MA MA - John Lima, 26, Middleton, 28 October 2005

[beth651p]

John Lima​

Lima, circa 2005; Tattoo on Lima's left arm; Tattoo on Lima's right arm; Tattoo on Lima's upper back

• Missing Since 10/28/2005
• Missing From Middleton, Massachusetts
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Male
• Race Biracial, Hispanic, White
• Date of Birth 08/29/1979 (43)
• Age 26 years old
• Height and Weight 5'10, 170 pounds
• Clothing/Jewelry Description A red t-shirt and blue jeans.
• Distinguishing Characteristics Biracial (Caucasian/Hispanic) male. Brown hair, brown eyes. Lima has the following tattoos: a barbed wire band on his upper left arm, a tribal band on his upper right arm, and a tribal design on his upper back. Photos of his tattoos are posted with this case summary. Lima has a very light scar across the top of his nose due to a previous fracture. He smokes cigarettes.

Details of Disappearance​

Lima was last seen at 1:30 a.m. on October 28, 2005, when he left his girlfriend's Chelsea, Massashusetts home. He is believed to have arrived at his own residence at south Main Street and River Street in Middleton, Massachusetts afterwards.

He lived in a basement apartment in his parents' house. His mother heard his car at 2:00 a.m. and saw it in the driveway, but no one actually saw him go into the house.

At 7:00 a.m., Lima's parents woke up and realized Lima wasn't in the house. His wallet, keys and cigarettes on his bed, which had not been slept in. His sneakers were on the doormat just inside the garage. A small window in the living room of Lima's apartment was wide open, although the weather was chilly, and the screen had been pushed out from the inside.

Lima has never been heard from again. The doors to the house opened to the backyard, which had motion-detector lights. His parents believe Lima climbed out the window rather than go out the doors and possibly wake the rest of the household by activating the backyard lights.

Lima's cellular phone battery went dead shortly after 2:00 a.m. the day he disappeared and authorities believe the phone has been destroyed. He wasn't carrying any cash or credit cards. He was employed as a construction worker at the time of his disappearance.

He has a history of drug abuse, dropped out of high school and had previously served time in jail, but his loved ones stated he had straightened out his life by October 2005 and seemed to be happy. His family believes he met with foul play and police are not ruling out that possibility. His case remains unsolved. Middleton police are investigating.

Investigating Agency​

• Middleton Police Department 978-774-4424
• Massachusetts State Police 978-745-8908

John Lima – The Charley Project

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

 

[Atombudd]

New England’s Unsolved: John Lima​

By Bob Ward, Boston 25 NewsOctober 26, 2022 at 10:53 pm EDT

New England’s Unsolved: John Lima

MIDDLETON, Mass — On October 28, 2005, 26-year-old John Lima disappeared, presumably from his parents’ home in Middleton, Massachusetts.
In seventeen years, no one has seen or heard from John Lima; it’s as if John Lima just fell off the face of the earth.
Of course, in reality, no one simply vanishes for no reason.


In Middleton, Police Detective Adam Maccini is making it his business to get to the bottom of this baffling case.

“I’m determined to follow this through,” Detective Maccini told me. “I think of this case all the time.”
I first covered John Lima’s case for New England’s Unsolved in 2007. At the time, John had been missing for two years. Frustratingly, fifteen years later, the known facts about the circumstances around John’s disappearance remain the same. So, Detective Maccini is building a team of investigators, including the FBI, to help him find John Lima.
“We are able to have numerous investigators and different agencies take a look at it from different angles,” Detective Maccini said. “I’m determined to find out what happened.”
John Lima lived in the basement of his parents’ split level ranch on River Street in Middleton. John’s sister, Liz White, still lives next door with her family. John grew up in a tight knit, loving family, but when he became a teenager, his family tells me John ran into trouble with drugs. John’s parents didn’t like the people he was hanging around with, and eventually, John ran into trouble with the law.

All of it was a constant source of heartache for John’s mother, Maria Lima.
“I used to tell him, ‘John be careful, you don’t need this. You don’t need these guys in your life. You don’t want to hit rock bottom,’ " Maria Lima said. “I never thought rock bottom was going to be him disappearing like this.”
On October 27, 2005, John Lima had a morning court appearance in Salem that was rescheduled. Maria last saw John at the house in the afternoon before she headed off to work. Maria told me there was no hint that anything was wrong.
“I left for work, he closed the door,” Maria told me. “I said, ‘Bye John.’ He said, ‘Bye Mom.’ And that was it.”
Maria came home at 12:30AM on October 28th and noticed John’s car was not in the driveway. She wasn’t surprised because John told her he was going out and might not come home that night. But at 2AM, Maria was still awake when she heard John’s car pull into the driveway.
“I didn’t see him. I saw the car. I thought, ‘He’s probably home.’ So, I went to sleep,” Maria said.
The next morning, Maria and her family instantly knew something wasn’t right.
Not only was John not in the house, his bedroom window screen was pushed to the ground, from the inside out.
John’s bed was still made. On top of the bed Maria found some of John’s personal things, including his wallet and car keys.
Outside, the family noticed John’s car was parked in an awkward, unusual way in the driveway, at an angle
John Lima’s family soon reported him missing to Middleton Police.
“It was a shock for him to disappear. Our lives have not been the same,” John’s sister, Liz White, told me.
In the days and weeks after John’s disappearance, Massachusetts State Police and local police conducted large air, ground, and sea searches in the Middleton and Salem area for John Lima but those searches turned up nothing.
Today, the search for answers goes back to the night that John disappeared.
It turns out that John was last seen, not in Middleton, but in Chelsea, Massachusetts, at his girlfriend’s apartment.
Police say John left the girlfriend’s apartment at 1:30AM, about a half an hour before Maria heard her son’s car in the driveway.
John’s Massachusetts driver’s license was located inside the apartment in Chelsea, which is odd because John’s wallet was found in his bedroom in Middleton.
What does this all mean? Did John actually make it to the family home in Middleton? And, if he did, why did he leave the house, not through the front door, but through his bedroom window?
And where is John Lima now?
So many unanswered questions.
But Detective Maccini is driven to find answers.
“The whole case is like a spider web,” Detective Maccini told me. “We believe he left his house on his own free will. What happened after that, I have to find out.”
For John Lima’s family, the last 17 years have been pure torture.
“There are days you are so hopeful, you think that he is still alive. And then there are other days that are the lowest of the low because you think he is dead and you don’t think he’s ever going to come back,” said John’s sister, Liz White. “Living between those two spots is a special kind of hell.”
Maria Lima tells me she doesn’t think she will ever see her son again. But she wants to bring him home.
“I think about him every day. I love him so much,” Maria told me through her tears. “The pain is still here. It doesn’t go away.”
John Lima’s family is offering a $30,000 Reward in this case.
If you have any information, contact Middleton Detective Adam Maccini at 978-774-4424 Extension 1414.

JOHN LIMA - CHELSEA, MASSACHUSETTS | Federal Bureau of Investigation

October 29, 2005 Chelsea, Massachusetts

www.fbi.gov

www.facebook.com/findjohnlima/

 

[Pennysmom1]

added 8/11/2024

https://www.doenetwork.org/cases/software/mp-main.html?id=6346dmma

 

[ChatteringBirds]

It turns out that John was last seen, not in Middleton, but in Chelsea, Massachusetts, at his girlfriend’s apartment.
Police say John left the girlfriend’s apartment at 1:30AM, about a half an hour before Maria heard her son’s car in the driveway.
John’s Massachusetts driver’s license was located inside the apartment in Chelsea, which is odd because John’s wallet was found in his bedroom in Middleton.
What does this all mean? Did John actually make it to the family home in Middleton? And, if he did, why did he leave the house, not through the front door, but through his bedroom window?

My heart goes out to John's family.
It seems like his driver's license being left behind at his girlfriend's is a clue.
I wonder if LE asked her for her phone back then, and if they obtained it, and if so, if they did a full forensic search on it (for any relevant messages, calls etc. including anything deleted...) My speculation is that wasn't done but that if she was the last known to see him, it would have been prudent. My opinion only.

Maybe someone out there has a good idea what happened but is afraid to come forward. But it is never too late to contact law enforcement, at the least anonymously.