Puerto Rico - John, 12, & Giannina Colonna Aponte, 11, Luquillo, 5 May 1974

[Archangel85]

The Colonna brothers John y Giannina M. Colonna disappeared on May 5th 1978 from Luquillo, Puerto Rico after going to the beach with a neighbor.

The Neighbor who killed himself in Miami City eight months later after the kidnapping, supposedly kidnapped the brothers with the help of a business man in exchange for $72,000 dollars. this detail was left in a suicide letter, however Interpol Puerto Rico hasn't revealed any more details and they have never solved this case. Now, they have warned the Colonna's mother that if she declares them legally dead, the case will be closed and I think she went ahead anyway. They also declared that her husband was not their father even though she has said that he was her first man.

I know this case began in Puerto Rico, but it also involves Miami and could also involve human trafficking. Maybe you guys can help since Interpol never got truly serious with this case.

Even on his deathbed, their dad was suffering not knowing the fate of his children. His wife, (the mother of the children) told him: "If they are dead, you will reunite with them in heaven."

She kept the room just as they left it that fateful day and still lives at the same place.

The details and age progression photos of both kids:

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/a/aponte_john.html
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/a/aponte_giannina.html

 

[alllads]

Not brothers, brother and sister.

There's some more elaboration on the Charley Ross blog: http://charleyross.wordpress.com/2012/06/15/at-last-some-more-info-on-the-colonna-aponte-children/

So so strange, Interpol clearly had some more info but it's so strange that it was not publicized? If the letter of the Miami man basically explained everything....?

 

[Archangel85]

Not brothers, brother and sister.

There's some more elaboration on the Charley Ross blog: http://charleyross.wordpress.com/2012/06/15/at-last-some-more-info-on-the-colonna-aponte-children/

So so strange, Interpol clearly had some more info but it's so strange that it was not publicized? If the letter of the Miami man basically explained everything....?

English not my first language, thanks for the correction.

The Mother fought a lot with local LE and Interpol about the lack of care they took on this case. The most recent development was that their dad was not their real dad on which the mother told them that was not true. The Miami man was their neighbor here in Puerto Rico, somehow, during the time they went missing, he went to Miami and took his own life.

The case has always received media attention here in Puerto Rico, however Interpol, Puerto Rico's LE, and other agencies, haven't done anything else.

Also, an interesting comment from a Puertorrican lawyer in the comments section:

There was widespread speculation that the children’s father, John Colonna, who passed away in 1982 and was originally from New York, was a retired mobster or related to a mafia family and that the children were abducted and done away with as payback for something or other in the man’s past. Another rumor current at the time was that the next door neighbor who committed suicide supposedly left substantial papers explaining what had happened in detail but that not all the papers were made public by the suspect’s relatives. Anyway, it is a very sad and tragic story; a Puerto Rico newspaper article a few years back quoted the Colonna children’s mother saying that she had left the kids’ rooms exactly like they were on the date of their disappearance, just in case they came back. Makes one think…

 

[alllads]

It really is strange. I'm assuming maybe the letter wasn't informative? Because if the letter said something like that he had murdered and buried the poor kids, you'd think they would have said it, to make it more clear that there would only be bodies to find. So so strange.

 

[Archangel85]

It really is strange. I'm assuming maybe the letter wasn't informative? Because if the letter said something like that he had murdered and buried the poor kids, you'd think they would have said it, to make it more clear that there would only be bodies to find. So so strange.

I asked my mom who was 25 years old at the time of the case and she told me that as far as she can recall of the media reports was that the letter said: "Forgive me for what I have done"

Their poor mother never moved from the house they lived, she kept the room as they left it that time, and never re-married. She has breast cancer and I hope she can find out what happened to her children before she dies.

 

[Jake479]

Is their mother still alive, and if so can she give DNA? Also, what happened to John's NaMUS page?
Here's his sister's page: findthemissing.org/cases/4568

 

[CastlesBurning]

Missing: Giannina and John Colonna Aponte - Defrosting Cold Cases

 

[Badwolf47]

I recently submitted Giannina’s name for the Flu Creek Jane Doe. There were a lot of similarities including that of the reconstruction. I found a John Doe in San Mateo that I felt like matched Johns description. But there was no reconstruction of the doe to compare anything to. I’ll continue to dig into that and hopefully hear back about Giannina.

 

[PayrollNerd]

Blood transfusions don’t alter your DNA to the extent that you wouldn’t match your children. A bone marrow transplant with donor cells would though. The Dad would have had to have had a type of blood cancer to need donor bone marrow. Think leukemia. If he had multiple myeloma, another form of blood cancer, they would have done a bone marrow transplant with his own cells, which would not alter his DNA.

They could have used a sperm donor and don’t want anyone to know. Mom could have had an affair and is too embarrassed or humiliated to admit it. They would need to do genetic genealogy to determine parentage. At this point, that won’t happen via Interpol. However, as more people do DNA testing and cousins build family trees, someone will figure it out.

From the link:
“Interpol, which is apparently investigating the case, did genetic testing using Maria’s blood, some of the children’s baby teeth, and DNA taken from the father’s exhumed body. and the results indicate that John and Giannina were not the biological children of their mother’s husband. The husband, John Colonna, died in 1982. The mother, Naomi, is still alive and quite indignant, insisting that the children most definitely WERE John Sr.’s and it’s quite impossible that they weren’t.

There was a possible explanation for this raised in the comments: John died of cancer. Perhaps, during his treatment for the cancer, he had blood transfusions, and perhaps that messed with the genetic testing results. I have no idea whether this could happen or not, but it sounds possible. Of course, the children’s paternity might well be completely irrelevant anyway.”

 

[MadMcGoo]

ugh! I could kick myself. I spent several months researching Giannina and John's case...I've somehow managed to misplace ALL my notes. Nevertheless, I've found two UID that I believe to be the siblings. Rather than type everything out, I'll share the Doc I started a while back... hopefully I'll be able to find the rest of my research. (I was able to find a rosary almost identical to the one found with the UID male)

Missing Colonna Aponte children

This case breaks my heart

 

[Badwolf47]

ugh! I could kick myself. I spent several months researching Giannina and John's case...I've somehow managed to misplace ALL my notes. Nevertheless, I've found two UID that I believe to be the siblings. Rather than type everything out, I'll share the Doc I started a while back... hopefully I'll be able to find the rest of my research. (I was able to find a rosary almost identical to the one found with the UID male)

Missing Colonna Aponte children

This case breaks my heart

I agree with you on Johns match, I too had made that conclusion as well. Is there anyway I can help you find out more information on him to see if we can match him? As for Giannina and the Jane Doe, unless I read something wrong there that Jane Doe was only found about 20 days later and is said to be 20-24 years old where Giannina was only 11. Nice job though!

 

[MadMcGoo]

Hey there @Badwolf47 ! Thanks for responding! And pointing out the age discrepancy! I am not sure how I missed that! I had so much more research on the two siblings and I can’t find it anywhere. Which is a shame. I can’t remember if I found something while researching that made me pursue the theory despite her age, or I just completely missed it!

I’m not sure where we’d go from here... I’ll have to refresh my memory on everything, I can’t recall if DNA was available for the siblings or not (IIRC it was not at the time). I think when I first started looking into this, I found a connection between them and California. I was fairly certain that if this was in fact John, Giannina was also likely to be a Doe somewhere close to him.

I remember seeing somewhere she may have gone by “Anna” or something very similar, that’s what first made me look at Long Beach Jane Doe. I don’t see it so much now.

I do know that I did a lot of research on the crucifix found with him and the bead layout/pattern of the rosary was identical to the one shown in Giannina’s photo! I did a lot of work on that. And the broken keychain found with PBJD resembled what would have fit perfectly with the pieces found with him.

There was much more than just the jewelry and I’m going to continue to look through my files (the info should have been on that Google Doc). In the meantime, I think anything else we can find would help. I’d love to see a resolution to this case!

thank you again!

 

[Elainera]

Also, what happened to John's NaMUS page?
Here's his sister's page: findthemissing.org/cases/4568

Here is John's NAMUS page:

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

 

[MadMcGoo]

Current list of Unidentified Person exclusions for JOHN per NamUs:
UP9383 03/04/1975 Albemarle VA
UP9805 11/26/2011 Lee VA
UP6530 05/18/1990 Chesterfield VA
UP6700 07/01/1975 Amherst VA
UP2229 09/28/1990 Stafford VA
UP6639 07/28/2007 Fairfax VA
UP6738 05/20/2009 Will IL
UP1296 10/10/1980 Pinellas FL
UP1306 04/12/1980 Pasco FL
UP4789 11/17/1981 Fayette OH

Current list of Unidentified Person exclusions for GIANNINA per NamUs:
UP6279 12/18/1996 Fairfax VA
UP6796 11/18/1985 Alleghany VA
UP12683 06/06/2014 Newport News VA
UP8191 03/29/1999 Hamilton TN
UP6249 11/14/1980 Rockingham VA

 

[ChatteringBirds]

I am so sorry for their parents' loss and lack of answers.

Was there a reason to believe the children may have been brought to the U.S?

 

[AguaFlorida2001]

I am so sorry for their parents' loss and lack of answers.

Was there a reason to believe the children may have been brought to the U.S?

I'm guessing because the neighbor (and also the suspect in their kidnapping) went to FL and took his own life shortly after these two babies' disappearance.

I think this case is still solvable, especially if an LE department in the contiguous 48 takes it up if they have any JD cases similar to this.

 

[AguaFlorida2001]

Can someone post an updated ruleout list?

Here are some possible candidates I found:
Loxahatchee Jane Doe
Boca Raton Jane Doe
Rancho Cucamonga Jane Doe
Nashville Jane Doe

 

[AguaFlorida2001]

I get the feeling there's a pretty good chance that Giannina and John are unidentified Does somewhere. Just based off the fact they were kidnapped, and somebody who was a part of the kidnapping scheme had ties to Miami, I wouldn't be surprised if they ended up somewhere in the U.S.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Such a sad case. I have to bump it up in their honor/memory.

Their Wikipedia page is available: "Disappearance of John and Gianinna Colonna."

They both have pages on the Charley Project, Doe Network, NamUs.

There are numerous podcasts about their case.