Mesa police now think story of girl lost in '82 has sad end
by Nathan Gonzalez - Jul. 26, 2009 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic
For 27 years, Mindi Chambers' aunts refused to change their phone numbers, hoping that one day she'd call.
Maybe she ran away, they thought. Maybe she was living in Utah, trying to put a life of tragedy and abuse behind her.
They don't believe that anymore.
Seventeen-year-old Mindi Chambers vanished in 1982, three days after she told Mesa police her father was molesting her.
There is little evidence that any significant investigation into the molestation occurred, and all indications are that her disappearance was treated as just another runaway.
In fact, Mindi Chambers fell so far through the cracks that it took 13 years for someone to even file a missing persons report.
Now, after nearly three decades, police think they know the ending to the story of a sad, tortured life made even sadder by a system that failed her.
***
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."
Soon after, Allen Chambers assaulted a woman and was sentenced to seven years in prison.
He sent Mindi to live with his mother in Chandler. When she died, Mindi went to live with an aunt, Carin Brauer of Phoenix, who still has photos of Mindi in a long Easter dress.
"Mindi was a good little girl," she said. "Her and Kathy, my middle child, were inseparable."
When Mindi turned 5, Chambers was released and demanded custody of her. With no legal avenue to stop him and with her hands full with her own kids, Brauer handed Mindi over.
Chambers became controlling and began shutting family members out. Contact and phone calls between Mindi and her aunts stopped.
Family members saw little of Mindi or her father in the intervening years.
Then on Oct. 16, 1982, Mindi went to police and said her father had been molesting her for five years, said Det. Michael Melendez, a Mesa police spokesman.
Records show that Child Protective Services immediately placed her in the care of her stepmother, Pat Chambers, who was in the process of divorcing Allen Chambers.
"Three days later she goes missing," Melendez said, "and nobody reported it."
In 1995, Brauer learned Mindi had never been reported missing and asked police to look into it.
When officers followed up with Pat Chambers, she said Mindi had helped her get her children ready for school the day she disappered, but wasn't home when she returned from work.
She found Mindi's purse, ID and other personal items she left behind.
In a recent interview with the Republic, Chambers wouldn't say why she didn't report Mindi missing, though the girl's aunts said she had run away before.
"I loved her dearly, and I miss her," Chambers said. "There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think of her."
Police records
indicate a CPS contacted Allen Chambers by phone about the molestation six days after Mindi went to police, but Chambers hung up.
There is no indication of any further investigation. CPS officials said last week that they could not comment without researching the case further.
***
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.
"It's amazing that almost 30 years later, this is so raw," said Kali Smith, an aunt who now lives near Coco Beach, Fla.
"We tried so hard to get her away from him. The man was dangerous," Smith said. "It's still so raw because you feel like you've failed a child."
Anyone with information is asked to call the Mesa Police Department at 480-644-2211.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2009/07/26/20090726chambers0726.html