Family Skeleton

A Brother and Sister’s Journey from Murder to Truth

by Andre Carmichael, Sabrina Carmichael-Yaw
and Aurora Mackey

We all have skeletons in our closet, but for siblings Andre and Sabrina Carmichael, whose three-year-old sister Latanisha disappeared one cold fall day in 1979, they had one that was all too real; a horrible secret that was kept deep in the darkest regions of their minds for twenty long years.

This childhood haunts the brother and sister, but an even more sinister reality was about to come to light. Andre and Sabrina have terrible memories of growing up inside their home. Visions of violence plagued their souls, surfacing on the tip of their tongues frequently, yet never escaping their lips. However, an even darker secret was harbored by older sister Sabrina, one that was so shocking and unbelievable, it became one of the most fascinating crimes ever investigated.

At the back of their mother’s closet, hidden inside a cedar lined trunk filled with air fresheners and mothballs, horrified detectives discovered the awful truth that was only known to those who lived inside of that apartment. Finally, the ghost that haunted the collective subconscious of all involved was liberated to help deliver a justice long overdue.

In Family Skeleton, Latanisha’s big sister, Sabrina, and twin brother, Andre, describe in detail to the reporter who became their friend, Aurora Mackey, how family secrets ate at them like acid throughout their entire lives, and what it took for them to come forward in this riveting, emotional story of child abuse, family secrets and, ultimately, the healing power of courage.

Here is a story of madness and horror that comes but once in a lifetime. Now the brother and sister who lived to tell that tale reveal what really happened.

"Courageous story."
— Philadelphia Tribune

Andre Carmichael and Sabrina Carmichael-Yaw are the brother and sister of Latanisha, the little girl who disappeared. Their experience was headlined in the New York Times as well as other major newspapers across America and they have been invited on national TV to discuss their riveting story. Andre Carmichael lives in Brooklyn, New York, while Sabrina Carmichael-Yaw lives in the Bronx.

Aurora Mackey is an award-winning former columnist with the Los Angeles Times and former medical reporter with the Los Angeles Daily News. She now works as a legal journalist with a California lawyer. Her first non-fiction book, Ultimate Judgment, was published in 2001. Ms. Mackey lives in Matthews, North Carolina.

A New Horizon Press Release
True Crime
6 x 9, 224 pages
LC #2006923974, world rights
ISBN-13: 978-0-88282-295-2 (hc), $24.95