With shows like Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey and movies like Our Father, Netflix is cranking out more world class true crime documentaries. The Girl in the Picture, a feature length documentary focused on the life and untimely death of Suzanne Sevakis, is just the latest.
Directed by Skye Borgman, who also worked on an episode of Netflix’s Unsolved Mysteries, The Girl in the Picture is a fascinating, but gruelling look at the life of a young girl kidnapped by now convicted killer Franklin Delano Floyd.
Where is Franklin Delano Floyd now?
Franklin Delano Floyd is still alive. He is 79 years old and being held at the Union Correctional Institution. In 2002 he was convicted for the kidnapping Michael Hughes and the murder of Cheryl Commesso and given the death sentence. He is currently on death row and doesn’t have an execution date set.
What happened to Suzanne Sevakis’ brothers and sisters?
As mentioned in the documentary, Franklin Delano Floyd took Sevakis, her two sisters and her brother, after her mother, Sandra Brandenburg, was imprisoned for writing a bad cheque. Ultimately Floyd only ended up taking Suzanne, changing her name to Sharon Marshall and later Tonya Hughes. Suzanne’s two sisters, Allison and Amy, were dropped off at an orphanage and eventually found by the mother Sandra Brandenburg.
Suzanne’s brother, Phillip Brandenburg, was not dropped off at the orphanage with his sisters. Ultimately he was found through a DNA test in 2019. Phillip, believing he was the missing child submitted a test and was found to be the brother of Suzanne Brandenburg. He had been adopted privately in North Carolina.
Who is Michael Hughes’s father?
If you watched The Girl in the Picture you’ll be aware that Suzanne Brandenburg, then known as Tonya Hughes, had a young son, Michael Hughes, when she was killed in a hit and run accident.
The documentary explains that, via DNA testing, it was proven that Franklin Delano Floyd was not Michael’s father, despite his own claims. But who was Michael’s father? Legal documents suggest that Suzanne Brandenburg became pregnant with Michael Hughes as a result of a relationship with a man named Gregory Higgs. Higgs testified that Floyd told him he was the father during a phone call.
However, since the whereabouts of Michael Hughes are unknown, this is impossible to prove. Franklin Delano Floyd was convicted of kindapping Hughes, and later confessed to his murder but a body was never found. As a result it’s not possible at this point to prove paternity.
Who killed Suzanne Sevakis?
No-one was ever convicted of the hit and run attack that ultimately killed Suzanne Sevakis, then known as Tonya Hughes. Franklin Delano Floyd was considered the main suspect. Despite the fact Floyd was convicted of murdering Cheryl Commesso, there was not enough evidence to charge Floyd with the hit and run attack. Floyd did confess to shooting Michael Hughes twice in the head, but never confessed to the murder of Suzanne Sevakis.
