AZ AZ - Mindi Chambers, 17, Mesa, 19 October 1982

[hoppyfrog]

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2009/07/26/20090726chambers0726.html

26 July 09

Seventeen-year-old Mindi Chambers vanished in 1982, three days after she told Mesa police her father was molesting her.

There is little evidence of significant investigation into the molestation, and all indications are that her disappearance was treated as another runaway.

Mindi Chambers fell so far through the cracks that it took 13 years for someone to file a missing-persons report.

much, much more at link......what a sad story

no pic at link

NCMEC link: http://www.missingkids.com/missingk...NCMC&seqNum=1&caseLang=en_US&searchLang=en_US

Charley Projcet link: http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/c/chambers_mindi.html

 

[thefragile7393]

This is just beyond sad.....how could this happen?

 

[Richard]

Mindi Chambers, 17, Missing since October 19, 1982 from Mesa, AZ
--------------------

Mindi went missing 30 years ago...

----------------
Mindi Chambers
Missing since October 19, 1982 from Mesa, Maricopa County, Arizona
Classification: Endangered Missing

Vital Statistics

Date Of Birth: May 28, 1965
Age at Time of Disappearance: 17 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 4'10" (147 cm); 86 lbs (39 kg)
Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Sandy hair; brown eyes.
Dentals: Not available. Mindi had prior orthodontic treatment, as her braces were removed in 1980.
DNA: Available in CODIS

Circumstances of Disappearance

Mindi Chambers was was last seen walking her stepsister to school on the 2100 block of East University Drive, in Mesa. She left behind her purse, ID and other personal items.

She was not reported missing until April 17, 1995, by her aunt. She was last seen three days after she told Mesa police her father had been molesting her for five years.

Child Protective Services immediately placed her in the care of her stepmother, who said Mindi had helped her get her children ready for school the day she disappeared, but wasn't home when she returned from work.

Her father had previously been sentenced to seven years in prison for assaulting a woman.

He was also a suspect in the death of Mindy's mother in 1984. He died in 1994.

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

Mesa Police Department
480-644-2211

Email: police.info@mesaaz.gov

Agency Case Number: 1995-1070-353

NCMEC #: NCMC804019

Source Information:

National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
Mesa Police Department
NamUs
The Doe Network: Case File 2638DFAZ

LINK:

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/2638dfaz.html

 

[Odyssey]

I have looked for updates on this case many times and just found a memorial page with some info I hadn't seen before:

The last person known to have seen Mindi was a clerk at the Circle K convenience store on the corner of University and Price; the clerk (a friend of Mindi's step-mother Pat) saw her make a phone call and leave. He stated that he witnessed someone driving a green and tan-colored station wagon drive into the parking lot, grab Mindi, and pull her into the vehicle. She has never been heard from again.

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=90593650

Was this reported at the time?? Did Mindi's father drive this type of car? I'm thinking that if the clerk was friends with Mindi's step-mother, he was probably familiar with her father too, and would have recognized him?

 

[ellemo]

Why wouldn't you report a 17 year old as missing? even if she did run away. And no one from CPS thought this a red flag. Poor child.

 

[TracyLynnS]

I followed some links from the findagrave link above.

Mindi's mother was found dead in 1968, on her 24th birthday, not 1984, as is mentioned from the doenetwork link above. There are newspaper clips from the time included at the findagrave site. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=90593673 (Why would doenetwork have this info wrong? Her mother's incorrect date of death is still on their site.)

Mindi was 2 or 3 years old when her mother died. She was found drowned in the bathtub, water still in the tub, by the husband, who had been out of the house with Mindi between 11:30am and 2:30pm.

They actually reported that SUICIDE (?????) nor murder had been ruled out. C'mon. A 24 year old woman commits suicide by drowning, which was the official cause of death, in her own bath tub? Never heard of it.

The girl reports being molested so the authorities put her in into the custody of the accused molester's wife. The girl goes missing and the guardian (molester's wife) never reports her missing. A gas station clerk says he knows the family and saw Mindi being dragged into a car but the abduction is not reported? This case is just a mess. How awful.

 

[justinlsmith]

I have looked for updates on this case many times and just found a memorial page with some info I hadn't seen before:

The last person known to have seen Mindi was a clerk at the Circle K convenience store on the corner of University and Price; the clerk (a friend of Mindi's step-mother Pat) saw her make a phone call and leave. He stated that he witnessed someone driving a green and tan-colored station wagon drive into the parking lot, grab Mindi, and pull her into the vehicle. She has never been heard from again.

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=90593650

Was this reported at the time?? Did Mindi's father drive this type of car? I'm thinking that if the clerk was friends with Mindi's step-mother, he was probably familiar with her father too, and would have recognized him?

Hello, my name is Justin L. Smith and Mindi Chambers is my sister-in-law. I am the one who created and who manages her Findagrave memorial. The information about the station wagon being the vehicle into which she was last seen entering came from Mindi's sister, and she confirmed that this was the vehicle that Allen Chambers owned at the time. I am still working on getting ahold of the clerk's name who was working that day. I am in the process of re-writing Mindi's biography to include more details than are currently included. I will post it on her findagrave memorial. Also, I have created a Facebook page to get her story out:

https://www.facebook.com/JusticeForMindi

I will be posting more info there.




Justin L. Smith
Prestonsburg, KY

 

[wannabeasupersleuth]

Bump bump.....let's help find Mindi!!!

 

[joeytes]

Mindi Chambers was added to the rule out list of this UID.

https://identifyus.org/en/cases/4574?page=case_information

 

[Redux]

This is a pretty thorough article...

Mesa Police Now Think Story of Girl Lost in '82 Has Sad End

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2009/07/26/20090726chambers0726.html

On New Year's Day, 1984, the body of a young girl was discovered near Houston, Texas, in a wooded area south of Interstate 10. It appeared the body had been there about a year and had been decapitated.

With no report of a missing girl from Mesa to go on, no connection was ever made.

Last year, however, a forensic anthropologist with Texas State University re-examined the remains and determined that they belonged to a 14 to 18-year-old girl, 4-foot 10-inches to 5-foot 2-inches tall, with brown hair. The girl had once worn braces on her teeth, as Mindi had.

A forensic sketch of the victim bears a striking resemblance to Mindi Chambers.

"When you look at all these things, it appears this is the girl," Melendez said.

Police have been unable to locate a source for Mindi's dental records. They conducted a DNA test on a half-sister, but there was no match. However, DNA from a paternal blood relative would tell for sure.

That is unlikely. Allen Chambers, a long-haul trucker, died in 1994 when he fell asleep at the wheel on a rain-slick Virginia highway.

Namus Link for above referenced Jane Doe: https://identifyus.org/en/cases/4574?page=case_information

Namus now shows that Mindi Chambers was ruled out as the above Jane Doe, so I am assuming they were able to find a paternal blood relative DNA.

 

[joeytes]

This is a pretty thorough article...

Mesa Police Now Think Story of Girl Lost in '82 Has Sad End

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2009/07/26/20090726chambers0726.html



Namus Link for above referenced Jane Doe: https://identifyus.org/en/cases/4574?page=case_information

Namus now shows that Mindi Chambers was ruled out as the above Jane Doe, so I am assuming they were able to find a paternal blood relative DNA.

I was in contact with Justin Smith, the brother-in-law and moderator of Mindi's facebook page a couple of times in the past few months.

For Namus you need a maternal link, (mtDNA) not paternal DNA.

I also emailed Michael Nance (Regional Administrator) back in May and he indicated that they have mtDNA for Mindi on file. So they must have reached out to her maternal relatives some time in the past for DNA samples.

Mr Nance indicated to me back in May there was no match. But it took 6 months to get added to the exclusion list.

 

[Roselvr]

I followed some links from the findagrave link above.

Mindi's mother was found dead in 1968, on her 24th birthday, not 1984, as is mentioned from the doenetwork link above. There are newspaper clips from the time included at the findagrave site. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=90593673 (Why would doenetwork have this info wrong? Her mother's incorrect date of death is still on their site.)

Mindi was 2 or 3 years old when her mother died. She was found drowned in the bathtub, water still in the tub, by the husband, who had been out of the house with Mindi between 11:30am and 2:30pm.

They actually reported that SUICIDE (?????) nor murder had been ruled out. C'mon. A 24 year old woman commits suicide by drowning, which was the official cause of death, in her own bath tub? Never heard of it.

The girl reports being molested so the authorities put her in into the custody of the accused molester's wife. The girl goes missing and the guardian (molester's wife) never reports her missing. A gas station clerk says he knows the family and saw Mindi being dragged into a car but the abduction is not reported? This case is just a mess. How awful.

I contacted Doe Net, hopefully they will correct it.

 

[Ragamuffin]

Two suspected murders and he's a truck driver? Hmmmmmmm.

 

[Jondalar45]

I really think the police need sued in this case. I mean, this is outrageous. How dumb were they? And what kind of family is this? I would rather be aborted then end up in a family like this.

 

[Jondalar45]

Two suspected murders and he's a truck driver? Hmmmmmmm.

I know - it's ridiculous. Wonder if he had anything to do with Walker Texas Jane Doe.

 

[Ragamuffin]

I know - it's ridiculous. Wonder if he had anything to do with Walker Texas Jane Doe.

I certainly think a cold case squad should be following up on his truck routes for missing/murdered women. Assuming he's guilty of these two, of course. You don't just kill your wife, molest and disappear your daughter, and not do anything ever again! JMO, of course.

 

[Alleykins]

I certainly think a cold case squad should be following up on his truck routes for missing/murdered women. Assuming he's guilty of these two, of course. You don't just kill your wife, molest and disappear your daughter, and not do anything ever again! JMO, of course.

That's exactly what I was thinking, that someone needed to retrace his routes around the time she disappeared. If he were a long haul trucker, she could be anywhere.

 

[Roselvr]

Hello, my name is Justin L. Smith and Mindi Chambers is my sister-in-law. I am the one who created and who manages her Findagrave memorial. The information about the station wagon being the vehicle into which she was last seen entering came from Mindi's sister, and she confirmed that this was the vehicle that Allen Chambers owned at the time. I am still working on getting ahold of the clerk's name who was working that day. I am in the process of re-writing Mindi's biography to include more details than are currently included. I will post it on her findagrave memorial. Also, I have created a Facebook page to get her story out:

https://www.facebook.com/JusticeForMindi

I will be posting more info there.

Justin L. Smith
Prestonsburg, KY

I've been watching the show Who Do You Think You Are and another by Ancestry called Long Lost Family that deals with adoption related searching, adoptees finding bio-parents or bio-parents finding the children they gave for adoption. It shows how using non-identifying info from adoption paperwork and/or using DNA to make a family tree.


Justin, has anyone in Mindi's family made a family tree? I'm curious if paternal DNA can be found from her fathers side.

 

[Roselvr]

I contacted Doe Net, hopefully they will correct it.

No reply to my email. I just submitted a case update web form, will paste in the changes

Doe Network Case File Updates (57186) - 04-20-2016 09:15:45am

The link for Messa Police doesn't work, I've provided the correct link below.
The info about her moms death in 1984 is incorrect. I emailed Tonya Spratt-Williams Wed, Dec 23, 2015 at 1:06 PM with no reply. Her mother, Mary Xenos Chambers was found dead in a bathtub on May 7, 1968 (her 24th birthday) in her apartment in Yonkers, NY; Mindi was two years old. You can find the info on Mary Xenos Chambers and Mindi's Find A Grave pages, written by her family. Links are below. There's also a news article on Mindi Mary Xenos Chambers Find A Grave

Link 1 - Mary Xenos Chambers Find A Grave Death: May 7, 1968
Link 2 - Mindi Chambers Find A Grave
Link 3 - Mesa Police Department page for Mindi
Link 4 - Justice for Mindi Chambers FB page
Link 5 - Mesa Police Now Think Story of Girl Lost in '82 Has Sad End -

Mindi was 2 when her mother was found dead in the bathtub of their home in Yonkers, N.Y. Family and police suspected Mindi's father, Allen Chambers, of killing his wife, yet none could provide proof. "Allen appeared on my doorstep that day he found Mary," said Richie Smith, a retired New York detective who was once married to Mindi's aunt, Kali Smith. "He had scratches on his face and arms, yet he was never brought up on charges. They said they had no evidence."

 

[Alleykins]

Did Mindi have a social security number prior to her disappearance? If so, has it been used? Does anyone know? I haven't read anything stating one way or another that she had, sometimes the case will say the MP hasn't had any activity on their ssn, bank accounts, etc.