The Girl in the Picture: One Woman's Hidden Tragedy

On July 6, 2022, Netflix released *Girl in the Picture*, a documentary that would expose one of America's most disturbing criminal cases: the decades-long abuse and exploitation of a child known only as Sharon Marshall, who the world believed was a woman named Tonya Hughes.

Directed by Skye Borgman and based on investigative journalist Matt Birkbeck's books *A Beautiful Child* and *Finding Sharon*, the documentary traces the life of a young girl abducted by Franklin Delano Floyd—a federal fugitive also known as Trenton Davis. Taken as a child, Sharon was raised by Floyd as his daughter, sexually assaulted, and eventually forced into marriage with her abuser.

For years, Sharon lived under an assumed identity. When she died in a hit-and-run accident in Oklahoma in 1990, she was identified as Tonya Hughes, a 20-year-old exotic dancer and single mother. The circumstances surrounding her death were troubling: she fell into a coma after less than a week following the accident, and scratch marks on her body suggested she had fought for her life. But it would take decades before the truth emerged.

Post-mortem investigation revealed a startling discovery: the real Tonya Hughes had died as an infant. The woman buried under that name was actually Sharon Marshall, a victim of one of America's most prolific predators. The revelation sparked a broader investigation into Floyd's activities, uncovering a trail of violence and exploitation.

The documentary also illuminates a second victim: Cheryl Ann Commesso, an 18-year-old exotic dancer and close friend of Sharon Marshall. Commesso went missing in 1989, and for years, her fate remained unknown. Through photographic evidence and dental records, investigators eventually identified her as a murder victim of Franklin Delano Floyd, finally giving her family answers about her disappearance.