4 Unsolved Missing Child Cases That Still Haunt Investigators

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4 Unsolved Missing Child Cases That Still Haunt Investigators     #MissingChildren #UnsolvedMysteries #ColdCases #ChildDisappearance #TrueCrime #DisturbingCases #VanishedWithoutATrace #HauntingStories #MysteryFiles #InvestigationDeepDive#MissingChildren #UnsolvedMysteries #ColdCases #ChildDisappearance #TrueCrime #DisturbingCases #VanishedWithoutATrace #HauntingStories #MysteryFiles #InvestigationDeepDive

Transcript

00:00Jared Adedaro

00:02On the 2nd of October 1999, at around 11.30 in the morning, two men came across a very

00:07young boy while fishing at a campsite on the Big South Trail, which is a part of the Arapahoe

00:11and Roosevelt National Forest in Colorado.

00:14And while running into a lone child in the middle of nowhere as cause for concern, the

00:18two fishermen saw a group of hikers about 80 to 90 feet ahead.

00:22They figured that the child was a part of that group, since after a brief conversation

00:26the child ran off toward the group they saw.

00:28This child was 3-year-old Jared Adedaro, and this was the last time anyone would ever

00:33see him again.

00:34To understand how a 3-year-old even ended up in that situation, we have to take a step

00:38back and examine the life of his father, Alan Adedaro.

00:42Alan was a divorced, single father who was taking care of his two children, the 3-year-old

00:46son Jared and a 6-year-old daughter Jocelyn.

00:50Earlier that year, Alan had become deeply involved with a local religious organization

00:54known as the Christian Singles Network Group.

00:57By October, he was hosting 11 members of this group, along with his two children at a resort

01:01he co-owned with his brother.

01:03On the day of the incident, the kids wanted to go on a trip to see a fish hatchery with

01:06the group.

01:08Alan was a bit reluctant at first to let them go, but ultimately caved in when members

01:11of the group assured him that they'd only visit the hatchery and come right back with

01:14the kids.

01:16However, for reasons that remain unclear, unbeknownst to Alan, the planned visit unexpectedly transformed

01:21into a 15-mile hike along the Big South Trail, commencing at around 10 AM.

01:27Taking two young kids on a lengthy hike without their father's permission, this was mistake

01:32number one.

01:33The second, and arguably the worst mistake the group made was that no one took explicit

01:38responsibility for the kids.

01:40Everyone just assumed that someone else was looking after Jared and Jocelyn, when in reality,

01:45no one was.

01:47To make matters worse, the hikers had split into two groups, those walking faster and

01:51those lagging behind.

01:53This separation made it nearly impossible to keep track of the kids' whereabouts.

01:57About an hour and a half into the hike, Jared reportedly interacted with two fishermen before

02:01running off towards a group of hikers.

02:04Now, this is where things get a bit murky.

02:07From what I can gather, it's unclear whether he was somewhere between the two hiking groups

02:11or if he had already passed them entirely.

02:14The hikers seen by the fishermen might not have even been a part of the same group.

02:17Sadly, this was the point where Jared vanished.

02:20However, it wasn't until 12.15 PM that the Christian group realized that they hadn't

02:25seen him for over an hour.

02:28Panic set in and some members of the group rushed back to the resort to inform Alan.

02:32He wasted no time, immediately driving frantically to the trail while beating his chest and saying

02:37quote, they lost my baby, they lost my baby.

02:41In the meantime, his resort manager filed a missing person report and got the rangers

02:45involved in the search.

02:46Since this was a fairly active hiking trail, the rangers in the area had plenty of experience

02:50finding missing people.

02:52So much so that the sheriff at the time stated, absolutely, I thought we would find him.

02:57Yes, it was a child, but my thought was we should be able to get in there with our people

03:01and do what we do and what we have done hundreds of times, find the person.

03:06It might take a few hours to find the child crying or hiding someplace nearby, but we would

03:10be done before midnight.

03:12He even instructed his subordinates to wake him up when they found Jared, but the news

03:16never came.

03:17After almost a full day of searching, Jared remained missing and the hopes of finding

03:21him alive began to wane.

03:23Things went from bad to worse when the helicopter that was searching for Jared stalled 100 feet

03:27in the air and crashed, injuring all five of its passengers.

03:31By October 7th, over 200 professional searchers, a dozen dog teams, professional trackers, a dive

03:38team, and a plane were doing everything they could to locate Jared, or at least find some

03:43clue that could answer his mysterious disappearance.

03:46Tragically, after five grueling days with no leads, the search for Jared came to a heartbreaking

03:51halt on the 8th of October.

03:54It became a massive story in the media and even led to the Colorado governor signing the

03:58Amber Alert plan into law.

04:00Jared's case, however, remained completely cold.

04:03That is, until June 4, 2003, when two hikers named Gary Watts and Rob Osborne found some

04:09tattered clothes and a sneaker about 500 feet above Jared's last known location.

04:14The pair already knew about his disappearance, so they instantly made the connection and contacted

04:19the authorities.

04:20What followed was a more thorough search of the area.

04:23And 10 days later, searchers made a grim discovery, a molar and a part of a human skull.

04:29The DNA tests confirmed what Jared's family feared.

04:32These remains were his.

04:34They also confirmed that the clothing belonged to him, the same clothes Jared wore on the

04:37day he disappeared.

04:39After nearly four years of his disappearance, Jared's family finally had some closure.

04:44But even with these new discoveries, the question remains, what really happened to Jared?

04:49The most straightforward explanation is that he wandered off in the mountains, got lost,

04:53and eventually succumbed to hypothermia.

04:56But there's a problem with that theory.

04:58The spot where his clothes and remains were found is nearly inaccessible.

05:02It's extremely steep and rocky terrain that would be challenging for an adult to navigate,

05:07let alone a three-year-old child.

05:08The most plausible theory is that he was attacked by a cougar.

05:12These animals are native to the area, and while they rarely attack humans, a small child could

05:17easily become a target.

05:19During the investigation, some of the hikers in the 11-member group also reported hearing

05:23a distant scream during that time, including Jared's sister, Jocelyn.

05:27So if the cougar theory is true, it would explain both the scream and how Jared's remains got

05:32so far from his last known position.

05:35And while it is pretty convincing, there are some inconsistencies in the animal attack premise

05:40that I find difficult to justify.

05:42For starters, researchers did not find any blood or cougar remains like hair on Jared's

05:47clothes.

05:48What's even more puzzling is that Jared's pants were inside out when they are found in

05:53the forest.

05:54I can't think of any logical way a cougar, or any animal for that matter, could turn a

05:59pair of pants inside out.

06:01Not to mention the fact that the pair of sneakers they found were in excellent condition considering

06:06they would have gone through four winters in the Colorado mountains.

06:09All of this points to a far more disturbing theory, according to which Jared was actually

06:14abducted and later killed by another person.

06:17And the reason his sneakers were in such good shape was because the kidnapper likely scattered

06:21Jared's remains on the mountain years after the incident.

06:24I realize this is a horrifying thought, but it's really the only plausible explanation that

06:29accounts for all these strange details.

06:31Unfortunately, even with all the evidence we have, Jared's case remains as much of a mystery

06:36today as it was the day he disappeared.

06:39And the truth of what happened to him may never be known.

06:47Paulette Guevara-Ferra

06:49On the 21st of March 2010, the Guevara family returned from a trip to their home in Mexico.

06:55That evening, the parents tucked their two daughters into bed, unaware it would be the

06:58last time they'd see one of them alive.

07:01The following morning, the family's nanny, Erica, entered four-year-old Paulette Guevara-Ferra's

07:06room to wake her, only to find the bed empty.

07:10She could not find the four-year-old girl anywhere in her room.

07:13She turned everything upside down while searching for Paulette before finally alerting the mother

07:17of the kids, Lizette Ferra.

07:19Lizette quickly informed the authorities, and they started investigating the little girl's

07:23disappearance almost immediately.

07:25However, this case was unlike anything they had seen before.

07:29Paulette had severe physical disabilities, so she couldn't have gone anywhere on her own.

07:34But the investigators didn't find any evidence of someone breaking into the house and kidnapping

07:38her either.

07:39It was as if she had vanished into thin air.

07:42So after exhausting all of her options, the Attorney General's office quickly put together

07:46a poster explaining Paulette's situation and plastered it everywhere in the region.

07:50Lizette's sister, Arlette, also posted a few pictures on social media.

07:55Surprisingly, these social media posts went super viral, turning the disappearance of Paulette

07:59into a national headline.

08:01In the evening, Lizette even released a message on television to the potential abductors, asking

08:05them to return her daughter.

08:07She claimed that they could leave Paulette in a shopping center or some other crowded place

08:11and the family would not press any charges against them.

08:14Sadly, none of these efforts amounted to anything.

08:17That is until nine days later, on March 31st, when the little girl's lifeless body was discovered

08:22back where it all began, her own room.

08:25It was stuck between the mattress and the foot of the bed.

08:32On the surface, this should have been the end of Paulette's case, however, the inconsistencies

08:36surrounding her disappearance were too significant to ignore.

08:39For starters, how is it possible that no one noticed the little girl's body just feet

08:44from where she was supposed to be asleep?

08:46The Gabara house was investigated by professionals who also used highly trained dogs.

08:51How could they miss something so obvious in their search?

08:54Most importantly, how did no one who visited her room notice the smell?

08:59As a comment on YouTube mentions, I found a body once.

09:02It was in a basement apartment and we went to do a checkup on her due to a smell complaint.

09:07Flies were everywhere and they were huge.

09:09The smell was thick and it stuck to everything.

09:12It was a hot and humid summer.

09:14She had been dead for three days.

09:16There is no way that Paulette was in that room for nine days and no one noticed.

09:20The smell of death literally gets everywhere.

09:23Now if the room was immediately taped off after Paulette's disappearance, all of this

09:27could have been potentially explained as nothing more than incompetence by the investigators.

09:31But in reality, the room had many visitors in the days after the incident, including guests

09:36who slept in that same bed for multiple nights.

09:40Lizette even gave an interview sitting on top of the bed where Paulette's body was later

09:44found.

09:45How did she not notice?

09:47The only logical explanation for all of these questions is that Paulette's body wasn't

09:52under the mattress during the initial searches.

09:55Instead, it was placed there later by someone, possibly one or both of her parents.

10:00According to the official coroner report, Paulette moved onto the bed on her own and fell head

10:04first into the gap between the mattress and the frame.

10:08There she asphyxiated and passed away before her nanny Erica came looking for her in the

10:12morning.

10:13But the evidence contradicting this official statement is a bit overwhelming.

10:17For instance, when the rescuers found Paulette, she was wearing dark trousers with a pink

10:21giraffe pattern.

10:22However, Lizette clearly showed the same trousers just days earlier while showing Paulette's belongings

10:27during an interview.

10:39What's even more concerning is that during the official video where the authorities found

10:42the body, the investigators also uncover multiple bloodstains hidden in the sheets,

10:47some of which were the size of a soccer ball.

10:50At one point during the video, one of the investigators even remarks that they, referring to the parents,

10:54were beating up the kid.

11:02Despite this, the official report completely ruled out physical abuse and mysteriously

11:06made no mention of the bloodstains.

11:09When all this came out, it caused great outrage in Mexico, leading to Alberto Bazbaz resigning

11:13from his position as Attorney General of the state of Mexico.

11:17From what I've read on this incident, everything about this case suggests a coverup by the authorities.

11:21It's possible one or both of the parents accidentally killed Paulette while attacking her and came

11:27up with an elaborate scheme to hide their crime while also farming media attention.

11:32And for this to work, someone high up must have been in on the scheme.

11:35Of course, all of this is merely conjecture on my part, as there's no evidence to prove

11:39any wrongdoing by either of the parents.

11:42Unfortunately, we'll likely never learn what happened to poor Paulette on that night.

11:46Unless, of course, someone with insider knowledge decides to come forward, though after 14 years,

11:51that seems increasingly unlikely.

11:54That being said, if the parents were the ones who caused this tragedy, they wouldn't be

11:58the first, because something very similar happened in this next case.

12:07Lucy Meadows

12:08On July 25th, 1996, Yon Meadows visited the Rivergate Mall in Goodletsville, Tennessee to

12:14sell some crafts at a flea market.

12:16After parking her car, she opened the back door to let her three-year-old daughter Lucy

12:20out of the car.

12:21She then went to the passenger side of the car to retrieve some crafts she was going to

12:25sell.

12:26But when she came back around to the other side, her daughter was gone.

12:30She immediately contacted mall security and they conducted a thorough search of both the

12:34mall and the area surrounding it, but Lucy was nowhere to be found.

12:39Over several weeks following the incident, police dedicated hundreds of hours.

12:44Interviewing a hundred witnesses and relatives, following up on tips, speaking with parents

12:48of children resembling Lucy, and reviewing surveillance footage from the parking lot.

12:53Though the surveillance video was too distant to reveal any clues, it captured Yon Meadows

12:58wandering the lot seemingly looking for someone.

13:00However, even after all this effort, they didn't find a single clue that could lead

13:04to Lucy's current whereabouts.

13:07But things were about to get much more disturbing when police started investigating Yon.

13:12For some context, Yon was a Korean immigrant who had separated from her husband, Tom, and

13:16was living with another Korean woman, Hyun S. Dai, also known as Tammy.

13:21And in her original statement, Yon claimed that she had only looked away for a few seconds,

13:25and that was all it took for Lucy to disappear.

13:27But after a couple of weeks, she changed her story and said that she might have been busy

13:38for 10 to 15 minutes.

13:41This is a massive difference.

13:43As the lead investigator at the time pointed out, if they had known the time frame for the

13:47disappearance was 10 to 15 minutes instead of under a minute, they would have searched

13:51more extensively from the start.

13:54This sudden change in story also put Yon as a prime suspect in Lucy's disappearance.

13:59They put Yon under two polygraph tests, and she failed both of them.

14:03After which, she became reluctant to talk with the investigators.

14:06During this time, a neighbor also reported seeing the 3-year-old Lucy wandering outside

14:10early 1 March morning, not dressed for the weather and crying.

14:14Police also questioned her housemate Tammy, whose statement didn't fully align with Yon's

14:19history, making the whole situation even more suspicious.

14:22Police and the FBI then carried out an extensive search of the Meadows house, farm, and the

14:27surrounding area.

14:28However, they didn't find any evidence against Yon or Tammy, and the case was left wide open

14:33with no leads for the next 18 years.

14:36But then, in November of 2004, a witness came forward.

14:40He claimed he saw Lucy lying on the floor at home wrapped in a blanket and looking like she

14:45could have been dead a day before her supposed disappearance.

14:49And while the police never released the name of this witness, I believe it was Daniel, Tammy's

14:53son who would have been 11 years old at the time of the incident.

14:56If we take his testimony as truth, many of the inconsistencies in Lucy's case begin unraveling.

15:01Lucy was likely already dead before her alleged disappearance on July 25th.

15:06Yon disposed of her body somewhere and then made up this abduction story to cleverly mask

15:10the truth.

15:12As for who killed Lucy, it could be Yon, it could be Tammy, or both.

15:17And the cause of our death could range from extreme neglect to overwhelming abuse.

15:22We have no way of knowing.

15:24And if Yon and Tammy have managed to hide the truth for over 28 years, it's unlikely they'll

15:28confess any time soon.

15:31That said, the case is still open at the Goodletsville Police Department.

15:35Who knows, maybe we'll see another witness come forward sometime in the future.

15:42This is the first video Florida couple Steve and Marlene Eisenberg recorded of their nearly

15:56five-month-old daughter, Sabrina.

15:58What they didn't know at the time was that this was also going to be the last.

16:02A day after this video, on the 23rd of November 1997, the couple watched a Disney movie with

16:07their three kids and tucked them into bed.

16:10Marlene later checked up on her daughter around midnight before going to sleep.

16:14But, when she woke up the next morning, she was greeted with a tremendously frightening sight.

16:18She immediately rushed to Sabrina's bedroom, which was the closest to the garage.

16:39Unfortunately, it was already too late.

16:41I ran into the first bedroom, which is Sabrina's room.

16:45And I look in the crib and Sabrina's gone.

16:48And I scream, scream.

16:50This shook Marlene to her core, which is quite apparent from her disturbing 911 call.

16:55Upon closer inspection, the couple found out that Sabrina's disappearance was partially

17:23their own fault.

17:25They had forgotten to close the garage door the night before.

17:28As the police got involved, they started a manhunt for the supposed kidnapper, which

17:31ended up being the largest manhunt in Florida history at the time.

17:36Investigation of Sabrina's room revealed a mysterious footprint and some unidentified fingerprints

17:40near her crib.

17:41Now, this should have been the proof that someone had already kidnapped little Sabrina.

17:45However, cops were struggling to find any other leader evidence that could lead them

17:49to the perpetrator.

17:50So instead of continuing their search outward, they shifted their focus inward, turning their

17:55attention to Steve and Marlene.

17:57The idea that someone could have walked into a suburban home in the middle of the night,

18:04plucked a five-month-old child out of her crib, obviously raised a lot of suspicion around

18:10the Eisenbergs.

18:11It's unusual for a true kidnapping.

18:13A lot of times, they find out that it's someone the family knew or had knowledge of.

18:20And that's part of the leads we're looking at.

18:23Sabrina's parents were now lead suspects in the case of their own missing daughter.

18:27They were summoned for extensive interviews on multiple occasions and were also instructed

18:31to take polygraph tests.

18:33And while Steve passed his tests, the results for Marlene's tests came out inconclusive due

18:38to the stress she was under.

18:40It seemed like the higher-ups had already made up their mind about Steve and Marlene being

18:43the perpetrators and were just trying to find any evidence that could support this conclusion.

18:48At one point, they even instructed Marlene to appear cold and uncaring on TV and then

18:52use that to question the legitimacy of her feelings for her daughter.

18:55Please bring our baby back to us.

18:59She needs her mother and her father and we all miss her and love her very much and we need

19:04her to come home to us, please.

19:07It backfired because the perception was that they were cold.

19:13Marlene was seen by some as being not authentic, unemotional.

19:19Law enforcement seemed to focus in on that display.

19:23It took all the strength that I had to say what I said and then the minute I was done,

19:29I broke down in tears.

19:31Okay?

19:32Hysterical.

19:33But of course, the cameras were not put on me then.

19:35It got to the point where Steve and Marlene were no longer interested in talking to the

19:38police and hired an attorney to act as a shield.

19:40However, this only made things worse for the Eisenbergs because on December 12th, 1997,

19:46law enforcement successfully received the court's permission to install hidden listening

19:50devices in their home.

19:52These devices remained active for almost three months and captured over 2,600 conversations

19:57between the couple.

19:59Police then used these recordings to build a case against Steve and Marlene, claiming

20:02that they had found evidence of the couple admitting to Sabrina's murder.

20:06These alleged transcripts included statements like, on December 23rd, 1997, Marlene said to

20:12Steve,

20:13The baby's dead and buried.

20:15It was found dead because you did it.

20:17The baby's dead.

20:18No matter what you say, you just did it.

20:20To which Steve responded by saying,

20:22Honey, there was nothing I could do about it.

20:24We need to discuss the way that we can beat the charge.

20:27I will never break from the family pact and our story, even if the police were to hold

20:31me down.

20:32We will do what we have to do.

20:34On January 21, 1998, Steve said,

20:37I wish I hadn't harmed her.

20:39It was the cocaine.

20:40And 10 more counts of similar incriminating statements.

20:44They also used these as evidence to break into the Eisenbergs' home and arrest the couple.

20:49However, when the cops presented this evidence in court, the judge was unable to make out

20:52the phrases that were claimed to have been said.

20:55The entire case was dismissed and Steve and Marlene even won a counter lawsuit which made

20:59the government pay their attorney fees for the bogus lawsuit.

21:02And from my research, I'm fairly confident that Steve and Marlene were likely not the

21:07reason behind their daughter's disappearance.

21:09One of their old neighbors also came to their defense in a YouTube comment which read,

21:13I lived about a half mile from the Eisenbergs at the time of this tragedy.

21:17We also had a six month old baby boy at the time.

21:20I never so quickly moved my son's crib into our master bedroom for a month or so after

21:24that happening.

21:25Personally, after hearing so very much about the case, and I actually knew someone who knew

21:29the mom, these folks could not have done it.

21:32They were genuinely wonderful parents and a decent, normal family.

21:36My heart goes out to these people to this day.

21:39Our son is 25 now.

21:41Sabrina would be 25 years old this June.

21:43So, so sad.

21:45Sadly, while the police focused on blaming Steve and Marlene, the real perpetrator continued

21:49to slip further from their grasp.

21:51Now, it's been over 27 years since Sabrina disappeared.

21:55It's unclear if she's even alive or if she met an untimely death.

21:59The Eisenberg couple, however, has not given up hope.

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