Suzanne Marie Sevakis went by many aliases during her lifetime – including Sharon Marshall and Tonya Tadlock. She found herself in Franklin’s care as a young child when her mother Sandi Chipman was put in prison.

Franklin, who also went by many aliases, met Sharon’s mother Sandi in 1974 when he introduced himself as Brandon Williams.

Sandi had four children, including Sharon, from two fathers, and after dating for a month, Franklin and Sandi married and moved to Dallas, Texas.

In 1975, Sandi was put in prison for 30 days for posting bad checks. She left her children in Franklin’s care, but when she returned from jail,  everyone was gone. Two of her children – Allison and Amy – were put into care, and her son Phillip’s whereabouts were unknown until 2019 when the now-adult Phillip carried out a DNA test after suspecting he was the missing child. It was revealed that Franklin had put him up for adoption.

Franklin then moved away with Sandi’s daughter Sharon, and by 1989, the pair were married and living together in Tulsa, Oklahoma. At the time, Sharon was using the name Tonya Dawn Hughes.

She had earned a full scholarship to Georgia Tech to study aerospace engineering, however, she fell pregnant by another man (but never informed the biological father and raised her baby with her husband). Franklin then stopped Sharon from attending the college, and as he had back problems she became their sole provider, working as an exotic dancer to take care of the family.

What happened to Sharon Marshall?

Netflix

After meeting a man at the club, Sharon planned to run away from Franklin. But before she could see her plan out, she was hit by a car. She never regained consciousness and died five days after the accident. Franklin had reportedly stopped friends from visiting her by then.

Sharon was just 20 at the time of her death, and while it’s believed that she was hit by a car, there was blunt-force trauma to the back of her head not consistent with a car accident. Franklin claimed to be asleep at the time of the accident, but remained a person of interest. He has not been charged with a crime relating to her death.

ITV

He then kidnapped her son, named Michael, who was just two at the time, and placed him into foster care. Michael was soon adopted by his new parents.

The adoption process required DNA testing, and it was soon revealed that Franklin was not Michael’s biological father.

Around this time, Franklin was arrested for an earlier parole violation and when he was eventually released from jail, he entered Michael’s first grade class while armed and kidnapped him, sparking a manhunt. Franklin was caught, but there was no sign of Michael following the incident.

During a 2015 interview with the FBI, Floyd confessed to shooting and killing Michael and told the FBI where they could find the body, however, no remains were ever recovered.

Franklin was also charged for the murder of Sharon’s co-worker Cheryl Commesso, who people suspected he was secretly dating. He is now on death row for a series of crimes.

Girl in the Picture premieres on Netflix on Wednesday, 6th July. Check out more of our Documentaries coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what’s on tonight.

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