AZ AZ - Karen Grajeda, 7, Tucson, 11 Jan 1996

lindsay

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Date Of Birth: October 15, 1988
Age at Time of Disappearance: 7 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 3'5"; 50 lbs.
Distinguishing Characteristics: White/Hispanic female. Black hair; brown eyes; medium complexion. Pierced ears.
Clothing: Faded purple t-shirt with white lettering; a pair of floral pastal colored shorts and Guess? shoes.
Jewelry: Gold chain with a pendant on it; two gold rings, one with the initial K, and the other with a red stone.
Dentals: Right front tooth is larger than other teeth. She was missing several baby teeth.
Other: She speaks Spanish and English.

Case Type: Non Family Abduction
DOB: Oct 15, 1988
Missing Date: Jan 11, 1996
Age Now: 17
Missing City: TUCSON
Missing State : AZ
Missing Country: United States
Case Number: NCMC813211



NCME

Charley Project
 
Karen Rosalba Grajeda

grajeda_karen.jpg

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grajeda_karen_ap.jpg





Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance
Missing Since: January 11, 1996 from Tucson, Arizona
Classification: Non-Family Abduction
Date Of Birth: October 15, 1988
Age: 7 years old
Height and Weight: 3'5, 50 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Hispanic (Mexican) female. Black hair, brown eyes. Grajeda's upper right front tooth is larger than her other teeth. She was missing several baby teeth at the time of her 1996 disappearance. Grajeda's ears are pierced. She speaks both Spanish and English.
Clothing/Jewelry Description: A faded purple t-shirt with white lettering on the front, pastel floral-printed shorts, Guess? shoes, a gold chain with a pendant, a ring with a red stone and another ring engraved with the letter K.


Details of Disappearance
Grajeda was last seen playing outside of her family's residence at Saguaro Crest Apartments on in the 100 block of west Valencia Street in Tucson, Arizona on January 11, 1996. She was roller-skating with her younger sister and some friends that evening and was last seen when she returned to her apartment to drop off her skates before going outside again to play. Her mother reported Grajeda as missing when she called her daughter inside for dinner at approximately 6:30 p.m. that evening and noticed Grajeda had disappeared. Neither her sister nor any of their playmates had seen her vanish or heard a scream or a struggle. She has never been seen again. It is possible that Grajeda was abducted by an unidentified male seen in the area around the same time she disappeared. A sketch of the suspect is posted below this case summary. He is described as a Hispanic or Caucasian male who was approximately 30 to 46 years old in 1996. He has light brown hair and green or hazel eyes. He stood between approximately 5'6 and 5'8 tall and weighed about 170 pounds. The suspect may have a moustache. He is believed to have also been responsible for the abduction, rape and beating death of another child, Esther "Lizette" Galaz, who disappeared from her home in December 1994 and was found the next day in a drainage ditch near her home. Galaz's murder remains unsolved. Authorities stated the circumstances of her abduction and murder are very similar to Grajeda's disappearance: both girls are Hispanic, within a year of one another's age, and disappeared outside their Tucson apartment complexes during the evening hours. Another possible suspect in Grajeda's case is Rodolfo Sedeno Morales. Morales resided in Saguaro Crest Apartments in 1996 and is currently serving a prison term for the abductions of five girls from the Tucson area between 1993 and 1994. He has not been charged in connection with Grajeda's disappearance, however. Grajeda's case remains open and unsolved. Her family members were cleared of any suspicion in her disappearance shortly after the investigation began in 1996. Her father was in Mexico at the time of her disappearance; her mother is also a Mexican native. Grajeda enjoys playing Nintendo games, roller skating and riding her bicycle. She was a first-grade student Elvira Elementary School and was learning to read, write, and sing at the time of her January 1996 disappearance. She has never been located.


Investigating Agency
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Tucson Police Department
520-791-4444

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/g/grajeda_karen.html
 
Karen Rosalba Grajeda, 7, Missing since January 11, 1996 from Tucson, AZ
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Karen Rosalba Grajeda
Missing since January 11, 1996 from Tucson, Pima County, Arizona
Classification: Non Family Abduction

Vital Statistics

Date Of Birth: October 15, 1988
Age at Time of Disappearance: 7 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 3'5"; 50 lbs.
Distinguishing Characteristics: White/Hispanic female. Black hair; brown eyes; medium complexion. Pierced ears.
Clothing: Faded purple t-shirt with white lettering; a pair of floral pastel colored shorts and Guess? shoes.
Jewelry: Gold chain with a pendant on it; two gold rings, one with the initial K, and the other with a red stone.
Dentals: Available. Right front tooth is larger than other teeth. She was missing several baby teeth.
Other: She speaks Spanish and English.
Photos: At below link.

Circumstances of Disappearance


Grajeda was last seen playing outside of her apartment complex on West Valencia Street in Tucson, Arizona on January 11, 1996.

That area of Tuscon is in the predominantly Hispanic south side of Tucson.

Karen's mother spoke no English, and her father was in Guaymas, Mexico. After coming home from Elvira Elementary she spent the afternoon cleaning her room and playing Nintendo. She then went out roller skating with her sister and her friends in the courtyard of the apartment. At about 18.00, Karen brought her skates home and then went out to play again. Her mother called her for dinner at 18.30. Karen didn't answer. Her mother then went out to the courtyard to look for her.

She was gone. None of the other children still playing in the courtyard had seen anything. There were no signs of a struggle, no one had heard a scream or seen a stranger in the area.

Karen's mother called the police. Later, police and scores of volunteers combed the area and Karen's family held vigils, praying for her return home. Detectives questioned known child molesters and pedophiles in the area, and found no leads.

Police traveled to Mexico to interview Karen's father and quickly cleared him.

There were three other little girls from the South side of Tuscon who'd been abducted and molested between July 1993 and May 1994. In these earlier abductions the perpetrator had allowed the girls to escape, and they subsequently described the man to police. But, on December 14, 1999 another little Hispanic girl from the South side, six year old Esther Galaz, was kidnapped. A day after Esther was abducted, her body was found in a drainage ditch near her home.

The FBI believes these four abductions to be related to Karen's disappearance. They continue to investigate cases of serial rape and murder of little Hispanic girls in the Southwestern United States.

The suspect, Hispanic, 35-40 years old, 5 foot 8, 170 lbs. (See composite sketch at below link)

Investigators
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:

Tucson Police Department
520-882-7463

Email: TPDInfo@tucsonaz.gov

Local CAse Number: 601110569

NCMEC #: NCMC813211

NCIC Number: M-895818848


Please refer to this number when contacting any agency with information regarding this case.

Source Information:

The Karen Rosalba Grajeda Story
The National Center For Missing and Exploited Children
The Doe Network: Case File 1542DFAZ

LINK:

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1542dfaz.html
 
I am 25 (almost 26 today) I knew Karen's mom and sister growing up and I would like to bump up this case for Karen because I believe someone knows what happened to her. I want to keep hope alive for her. Karen, if you are reading this... we are praying for you. We love you so much. I never knew you..... but through the years, every year, I have always thought of you..... we are almost the same age...... I came here for you......someone has to do this.....


Love,
SJT (Born, 1988) Tucson, AZ
 
They mention they don't think this is Isabel Celis but I remember back when Karen disappeared. This is 5 minutes from where Karen was last seen. 2.3 miles. Someone will have answers.

Tucson police: Remains of child found at southside home

When officers arrived, they confirmed the bones were that of a small child, Widmer said.

Police Chief Roberto Villaseñor was at the scene late in the afternoon.

The report came in at 3:08 p.m. about the remains found outside the house on the property, Widmer said.

more

http://azstarnet.com/news/blogs/pol...cle_a36b1394-a3fc-11e3-a224-001a4bcf887a.html
 
There will be a press conference per TPD at 3pm today.

Tucson Police Dept ‏@Tucson_Police · 58m
At 3pm today Chief Villaseñor will do a press conference regarding the child's remains located yesterday



Here's a map of where Karen disappeared and where the remains were found.

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/700...67b6339!2m2!1d-110.9711483!2d32.1332959?hl=en

News links that stream live

http://www.tucsonnewsnow.com/category/218560/tucson-news-now-live-video
http://www.kvoa.com/livestream/
http://www.kgun9.com/watch-live/
 
The remains were not Karen's. They are of a 4 year old boy named Roman. His parents have been arrested. Roman has 4 other siblings that are now in the custody of CPS. CPS & TPD had been to the home before due to the older siblings missing school. Sadly, Roman wasn't noticed as missing since he wasn't in school. RIP Roman.
 
Karen was last seen wearing Guess brand shoes. One of the men who described the remains mentions little sandles. It's one of the missing & lets hope the tape on the container holds clues to who did this to a child. Tucson hasn't even reported on the remains being found. smh

http://www.tucsonaz.gov/police/most-wanted/karen-grajeda

Any more description than guess brand? Is that only a sneaker? Sorry if dumb question ...
 
Human remains found in Arizona desert, may be linked to high profile missing persons cases

"We noticed the branches on the top came from somewhere else. My brother thought maybe someone didn't want us to find it," said Contreras.

Inside the container were human remains.

"We didn't know it was human until we saw the hair and the skull. Our hearts dropped," said Contreras.


http://www.abc15.com/news/region-no...s-cases?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

gar, the "high profile missing persons cases"....
 
FOX 10 News | KSAZ ‏@myfoxphoenix · 5m
MT @LtJonesMCSO: Sheriff's Detectives have identified the remains found near Apache Lake as Jenika Feuerstein (9/24/88). No further info.
 
FOX 10 News | KSAZ ‏@myfoxphoenix · 5m
MT @LtJonesMCSO: Sheriff's Detectives have identified the remains found near Apache Lake as Jenika Feuerstein (9/24/88). No further info.

Well good for one fam for sure. Sad for little Karen's mother. I would love to see this one, and little Esther Galaz's, cases casolved. Remember vividly when they happened since I was 16 or so.

Sent from my XT1028 using Tapatalk
 
FOX 10 News | KSAZ ‏@myfoxphoenix · 5m
MT @LtJonesMCSO: Sheriff's Detectives have identified the remains found near Apache Lake as Jenika Feuerstein (9/24/88). No further info.

Thank you for the update! Prayers for her family ... Glad they can give her a proper burial.
 

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