Nelida De Jesus Del Valle was a young girl who vanished in 1976. She is believed to have been abducted.
Case[]
Nelida was last seen walking from her home to William Blackstone Elementary School on Shawmut Avenue in Boston, Massachusetts on the morning of December 20, 1976. It was only around a block and a half away from her residence but she never arrived at school.
Several days after Nelida's disappearance, a woman came to police and told them a man named Anthony "Rudy" Flores had given her a hat and gloves for her daughter. She found this strange as Flores resembled a sketch of the suspect in Nelida's case. It was later confirmed that the hat and gloves belonged to Nelida and that she had been wearing them the morning she vanished. Another witness also came forward and told police that he'd seen Flores and Nelida walking together and holding hands.
According to her family, Nelida was very shy and distrustful of strangers. However, they think she may have been willing to trust a police officer as she was raised to respect them. When Flores's apartment was searched a fake police badge and gun were found. He did admit to giving the woman Nelida's hat and gloves but claimed to have found them in the street.
Flores, who is also a suspect in the disappearance of 14 year old Cesilia Pena, denies any involvement in Nelida's case. While there was insufficient evidence to charge him with Nelida's abduction; he did spend a year in prison for the illegal possession of a weapon. Flores may now be in prison for the murder of a young girl in New York, however, according to some sources this is unconfirmed.
In January 1985, Nelida's mother believed Nelida may be a girl in a photograph found in the home of David R. Collins, a child rapist and abductor. However, she changed her mind after further examining the picture and the girl was eventually identified as someone else. Nelida's case remains unsolved.
Characteristics[]
- Brown hair.
- Brown eyes.
- Pierced ears.
Clothing and accessories[]
- A gold coat.
- A white pullover sweater.
- Dark blue slacks.
- Black platform shoes.
Sources[]
- Nelida Del Valle at the Charley Project
- Nelida Del Valle at NamUs
- Nelida Del Valle at NCMEC
- Nelida Del Valle at the Doe Network