he enrolled Suzanne in schools under various aliases. In high school, she was known as Sharon Marshall—a bright student who earned a full scholarship to study aerospace engineering at Georgia Tech.
Instead of pursuing college, she was forced by Floyd into a different life. In the late 1980s, Suzanne gave birth to a son, Michael, fathered by Floyd. The pair moved to Tampa, where Suzanne worked as a dancer. In 1989, they married under fake names—Clarence Hughes and Tonya Tadlock.
Mysterious Death and Stolen Future
In April 1990, Suzanne—then known as Tonya Hughes—was found unconscious on the side of an Oklahoma highway. Groceries were scattered around her, and she had severe bruising and a massive head injury. She died the next day. Though initially thought to be a hit-and-run, her injuries raised suspicions, but Floyd was never charged in connection with her death. Her true identity remained unknown for decades.
Michael, Suzanne’s son, was placed into foster care. But tragedy struck again in 1994 when Floyd abducted the 6-year-old at gunpoint from his school. He vanished without a trace, leaving behind a trail of questions and pain.
A Cold Case Breaks Wide Open
Floyd was arrested two months later in Kentucky but refused to say what happened to Michael. While searching his truck, investigators discovered disturbing photos of a woman who appeared to have been beaten and bound. That woman was later identified as Cheryl Ann Commenso, a dancer who had worked with Suzanne in Tampa. Her remains were found near a freeway on-ramp, and in 2002, Floyd was convicted of Cheryl’s murder and sentenced to death.
Years later, in 2014, Floyd finally confessed to murdering Michael on the day he abducted him. He told FBI Special Agent Scott Lobb he shot the child twice in the back of the head because he “ran out of patience.” Despite his confession, Michael’s body was never recovered.
That same year, DNA testing finally identified “Tonya Hughes” as Suzanne Marie Sevakis, solving the decades-old mystery of the missing girl Floyd had kidnapped all those years ago.
A Legacy of Pain and Questions
Despite confessing to killing Michael and being convicted of another murder, Floyd never admitted to causing Suzanne’s death. Investigators believe he knows more than he shared, but it’s a truth he took to the grave. Floyd died in 2023 of natural causes at the age of 79 after years of mental competency evaluations and court delays.
“This was a monster,” said prosecutor Bruce Bartlett. “A better thing couldn’t happen to a worse person.”
The story of Suzanne Sevakis is a heartbreaking reminder of how long justice can take—and how, in some cases, it never fully arrives.
