Missing
Zita Cecilia Gutierrez
Gutierrez, approximately 1980
Date and time person was reported missing : 08/23/1980
Missing location (approx) :
Bethesda, Maryland
Missing classification : Endangered Missing
Gender : Female
Ethnicity :
Hispanic
DOB : 10/23/1956 (64)
Age at the time of disappearance: 23 years old
Height / Weight : 5'0 - 5'2, 110 pounds
Description, clothing, jewerly and more : A silver-colored watch with a silver metal band, and a gold ring with a green marquise-cut stone.
Distinguishing characteristics, birthmarks, tattoos
: Hispanic female. Black hair, brown eyes. Gutierrez has a slight gap between her two upper front teeth. She goes by her middle name, Cecilia. She was born in Ecuador.
Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : Gutierrez was last seen at the Kenwood Country Club in the vicinity of the 5600 block of River Road in Rockville, Maryland. She had been working as a cocktail waitress there for about a week. She was supposed to pick up a friend at a bus stop at 9:30 p.m. and then go to meet her fiance and other friends at a nightclub.
Authorities believe there was a communications error and Gutierrez's friend was waiting at a different bus stop than Gutierrez thought. She was last seen shortly after she clocked out of work.
Her car was witnessed leaving the club parking lot at 9:25 p.m., but it hasn't been confirmed that she was driving it. She has never been heard from again. Her friends began searching for her when she failed to meet them as planned; they called the police at 2:00 a.m. on August 24.
Gutierrez's car, a 1971 Dodge Challenger, was found abandoned the day after her disappearance in a parking lot across the street from the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, where she held a second job. The location is adjacent to the bus stop where investigators believe Gutierrez thought she would meet her friend; the friend was actually at another bus stop 500 yards down the road. There were no signs of a struggle at the scene.
At the time of her disappearance, Gutierrez was attending Montgomery College. She moved to the United States four or five years prior to her disappearance. Shortly before she vanished she became engAge at the time of disappearance: d to an Iranian student from Pennsylvania. Her case remains unsolved.
Other information and links : ncy
Montgomery County Police Department
301-279-8000
301-279-1602
September 2021 updates and sources
A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are not known. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, death in a location where they cannot be found (such as at sea), or many other reasons. In most parts of the world, a missing person will usually be found quickly. While criminal abductions are some of the most widely reported missing person cases, these account for only 2�5% of missing children in Europe.
By contrast, some missing person cases remain unresolved for many years. Laws related to these cases are often complex since, in many jurisdictions, relatives and third parties may not deal with a person's assets until their death is considered proven by law and a formal death certificate issued. The situation, uncertainties, and lack of closure or a funeral resulting when a person goes missing may be extremely painful with long-lasting effects on family and friends.
Several organizations seek to connect, share best practices, and disseminate information and imAge at the time of disappearance: s of missing children to improve the effectiveness of missing children investigations, including the International Commission on Missing Persons, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), as well as national organizations, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in the US, Missing People in the UK, Child Focus in Belgium, and The Smile of the Child in Greece.
The Doe Network
The Gazette
The Washington Examiner
October 12, 2004. August 1, 2012; Description, clothing, jewerly and more : description added, Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : updated.
Interactive Missing Person Search Map
