Charleyproject:
Marlene Santana
Age-progression for Marlene to age 25 (circa 2010) (photographs of her are unavailable because she was abducted shortly after birth); Example of a foot with metatarsus adductus; Sketches of the abductor
- Missing Since10/21/1985
- Missing FromBrooklyn, New York
- ClassificationNon-Family Abduction
- Date of Birth10/18/1985 (33)
- Age3 days old
- Height and Weight1'8, 7 pounds
- Distinguishing CharacteristicsHispanic female. Brown hair, brown eyes. Marlene has a foot deformity called a metatarsus adductus; her feet will appear C-shaped if viewed from the bottom. A picture of what a foot with this deformity would look like is posted with this case summary.
Details of Disappearance
Marlene was abducted at gunpoint by a female suspect in the New York City borough of Brooklyn at 9:30 p.m. on October 21, 1985.
Marlene's mother, Francisca Santana, met the abductor at Brookdale Hospital while giving birth to Marlene, three days prior to the abduction. The woman admired the baby at the nursery window during visiting hours; she said it was the prettiest baby and the quietest one.
Marlene was kept longer than usual due to jaundice, but eventually discharged with a clean bill of health. The suspect kidnapped the baby as her mother was leaving the hospital with her. The child was wrapped in a blue, pink and yellow swaddling blanket at the time of her abduction.
The suspect threatened to shoot Marlene if her mother did not give her up. The two women walked together for six blocks with the suspect pointing a gun at Marlene, then stopped at a deserted junkyard, and the suspect took the baby. Her mother gave the abductor her telephone number and asked her to call. The kidnapper escaped in a waiting car driven by an accomplice. Marlene and the suspect have never been seen again.
Sketches of the abductor are posted with this case summary. She was 5'2 and 130 pounds, and approximately 24 to 30 years old in 1985. She was Caucasian or Hispanic, with dyed red or blonde hair, and may have been wearing a wig. The abduction car was a white 1976 Chevrolet Malibu with red lettering on the door; possibly it was an unlicensed cab.
The same week Marlene disappeared, a two-month-old baby was kidnapped from another New York City hospital. The infant was recovered unharmed a few days later and his abductor was arrested. The case is not believed to be connected to Marlene's; the timing was coincidental.
Marlene's father was in the Dominican Republic at the time of the infant's disappearance and is not considered a suspect in her case. Francisca returned to the Dominican Republic after Marlene's abduction, as she didn't feel safe in the United States. She and Marlene's father had had two children before Marlene, and they subsequently had two more. The entire family still lives in the Dominican Republic and is employed at the family business, a small supermarket.
Although it's possible that Marlene was sold for adoption, authorities don't believe her abductor was a professional criminal. Rather, they think the kidnapper was a mentally unstable woman wanted a child to raise and couldn't have one of her own. Marlene's case remains unsolved.
I wonder if there were no witnesses at the hospital that could identify the myserty woman, She spent considerable time there and plenty of people saw here.
Same goes for the 1976 Chevrolet Malibu, could the police match it with potential owners
Sadly it's a big no no that her parents moved back to DR after this event, the entire case was put on hold because of that. Imagine they had been fighting for this by pushing the LE and talking to the press, perhaps they could've done something more.
I feel like she's still alive but nobody's looking. Perhaps she was sold for aboption or the abductor raised her as her own with that man diving the car.
The only way this can be solved is if the girl takes a DNA test and her mother can math it by some geneology database OR if someone comes forward to ID her abductor, perhaps a witness or someone close to her. Perhaps she and her man parted ways and he could be tempted by giving her up for a award. But someone need to put some light into this case, sadly it seems to be completely forgotten.
