FL FL - Cynthia Gooding, 16, & Teresa Alfonso, 12, Marathon, 3 Sept 1974

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Cynthia Robin Gooding (16)
Missing since September 3, 1974 from Marathon, Monroe County, Florida.
Classification: Lost, Injured, Missing
NCIC Number: M-061966859
Vital Statistics
Date Of Birth: July 23, 1958
Age at Time of Disappearance: 16 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'2; 100 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Brown hair; brown eyes.
Marks, Scars: She has a scar on her left eyebrow.
Nickname: Cindi; Cindy


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Teresa Armanda Alfonso (12)
Missing since September 3, 1974 from Marathon, Monroe County, Florida.
Classification: Endangered Missing
NCIC Number: M-729859018
Vital Statistics
Date Of Birth: November 6, 1961
Age at Time of Disappearance: 12 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'2" (157 cm); 120 lbs (54 kg)
Distinguishing Characteristics: White/Hispanic female. Light brown hair; brown eyes.
Marks, Scars: She has had a tonsillectomy. She has a small-sized scar below her buttocks. She has pierced ears.
Dentals: A small gap between her two front teeth.

Circumstances of Disappearance
Teresa Armanda Alfonso and her friend, Cynthia Robin Gooding, were dropped off at the Marathon Movie Theater in Marathon, Florida on 3 September 1974. Neither of the girls has been seen again.

Investigators
If you have any information concerning Alfonso's or Gooding's whereabouts, please contact:
Monroe County Sheriff's Office
Missing Persons Unit
305-289-2430
305-296-2424
800-346-8477

Agency Case Number: M743432
Please refer to this number when contacting any agency with information related to this case.

Source Information:
Florida Department Of Law Enforcement
The National Center For Missing and Exploited ChildrenThe Doe Network

Links:
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/2dffl.html
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/218dffl.html
 
Why were a 16-year-old and a 12-year-old hanging out together? Is there suggestion that they were abducted/lured away, or could they have run away?

This sort of reminds me of those three girls from Texas who disappeared while shopping, except there was a reason for the 9-year-old to be there -- she was tagging along. With just two girls it doesn't seem like a tagalong situation; seems like they would go because they were friends. But I can't imagine a 12-year-old and a 16-year-old having enough in common to be friends -- they wouldn't even go to the same school!
 
If it is one thing that I realized about Doenetwork is that the older cases tend to have less information than the newer cases, statistically anyway(not to any fault of thier own). The fact that missing persons didn't really become national news stories with the frequency that they are today. Clearing houses, support groups and the like didn't really co-exist w/police. Being the difference in thier ages, could it be possible that the Gooding was Alfonso's babysitter? Also, if they lived in an area that did not have a big population ( kid anyway) it wouldn't be uncommon for them to be friends. The last is a bit far fetched, but it does happen from time to time.

:twocents:
 
I don't know, of course, but I think they were probably just friends. Unless Teresa was mentally disabled or something -- and there is no evidence of that -- there's no reason why she would have a babysitter. And I was friends with people far older when I was Teresa's age.
 
Interesting observations about the girls and their age differences. I do not know much more than I posted origionally. When I edited my post above, I combined the separate Doenetwork writeups for each girl. Notice that their Doenetwork numbers are significantly different, and that the classifications are different for each girl. There were other differences and discrepancies as well, like different phone numbers, different wording, etc. One even had a different disappearance date, although I believe that was a typo, as it conflicted with other info in the same file.

I agree that this case has similarities to the Fort Worth Three who disappeared only three months later. both involved abductions of more than one girl at the same time. This was also true of disappearances of the Leslie Sisters from Arizona in 1974, and the Lyon sisters from Montgomery County, Maryland in March 1975. Two young boys of similar ages, Anderson and Williams disappeared from New Jersey in April 1975.

This case also resembles the disappearance of Dorthy Delilah Schoffield from an Ocala, Florida Shopping Center in 1976.
 
Cynthia Gooding (16) and Teresa Alfonso (12) Missing 3 Sept 1974 Marathon, FL

Cynthia Robin Gooding (16)
Missing since September 3, 1974 from Marathon, Monroe County, Florida.
Classification: Lost, Injured, Missing
NCIC Number: M-061966859
Vital Statistics
Date Of Birth: July 23, 1958
Age at Time of Disappearance: 16 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'2; 100 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Brown hair; brown eyes.
Marks, Scars: She has a scar on her left eyebrow.
Nickname: Cindi; Cindy

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Teresa Armanda Alfonso (12)
Missing since September 3, 1974 from Marathon, Monroe County, Florida.
Classification: Endangered Missing
NCIC Number: M-729859018
Vital Statistics
Date Of Birth: November 6, 1961
Age at Time of Disappearance: 12 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'2" (157 cm); 120 lbs (54 kg)
Distinguishing Characteristics: White/Hispanic female. Light brown hair; brown eyes.
Marks, Scars: She has had a tonsillectomy. She has a small-sized scar below her buttocks. She has pierced ears.
Dentals: A small gap between her two front teeth.

Circumstances of Disappearance
Teresa Armanda Alfonso and her friend, Cynthia Robin Gooding, were dropped off at the Marathon Movie Theater in Marathon, Florida on 3 September 1974. Neither of the girls has been seen again.

Investigators
If you have any information concerning Alfonso's whereabouts, please contact:
Monroe County Sheriff's Office
Missing Persons Unit
305-296-2424
800-346-8477
You may remain anonymous when submitting information to any agency.

Agency Case Number: M743432
NCMEC #: NCMC801268
NCIC Number: M-729859018

Please refer to these numbers when contacting any agency with information related to this case.

Source Information:
The National Center For Missing and Exploited Children
Florida Missing Children Information Clearinghouse
Florida Department of Law Enforcement
The Doenetwork


New Links:

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/2dffl.html

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/218dffl.html
 
The descriptions say that "one of them had a history" of running away. I wonder which one? I assume the older one, but you never know.

What if it happened like this: Cynthia is meeting someone at the mall; she's even thinking of leaving with this person. At the last minute, she finds out that Teresa will be tagging along. Maybe this was set up between the girls' mothers. So Cynthia decides to take Teresa along, something goes wrong, and they are endangered.

Does anyone know if they ever made it to the movies?
 
I think they were dropped off at the movies, so it'd be interesting to see if they went inside the theater.

I don't know about this, but could they be neighbors? I know that I was friends with kids a slight bit younger than me because there were no girls my immediate area that were my age.

If you look at the birthdays, it comes to much more like a three year difference or less. (Cynthia had just turned 16 and Teresa was very close to 13) Perhaps they had a common group of neighborhood friends?
 
Note that DNA is now on file for this case.

---------------------------------------------------
Teresa Armanda Alfonso
Missing since September 3, 1974 from Marathon, Monroe County, Florida.
Classification: Endangered Missing

Vital Statistics

Date Of Birth: November 6, 1961
Age at Time of Disappearance: 12 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'2" (157 cm); 120 lbs (54 kg)
Distinguishing Characteristics: White/Hispanic female. Light brown hair; brown eyes.
Marks, Scars: She has had a tonsillectomy. She has a small-sized scar below her buttocks. She has pierced ears.
Dentals: A small gap between her two front teeth.
DNA: Available in CODIS

Circumstances of Disappearance

Alfonso and her friend, Cynthia Robin Gooding, were dropped off at the Marathon Movie Theater in Marathon, Florida on September 3, 1974.

Investigators
If you have any information concerning Alfonso's whereabouts, please contact:

Monroe County Sheriff's Office
Missing Persons Unit
305-296-2424
800-346-8477

You may remain anonymous when submitting information to any agency. Agency

Case Number: M743432

NCMEC #: NCMC801268

NCIC Number: M-729859018

Please refer to these numbers when contacting any agency with information related to this case.

Source Information:
The National Center For Missing and Exploited Children
Florida Missing Children Information Clearinghouse
Florida Department of Law Enforcement
The Doe Network: Case File 2DFFL

LINK:

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/2dffl.html
 
I searched the site to see if this UID was compared to Teresa Alfonso and could not find any info so I decided to post this UID.http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/295uffl.html. Teresa and the UID both are from Florida and had a gap between their front teeth. Tell me what you all think.


Chaddylex:)
 
This case is now 35 years old. Has anyone seen any anniversary articles on these two missing girls?
 
Cynthia Gooding (16) and Teresa Alfonso (12) Missing 3 Sept 1974 Marathon, FL

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This case has similarities to several others which involved the disappearance of more than one child:

Two months earlier, the disappearance of the Leslie Sisters (ages 13 and 15) from Arizona on 31 July 1974.

The three girls from Fort Worth who disappeared 24 December 1974.

The Lyon sisters (ages 11 and 13) from Montgomery County, Maryland 25 March 1975.

Two young boys; Steven Eugene Anderson (17) and David Williams (12) disappeared from New Jersey 7 April 1975.

Another similar case is the single disappearance of Dorthy Delilah Schoffield (12) from an Ocala, Florida Shopping Center in 1976.
 
It sounds to me as though it were a "babysitting situation". The younger girl probably wanted to go to the movie, and the older girl was probably offered a free movie to take the littler girl. I had this happen to me as a child a lot. My grandma knew a girl Karen, believe it or not we were friends although she was much older than I was. When I wanted to see a movie and my grandma couldn't take me, she would offer to pay for both of us to see the movie, provided Karen would make sure I made it there and back okay. She would even give us popcorn, soda and candy money as well so we could have fun at the movie. Karen and I would pop on the bus, and Karen was 17 and I was 11, and we she would make sure we were safe and bring me home when the movie was over. Anyways, thought I would pop that idea out there.
 
I also have a suggestion of what may have taken place. Perhaps the older girl saw friends she wanted to hang out with at the mall. If she ditched the little girl for a bit and than couldn't find her to bring her back, I am certain she would go into panic mode. I know Karen could be guilty of that with me sometimes. Sometimes she would walk me into the toy store, and tell me to stay there looking at toys while she hung out with friends for a half an hour or so. One time I went from the toy store to the pet store and when she found me she was pretty freaked out, and that was the last time she ever left me alone while she hung out with friends. What if this older girl left her friend and someone nabbed the girl? Could she be too frightened to go home knowing she left this child alone and lost her? Just a thought...
 
I also have a suggestion of what may have taken place. Perhaps the older girl saw friends she wanted to hang out with at the mall. ...
What if this older girl left her friend and someone nabbed the girl? Could she be too frightened to go home knowing she left this child alone and lost her? Just a thought...

Your scenario sounds plausible as far as the babysitter angle. And that may well be what the initial trip was meant to be. I do not know for certain if that is what happened, but it sounds logical.

I think, however, that this was truly a double abduction, rather than a single abduction and run-away combined. If Theresa (age 12) had been abducted, or simply walked away, I think that Cynthia (age 16) would indeed have gotten upset. But I think the more logical and normal course of action would have been for her to seek help in locating the child, or in reporting the abduction (if she witnessed one). Even if she did get upset and run away, I think that she would have gone home or somewhere very soon afterward.

A pervert wishing to abduct one girl could have used the other girl as part of his scheme. For instance, taking the younger one and threatening the older one to get in his vehicle or he would hurt the little one. Or he may have simply decided to take both of them.

A double abduction is somewhat rare when compared to all known abductions. That is one thing that makes this case a puzzling one. See also the featured topic of the Lyon Sisters, missing from Wheaton, MD or the threads on the other cases in Cold Cases. Could there be other common links besides the fact that they are double abductions?

With the double abduction having gone unwitnessed in most or all of the above mentioned cases, one is left to wonder just how he did it. What would make two girls enter a stranger's vehicle. Why had nobody seen them get into a vehicle? Was force used, or were they enticed in some way?
 
These photo's that look like Teresa Alfonso & Cynthia Gooding were found by police in convicted serial killer Rodney Alcala's storage unit.

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/photos-239446-alcala-women.html
My sister is Cindi Gooding who disappeared with Teri. None of these pictures are my sister nor Teri...I'm positive. Not even a resemblance. I was contacted by a reporter for ABC informing me of this story and went thru all the photos I could find on the web and none were my sister. They did NOT release all the photos, and I wish they would. They are capable of cropping faces out of inappropriate photos. No one has mentioned that Alcala was on the "Dating Show" and WON! The girl would not go on the date with him because "he creeped her out". Search his name and you can easily find this video, it is kinda freaky. I beg anyone with information on Cindi or Teri's disappearances please come forward. Cindy had just turned 16 and Teri was almost 13. The two girls were friends. Look at the sizes of the girls for all who have this problem accepting 2 girls with barely a 3 yr difference in age, being friends. My sister was 16 and looked 12! Teri was 12 and probably looked much older! I hope we don't get distracted on the friendship and stick to trying to find them. Also, the movies is one side...my brother had told Cindi of a party that evening and her and Teri were "going to hitchhike there". They were seen talking to someone in a white van and I believe this man was questioned. I assume hitchhiking was a common practice then? It makes my skin crawl to think of it today. They never arrived at the party. They both had reason and MAY have decided to try to run away BUT, I can assure ANYONE with doubts that there is NO way or REASON either of these girls would stay gone for THIS long. I know something terrible happened to them and I pray a answer is found before my mother passes so she may finally know what happened to her Cindi. I know Teri's mother has to have the very same prayer. Leaving this World without knowing a resolution about your child is a terrible thing to wrap your mind around. Please, any credible info is needed to put these girls' and their families at peace.
 

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