1982 - Jennifer Marteliz
Tampa, Florida
Went Missing: November 15, 1982
Case Summary
Jennifer Marteliz was 7 years old when she disappeared in Tampa, Florida, on November 15, 1982. That afternoon, she was last seen after school, around 3:00 p.m., about one block from her home near 15th Street and 109th Avenue. What should have been a short walk home became the beginning of a mystery that has lasted for more than forty years. Jennifer never made it home, and despite searches, tips, and decades of investigation, no trace of her has ever been found. Over the years, investigators have followed leads in Florida and beyond, including a later search in Pennsylvania tied to a deceased man who reportedly had connections to Tampa, but that search did not recover Jennifer’s remains. More than four decades later, Jennifer Marteliz is still missing, and no one has ever been convicted in her disappearance.
Timeline
November 15, 1982
Jennifer attends classes at Lee Elementary School.
Teachers and classmates later report nothing unusual during the school day.
November 15, 1982 Around 3:00 p.m.
School dismisses for the day.
Jennifer begins walking home.
She is last seen near the intersection of 15th Street and 109th Avenue, about one block from her apartment complex.
November 15, 1982 Afternoon
Jennifer never arrives home.
Her family quickly realizes something is wrong.
November 15, 1982 Evening
Jennifer is reported missing.
Law enforcement begins searching the area surrounding her neighborhood and school route.
November 16–17, 1982
A large search effort expands across Tampa.
Police, volunteers, helicopters, and bloodhounds search neighborhoods, wooded areas, canals, and nearby fields.
Local media coverage spreads Jennifer’s photo throughout the region.
Late 1982
Investigators interview neighbors, classmates, and potential witnesses.
Multiple tips are received, but no confirmed sightings lead to Jennifer’s location.
1980s–1990s
The case remains active but unsolved.
Jennifer’s disappearance becomes one of Tampa’s most well-known missing child cases.
November 2015
Pennsylvania State Police execute search warrants on several properties in Fayette County, Pennsylvania.
The searches are tied to a deceased man who once lived in both Pennsylvania and Tampa.
Investigators receive information from a former neighbor who claims the man may have been connected to Jennifer’s disappearance.
Late 2015
Search teams excavate portions of the properties looking for possible human remains.
No remains connected to Jennifer are recovered.
No charges are filed.
Present Day
Jennifer Marteliz remains missing.
No one has ever been arrested or convicted in connection to her disappearance.
Her case remains unsolved more than forty years later.
Contact
If you know anything about this case, please contact:
Tampa Police Department at 1-813-276-3200
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