CA CA - Kristen Modafferi, 18, San Francisco, 23 June 1997

[ekardh]

I think the alleged ATM sighting may be a red herring. There's no definitive proof it was KM. And, even if she was seen near/at the ATM & even if she did make a withdrawal, that still doesn't mean much in & of itself.

Typically cameras at ATM's don't have clear footage that will enable you to definitively identify someone anyway.

Did you click the link I provided? There's little doubt that's Kristen.

 

[Sonny Crockett]

OK, I saw the video again in the link. Yes, it does look like her. However, without more to go on - this ATM sighting doesn't mean much.

 

[austinhazel]

Did you click the link I provided? There's little doubt that's Kristen.

I obviously have never seen Kristen in person but to me it kind of looks like her, but with grainy footage we just can't get a real good look. I have to lean towards yes for this reason. This CCTV was shown on the twenty year update so clearly by 2017 there was more knowledge of what was and wasn't facts to Kristen's case by this point. Plus the Modafferi family never came out and said this CCTV sighting was false nor has Dennis Mahon who has been on this case like glue even to this day. With that being said I assume the CCTV must of been proven to be legit for it to be used, they cannot afford to still be getting what is facts and false mixed up.

 

[ekardh]

OK, I saw the video again in the link. Yes, it does look like her. However, without more to go on - this ATM sighting doesn't mean much.

Not necessarily. If it's the last confirmed sighting of Kristen, it shows she was last seen on her own, and not with the mystery blonde woman. Of course, that doesn't mean she wasn't picked up afterwards.

 

[Sonny Crockett]

Not necessarily. If it's the last confirmed sighting of Kristen, it shows she was last seen on her own, and not with the mystery blonde woman. Of course, that doesn't mean she wasn't picked up afterwards.

This is true. And, I agree that if the mysterious blonde woman was involved in KM's disappearance, it's very possible that they met & spoke in the Galleria (as the co-workers claim they witnessed), went their separate ways....and then re-connected outside somewhere.

That all being said, I'm still on the fence as to whether her disappearance was connected to her falling into the water @ Lands End, drowning, and being swept away (which has happened to others), or due to foul play/a kidnapping.

Again, this is one of the many cases I've read about that it truly fascinating/compelling, and disturbing.

 

[austinhazel]

This is true. And, I agree that if the mysterious blonde woman was involved in KM's disappearance, it's very possible that they met & spoke in the Galleria (as the co-workers claim they witnessed), went their separate ways....and then re-connected outside somewhere.

That all being said, I'm still on the fence as to whether her disappearance was connected to her falling into the water @ Lands End, drowning, and being swept away (which has happened to others), or due to foul play/a kidnapping.

Again, this is one of the many cases I've read about that it truly fascinating/compelling, and disturbing.

She also visited Lands End Two days before with two unidentified women. We only know of these women because one of the roommates mentioned this to the Modafferi's I think. I've always wondered if the unidentified blonde woman could be one of those two women.

 

[ekardh]

This might sound strange but a few times I’ve Google streetviewed the Galleria or looked up pics of the interior. Not for any particular sleuthing reason but sheer curiosity. It’s weird to see these monolithic buildings and think there was a moment in time where Kristen took her last steps through there and was never seen again.

 

[austinhazel]

This might sound strange but a few times I’ve Google streetviewed the Galleria or looked up pics of the interior. Not for any particular sleuthing reason but sheer curiosity. It’s weird to see these monolithic buildings and think there was a moment in time where Kristen took her last steps through there and was never seen again.

I have looked up the Galleria a bunch of times on Google maps trust me you are not alone on that and I personally don't find it strange. I really wonder how a mall like that could be the last place she was seen at.

 

[ekardh]

Bump.

I wish I had something to update with but alas we're treading the same old ground.

I'm still not sure if all the stuff with JO & JL was a red herring that misdirected the investigation. That is not to say that foul play should be ruled out, Kristen certainly fits the profile. She was an attractive young girl in a bustling new city. She could have easily crossed paths with a sexual predator.

It is frustrating that the blonde woman seen with Kristen in the galleria never came forward, but is this another red herring? Her lack of identification does not necessarily point towards guilt. I remember when they were trying to identify the Grateful Doe (Jason Callahan). They found a note in his pocket with the names of two girls and a telephone number. They tried to reach out to the two girls but they never heard from them or found out who they were in the end. Granted the circumstances of these two cases are not the same but it still stands. There could be any number of innocent reasons why this mystery blonde never materialized.

 

[geojeffrey]

"There could be any number of innocent reasons why this mystery blonde never materialized"

There certainly could be innocent explanations for why the blond woman never materialized, but this still seems like an important clue to me--especially given Kristen's failure to clock out at work (for the first time) that day....maybe it was supposed to be just a quick chat --and then she would return to clock out..or something else entirely?

Also an alternate theory is that the 2 workers who reported seeing Kristen with the blond woman are making up the story, and the blond woman was an intentional red herring.

 

[Sonny Crockett]

She also visited Lands End Two days before with two unidentified women. We only know of these women because one of the roommates mentioned this to the Modafferi's I think. I've always wondered if the unidentified blonde woman could be one of those two women.

I think I had heard/read this before. Again, it would be great to find out more detail(s) on who exactly KM befriended (if anyone) in the brief time she was in SF. She was new in town & didn't know anyone in the area, other than her room-mates & co-workers.

Also an alternate theory is that the 2 workers who reported seeing Kristen with the blond woman are making up the story, and the blond woman was an intentional red herring.

Agreed. Or, the strong possibility that the woman they saw the blonde woman with was not KM, but just someone that looked like her. The co-workers were a distance away from where the blonde woman & the other woman were walking, so they could easily have mis-identified someone they thought was KM - but wasn't.

 

[kemo]

The most intriguing lead is the copy of the Bay Guardian that had an ad that she appears to have placed seeking new friends to explore the Bay Area with. Unfortunately that lead was not found during the initial investigation; it was found a year later and it was apparently too late to identify who placed it or if anyone answer it.
It is unclear if there was any publicity about the ad and if there were requests for anyone who either placed the ad or responded to it to come forward. Equally important would be people who had placed or responded to similar ads that were placed before that one.

There have been cases of women being abducted using employment or dating want ads to lure them to a vulnerable spot but I have never heard of a predator using a “friend seeking friends” type personal ad. It would require a female accomplice but it would create a situation where a victim would let their guard down and be lured to any desired location.

I remember that paper. It had a big section of “dating ads” (this was pre-tinder) but they also had a section called “ Just Friends” that “ new in towns” used to meet up with likeminded folks. The ad Kristen is believed to have posted was not that unusual. It would have been real interesting to hear from others who had placed or responded to similar ads and had “interesting” or suspicious expenses. Was this avenue ever explored?

 

[dotr]

2017 rbbm.
Re post video approx @1:18
The Kristen Modafferi Mystery: Persons of interest in 20-year-old case speak out - ABC7 San Francisco (abc7news.com)
''For three weeks after Kristen went missing, the Modafferis covered the Bay Area with her picture. Then finally, they got a tip, Mahanay said.

"This one was strange in that it was called to a local news station," he said.

Former ABC7 News Assignment Manager Bill McGee took that call.

"His story was that two women killed -Kristen- in a lesbian love triangle," McGee recalled. "He went into a lot of detail about who they were, names, places."

Police determined Jon Onuma, a man who lived about a mile from Kristen's work, made the call. He was trying to pin Kristen's case on two women who worked with his then-girlfriend Jill Lampo.

Police cleared Lampo's coworkers after questioning them.

Lampo agreed to an on-camera interview, if her face wasn't shown. She said she was at the library on June 23 and repeatedly showed us a library card.


We asked her about Onuma's call to the newsroom.

"To me, that would imply guilt," she said. "If you're going to call and draw attention to yourself, that implies -you- want attention for some reason."

Onuma was squarely in the sights of investigators and also got attention in an "America's Most Wanted" episode. On the show, women accused Onuma of attacking them. He's never been charged.''

 

[austinhazel]

I think I had heard/read this before. Again, it would be great to find out more detail(s) on who exactly KM befriended (if anyone) in the brief time she was in SF. She was new in town & didn't know anyone in the area, other than her room-mates & co-workers.



Agreed. Or, the strong possibility that the woman they saw the blonde woman with was not KM, but just someone that looked like her. The co-workers were a distance away from where the blonde woman & the other woman were walking, so they could easily have mis-identified someone they thought was KM - but wasn't.

The Modafferi's had put together a guess of how many people they think Kristen and the number is between 35-50 people max. One of these people was blonde male named Tristan who actually called the police after seeing the news about her being missing. He had met her at concert and gave her a ride home after she missed the bus. Another interesting thing I found out was a customer who was a regular at the coffee shop she worked at actually asked KM out on a date but she rejected, I wonder if he was ever questioned

 

[ekardh]

I often come back to Kristen's case. I'm still not sure what to believe. Kristen's profile did put her at risk of a sexual predator. She was an outgoing young woman in a big city looking to broaden her horizons. Whether Kristen put the ad in the Bay Guardian or responded to it, this could be how she crossed paths with someone dangerous. However, if Jon Onuma was just a sleazy attention-seeker, there is no indication of foul play. The mystery blonde woman will continue to bug me, but there may be a good reason she never came forward. For one, the sighting of Kristen was wrong.

I still haven't ruled out that Kristen went down to the shore and slipped. The tracker dogs did lose her scent around the Lands End area. People have vouched that it's a rocky, treacherous place where people have died accidentally before. I think that in lieu of any evidence of foul play, I lean slightly towards this theory.

 

[saurus]

I frequent the Financial District's cafes and one, coincidentally, is the Starbucks across from the Crocker Galleria. Coming back to the area after doing a bit of research on this case, I noticed Kristen's Charley Project page has a few outdated locations. While the Galleria building is still there, the interior stores are very different. There is no Tully's Coffee in the Galleria as of 2022. There is also no such "Cafe Musee" in the SF MOMA, but that might be referring to one of two cafes currently in the museum.

For clarification, how many roommates did Kristen have at the time of her disappearance? The CP page says one, but the Trail Went Cold podcast episode mentioned several, at least four. What gives?

 

[austinhazel]

I frequent the Financial District's cafes and one, coincidentally, is the Starbucks across from the Crocker Galleria. Coming back to the area after doing a bit of research on this case, I noticed Kristen's Charley Project page has a few outdated locations. While the Galleria building is still there, the interior stores are very different. There is no Tully's Coffee in the Galleria as of 2022. There is also no such "Cafe Musee" in the SF MOMA, but that might be referring to one of two cafes currently in the museum.

For clarification, how many roommates did Kristen have at the time of her disappearance? The CP page says one, but the Trail Went Cold podcast episode mentioned several, at least four. What gives?

She had 4 roommates! For the most part the CP page on KM is fairly accurate but that is a mistake there I don’t know why it says only one roommate.

 

[CastlesBurning]

California Cold Cases: 15 FBI Missing Person Files That Still Haunt

Kristen Modafferi was 18 years old when she disappeared June 23, 1997, in San Francisco. Her case remains unsolved and has been profiled on "Unsolved Mysteries," "Primetime Live," and "America's Most Wanted."

 

[geojeffrey]

Hmmmmmm.

Human skeleton found on UC Berkeley campus

A human skeleton has been discovered in an unused building on a University of California, Berkeley, campus

abcnews.go.com

 

[ekardh]

Hmmmmmm.

Human skeleton found on UC Berkeley campus

A human skeleton has been discovered in an unused building on a University of California, Berkeley, campus

abcnews.go.com

Doubtful. Kristen hadn't even started at UC Berkeley (she vanished the day before). That doesn't rule out her body being put there, I guess. I'm thinking it's more likely a transient who snuck into the abandoned building and died.