GUILTY FL - Marco Martinez, 16, Lakeland, 5 April 2010

Help Sought in Finding Missing Lakeland Teen

The Polk County Sheriff’s Office is seeking the public’s help in locating 16-year-old Marco Martinez of 2656 McGregor St. in Lakeland.

He was last seen on Monday in the area of McGregor Street. He attends Kathleen High School but has not been to school at all this week.

Marco is 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighs 135 pounds, has black hair and brown eyes, and has two spider web tattoos – one on each hand.

The sheriff's office is concerned for his safety because he has not contacted friends or family, or used his cell phone, all week.

Anyone who has seen Marco Martinez is urged to contact the Polk County Sheriff’s Office at 863-534-6200 or 1-800-226-0344.

http://www.theledger.com/article/20...Help-Sought-in-Finding-Missing-Lakeland-Teen#

Still missing -

Teen's Disappearance Baffles Family, Officials

LAKELAND | It rarely happens: A child just disappears, seemingly vanishing into thin air, leaving detectives baffled as to why.

Marco Martinez, however, is the rare exception.

The 16-year-old junior at Kathleen High School disappeared from his West Lakeland neighborhood April 5.

Nobody, at least nobody who is talking so far, has any idea of what happened to him.

"He just vanished," Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said Monday.

More at http://www.theledger.com/article/20100511/NEWS/5115058/1410?p=1&tc=pg#

This is just so strange. I wonder if the backyard was fenced? Probably not. Wish we had locals from the neighborhood here to describe the scene.

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q...code_result&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CBMQ8gEwAA
Neighborhood view from above - you can get in closer. May have to pull map down and to the left to see the red marker.
and
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q...code_result&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CBMQ8gEwAA
For Street view of McGregor and McIntosh, click on where it says more, then click on street view. Rotates 360 degrees so you can see the neighborhood. Click on the arrows to go forward or backward. Most of them appear to be fenced. In somewhat a rural area.

I went over to check out which trailer it is. It is a trailor park. It is the one on the corner with the ladder leaning against it. There is a red SUV and a truck in the carport. There is a fence all the way around the property. They have a large brown dog. The mother was outside when I was driving by so I stopped and talked to her and told her about this site. Another son was there as well. He told me they do not have internet access, but he did take the name of the site and he may be on in the future. The son has not come home yet. He is still missing. Depending on what time of day and on what day he went missing, I am very surprised no one saw anything. There were people outside all over the neighborhood. I would think if this is usual, someone should have noticed something.

Other than the 2 stories in the news, I have not seen much additional information on this case.

ANewDay, this information was for you as you requested a local. If I hear more, I will let you know.

Thank you so much Susan1. This is just so sad an strange. Marco sounds like a kid with so much promise.

The description of his niece left alone in tears was very vivid to me. Haunting.

Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to the family. You rock, but I already knew that.

Still missing. No new news
Bump

http://www.abcactionnews.com/dpp/news/region_polk/investigators-raise-reward-to-$10,000-in-missing-lakeland-teen's-disappearance

Mother prays for safe return of son

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Posted: 11:43 AM

POLK COUNTY, Fla. - The reward for information in a missing Lakeland teen's disappearance has increased to $10,000.

Marco Martinez, now 17, was last seen on April 5 after picking up his 3-year-old niece from the bus stop near his McGregor Street home.

Click to expand...

<snipped>

Alma also said that her family received a message from the last person who supposedly saw Marco alive, a minor we won't name.

They told us, "You'll never see your son again because he's in the ground."

Click to expand...

That kid should be questioned until he says something. If he knows where Marco is, he could submit an anonymous tip and at least let the family have him back.

http://www.theledger.com/article/20100729/NEWS/7295081

$10,000 Offered to Find Lakeland Teen Marco Martinez
Polk investigators out of leads in search; mother pleads, "If someone knows something, tell someone."

.............

"Martinez is still considered a missing person, but Judd has assigned homicide detectives to the case, in part because of the disappearance's suspicious nature."

Why is this child listed as Run away on the NCMEC site? The reports are that the sherriff does not think he's a run away, they have homocide detectives on the case!

Geeze!

Bumping for Marco !!

http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=143075

Melanie Brooks 15 hrs ago

Winter Haven, Florida - Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd has seen a lot of crime during his years in law enforcement.

This case, in particular, he says is heartbreaking.

"You just don't see teenagers vanish. It's very rare," the Sheriff says.

The Sheriff admits it tears him apart when he talks about the case of a missing Polk County teenager named Marco Martinez.

Click to expand...

I haven't seen this article. If mom's account is true, there is NO reason Marco should have been considered a runaway for so long.

Alma's living room table is crowded with candles that sit before a picture of the Virgin Mary, and right beneath it there's a picture of her teenage son. She said she prays at night for peace, strength and the safe return of her son, who she said Polk County detectives initially suspected ran away.

Alma said she never understood that theory because her son left $400 cash in his bedroom, tip money from his job and he hadn't even cashed his recent check. But that isn't the only thing that makes this case more suspicious.

On the afternoon of April 5th, Marco picked up his three-year-old niece from the school bus stop as he always did. Only it seems Marco and his niece never made it inside the house. When Marco's 13-year-old brother got home from school, the toddler was on the front porch frantic and crying and Marco's keys were still in the door.

Alma said, "When I got home, as a mother I knew something was terribly wrong. Someone came to my home and took my son." She said the little girl trembled for days after Marco went missing everytime they opened the front door. Alma told ABC Action News, "Everytime we asked her if she'd go outside she would tremble again and start to cry as if she saw something horrible.

Alma also said that her family received a message from the last person who supposedly saw Marco alive, a minor we won't name.

They told us, "You'll never see your son again because he's in the ground." ABC Action News attempted to talk with officials about this information but they declined our requests for interviews.


http://www.abcactionnews.com/dpp/news/region_polk/polk-county-teen-missing-for-two-months-

Marco is very young to have tatt's.

I wonder if his tattoo's signified any relationship with a gang?

I'm just curious. I hope he is found soon and safely. Bless his Mother's heart.

Kat said:

Marco is very young to have tatt's.

I wonder if his tattoo's signified any relationship with a gang?

I'm just curious. I hope he is found soon and safely. Bless his Mother's heart.

Click to expand...

I didn't notice any mention of a tattoo, until I just looked at the NCMEC poster.
It says a tat on the arm. Maybe a homemade one?
Although he is 17 yrs old, I don't know if FL has any laws about having to be over the age of 18 to get a tat.

dreamweaver said:

I didn't notice any mention of a tattoo, until I just looked at the NCMEC poster.
It says a tat on the arm. Maybe a homemade one?
Although he is 17 yrs old, I don't know if FL has any laws about having to be over the age of 18 to get a tat.

Click to expand...

I didn't see the tatt listed on his arm. Thanks for pointing that out dreamweaver. I had to go back and make sure I had read it right and wasn't confusing him with someone else!

I saw these:
http://www.theledger.com/article/20100511/NEWS/5115058/1410?p=2&tc=pg
Page 2

Marco is 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighs 135 pounds, has black hair and brown eyes and has two spider web tattoos - one on each hand.

Click to expand...

The type of tattoo and the placement is what caught my eye. Might mean nothing though.

Now we have contridictory info. Frustrating. JMHO.

Prayers for Marco.

.... I think something very bad has happened to this young man.... he just does not fit any profile of a run-away...

goes to school, gets good grades, a good employee, and babysitting his 3 y/o niece who he adores...she is found alone, outside on the back porch and the keys are in the door-lock! it just sounds to me like he was grabbed right there at the house...

the article (same link as above) does say that he had been known to smoke mj. is there a connection to some bad people from that, perhaps??

I just feel like he was kidnapped for some reason... he does not sound like a runaway- and from the interviews, it doesn't sound like LE thinks so either.

This poor young man and his family!

Sadly, Marco was found dead, and no other details have yet been released:

http://www.theledger.com/article/20101005/NEWS/101009923/1410?Title=Missing-Lakeland-Teen-Found-Dead

Rest in Peace, Marco.

Here's another:

"Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd is scheduled to speak about a suspect and the investigation into Martinez's death at 10 a.m. No other information has been released at this point."

http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp/news/local/polk/missing-boy-marco-martinez-found-dead-100510

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd says the remains have yet be positively identified, but that the clothing and jewelry found matches the description of what Martinez was wearing when he disappeared.
Martinez was killed by another 16-year-old named Santos Hernandez, a known gang member, after an argument over money, Judd said in a Tuesday morning news conference.
Hernandez is currently being held at the county jail on drug and weapon charges resulting from a recent traffic stop. He has not been charged with murder due to the pending identification of the remains.
Judd said the early investigation showed that Martinez's disappearance was out of character, so homicide detectives were contacted and that Hernandez was a person of interest from the beginning. He was seen with Martinez picking up Martinez's niece from her bus stop and then sitting on the front porch of Martinez's McGregor Street home around 3 p.m. on April 5.
Investigators interviewed Hernandez on several occasions after Martinez's disappearance, and in the fifth conversation they had, Hernandez said that "a scraggly white man" had told him that Martinez was buried nearby. Hernandez drew detectives a map of the location, Judd said.
Prior to this interview, Judd says Hernandez denied knowing anything about Martinez's whereabouts.
Detectives searched the area several times before finding a sock with bones in it on September 30. The next day, they discovered a shallow grave containing human remains.
Investigators interviewed Hernandez a sixth time and he confessed to killing Martinez after the two got into a physical argument.
"One of his statements was that he didn't want to spend the rest of his life in prison," Judd said of Hernandez's confession. "My suggestion is that he should have thought of that before he murdered Marco."


http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp/news/local/polk/missing-boy-marco-martinez-found-dead-100510