Resources for Missing Persons

According to current statistics, 4,000 people in the United States go missing every day. Sometimes a child suddenly vanishes from the bus stop or the local park or even from their own yard or bedroom. Or a teenager doesn�t return home after a walk to the neighborhood grocery store or a bike ride or a party with friends. Other times, an adult is mysteriously absent from their job or neighbors haven�t seen them for several days, and family and friends haven�t heard from them either.

Missing Person Case Updates with Photos

Marlene Santana




Age-progression for Marlene to age 25 (date, approximate 2010) (photographs of her are unavailable because she was abducted shortly after birth); Example of a foot with metatarsus adductus; Sketches of the abductor
Date Missing 10/21/1985
Missing From
Brooklyn, New York
Missing Classification Non-Family Abduction
Sex Female
Race
Hispanic
Date of Birth 10/18/1985 (36)
Age 3 days old
Height and Weight 1'8, 7 pounds
Associated Vehicle(s) White 1976 Chevrolet Malibu with red lettering on the door
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Hispanic female. Brown hair, brown eyes. Marlene has a foot deformity called a metatarsus adductus; her feet will appear C-shaped if viewed from the bottom. A picture of what a foot with this deformity would look like is posted with this summary.
Details of Disappearance Marlene was abducted at gunpoint by a female suspect in the New York City borough of Brooklyn at 9:30 p.m. on October 21, 1985.
Marlene was kept longer than usual due to jaundice, but eventually discharged with a clean bill of health. The suspect kidnapped the baby as her mother was leaving the hospital with her. The child was wrapped in a blue, pink and yellow swaddling blanket at the time of her abduction.
The suspect threatened to shoot Marlene if her mother did not give her up. The two women walked together for six blocks with the suspect pointing a gun at Marlene, then stopped at a deserted junkyard, and the suspect took the baby. Her mother gave the abductor her telephone number and asked her to call.The kidnapper escaped in a waiting car driven by an accomplice. Marlene and the suspect have never been seen again.
Sketches of the abductor are posted with this summary. She was 5'2 and 130 pounds, and approximately 24 to 30 years old in 1985. She was Caucasian or Hispanic, with dyed red or blondehair, and may have been wearing a wig. The abduction car was a white 1976 Chevrolet Malibu with red lettering on the door; possibly it was an unlicensed cab.
The same week Marlene disappeared, a two-month-old baby was kidnapped from another New York City hospital. The infant was recovered unharmed a few days later and his abductor was arrested. The is not believed to be connected to Marlene's; the timing was coincidental.
Marlene's father was in the Dominican Republic at the time of the infant's disappearance and is not considered a suspect in her . Francisca returned to the Dominican Republic after Marlene's abduction, as she didn't feel safe in the United States. She and Marlene's father had had two children before Marlene, and they subsequently had two more. The entire family still lives in the Dominican Republic and is employed at the family business, a small supermarket.
Although it's possible that Marlene was sold for adoption, authorities don't believe her abductor was a professional criminal. Rather, they think the kidnapper was a mentally unstable woman wanted a child to raise and couldn't have one of her own. Marlene's remains unsolved.
Investigating Agency
New York City Police Department
646-610-6914
Other
The National Center For Missing and Exploited Children
NewsLibrary
Newspaper Archive
The New Jersey Record
Unsolved Mysteries
NamUs
Facebook Page for Marlene Santana
El Diario

Missing Person Photos

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 unknown. 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 to 5 percent 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. A number of organizations seek to connect, share best practices, and disseminate information and images 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.

Resources for Missing Persons

According to current statistics, 4,000 people in the United States go missing every day. Sometimes a child suddenly vanishes from the bus stop or the local park or even from their own yard or bedroom. Or a teenager doesn�t return home after a walk to the neighborhood grocery store or a bike ride or a party with friends. Other times, an adult is mysteriously absent from their job or neighbors haven�t seen them for several days, and family and friends haven�t heard from them either.

Missing Person Case Updates with Photos