MO MO - Ashley Martinez, 15, St. Joseph, 6 July 2004

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ASHLEY MARTINEZ

Missing Since: July 6, 2004
Age: 16 (15 at time of disappearance)
Missing From: St. Joseph, MO
Sex: female
Height: 5'3
Weight: 110
Eye Color: blue
Hair Color: sandy blond
Race: caucasian
Birth Date: January 24, 1989

Distinguishing Marks: Scar on left arm.
Clothing Description: Blue jean shorts, black top with red cherries, white Reebok tennis shoes.
Jewelry: Tongue, naval, & ear piercing

Please call the St. Joseph PD at 816-271-4777 if you have any information about ASHLEY MARTINEZ
Or, call the Laura Recovery Center at 281-482-LRCF(5723) or 866-898-5723; FAX: 281-482-5727

NCMEC poster
 
A Project Jason Press Release

[font=verdana, arial, helvetica]18 Wheels Turn for Missing Teen

A mother’s love for her daughter knows no bounds, and when that daughter has been ripped from her arms, she will move Heaven and Earth to find her. The caption above her daughter’s photo simply states: MISSING.

The young woman in the photo is Ashley Martinez, 16, of St. Joseph, MO, missing since July 6th, 2004. This is not such a simple matter for her mother, Tammy, who is doing everything she can to find her, as her heart is breaking as she fears for the well-being and safety of her daughter.

Strangers across the country are also helping Ashley’s family in many ways, and now some of the country’s best natural networkers, truck drivers, are going to help find the young woman by their participation in the 18 Wheel Angels program.

18 Wheel Angels is a national missing person’s locator program spearheaded by nonprofit organization Project Jason. The program enlists the aid of truck drivers and business travelers to place posters of missing persons along their routes as they travel across the country. Participants are asked to go to the 18 Wheel Angels link on the Project Jason website at www.projectjason.org, and to then download and print as many posters as they can place. Anyone can participate. Ashley Martinez’ 18 Wheel Angel campaign began on June 1st.and will run through the 15th.

In addition to the 18 Wheel Angels campaign, Project Jason, working together with JB Scott Publishing of Anniston, AL, has featured Ashley in the monthly publication, Through the Gears, which has a circulation nationwide of approximately 150,000. She is also on their website at www.truckjobseekers.com.

Project Jason has also added Ashley to their Adopt a Missing Person program. Ashley’s family sent buttons to the organization to have available for people across the country to mail in and request. The compassionate person who adopts Ashley will also be mailed an info card, which contains a bio and personal information about her. Whoever adopts Ashley will wear her button and share her story with others. As awareness is key in missing person’s cases, it is important for Ashley’s face to be seen so that she can be found and reunited with her family. Additional information about how to adopt Ashley can be found at www.projectjason.org.

Project Jason was founded by Kelly Jolkowski, mother of missing Omaha, NE youth Jason Jolkowski. The all volunteer group’s mission is to create and increase public awareness of missing people through a variety of outreach and educational activities. Project Jason seeks to bring hope and assistance to families of the missing by providing resources and support.

Ashley is a white female, 5’ 3” tall and 110 lbs with long sandy hair and blue eyes. Ashley suffers from bi-polar disorder, and does not have her medication with her. There is now a $5000 reward for information leading to the location and safe return of Ashley.

To contact Kelly Jolkowski: 402-932-0095 or Kelly.jolkowski@projectjason.org
To contact the St. Joseph, MO Police: 816-271-4777
[/font]
 
Press Release written by the Family

[font=verdana, arial, helvetica]July 1, 2005
For Immediate Release

A Candlelight Vigil for missing child, Ashley Martinez, will be held at 8pm on July 6, 2005 in the Southwest corner parking lot of Krug Pool located at the North Side Complex at 3541 St. Joseph Avenue, in St. Joseph, Missouri. Special guests and speakers include Missouri Representative Ed Wildberger, Sgt. Jill Voltmer from the St. Joseph Police Department, Kelly Jolkowski, from nonprofit organization Project Jason, and Susan Church, mother of missing and recovered Ashley Church.

In case of rain this event will move to the Woodson Chapel Christian Church located at 2525 St. Joseph Avenue. Prayers will be lead by Dean Haybrock from St. Peters Lutheran Church, and the Prayer Vigil will be done by Minister Robert Hodkins from the Woodson Chapel Christian Church. Candles will be provided and we ask that everyone attend to show support to Ashley and her family.

There is a $5000.00 reward that was established by the Carole Sund/Carrington Memorial Reward Foundation leading to the safe return of Ashley. Ashley is described as 5’3” tall, she weighs 110 lbs, and she has sandy blonde hair and blue eyes, and scars on her left wrist.

Ashley was last seen in the area of Krug Pool on the north side of St. Joseph on July 6, 2004. The investigation revealed that Ashley had left town with a 33-year-old man. That man was arrested in Olympia, Washington on arrest warrants issued out of Jackson County, Missouri. Since his arrest this man has refused to divulge any information to investigators about Ashley Martinez. Anyone with any information on the whereabouts of Ashley R. Martinez, who is now 16 years of age, is asked to call the St. Joseph Police Department Missing Persons unit or Sgt. Jill Voltmer at 816-271. It is believed Ashley traveled out of town in a 1995 gray Pontiac Bonneville with Missouri license 377MPY. If you have information and wish to remain anonymous you can call the TIPS Hotline at 816-238-TIPS.
[/font]
 
Kansas City disappearance case is 1 year old

BY KEVIN MURPHY
Knight Ridder Newspapers
Posted on Tue, Jul. 05, 2005

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - (KRT) - Every morning is the same for Tammy Navinskey - a couple of hours on the computer and phone in search of her teenage daughter, who disappeared one year ago Wednesday.

Ashley Renee Martinez was last seen at a St. Joseph public swimming pool. Ashley, 15 at the time, is believed to have left with a convicted felon, Christopher M. Hart, 33, police said.

Hart, arrested last September in Olympia, Wash., on a parole violation, is not talking about Ashley, said St. Joseph Police Sgt. Jill Voltmer.

Navinskey said she has given up on him cooperating.

"My best hope now is that someone will see her and come forward so we can bring her home," Navinskey said Tuesday.

To that end, Navinskey spends each morning contacting various organizations and their Web sites to get Ashley's picture and description circulated. She also is in frequent touch with police and the media.

"I try to have as much hope as I can because if I don't, it's hard to get through the day," Navinskey said. "I'd be lying if I said there wasn't a feeling in the back of my mind that she is (not) even alive. It's a fear I face every day. When it comes, I try to think hopeful thoughts."

Family and friends will hold a candlelight vigil for Ashley at 8 p.m. Wednesday in a parking lot of Krug Pool, 3541 St. Joseph Ave., where she was last seen a year ago. State and local officials and relatives of other missing persons will be among the guests.

A $5,000 reward for information was posted recently by the Carole Sund/Carrington Memorial Reward Foundation, a fund created by relatives of Carole and Juli Sund, who along with Silvina Pelosso disappeared in Yosemite National Park in 1999 and were found murdered.

Police have received numerous tips on Ashley's whereabouts, largely from the Kansas City and Olympia areas, Voltmer said.

"I don't know if that's because they are valid or because it's where the mass mailings are and the mass posting of the different posters," Voltmer said.

Police have no solid leads at the moment, she said. Voltmer tried to interview Hart at the Jackson County Jail about six weeks ago, but she said he would not talk about Ashley. Hart is currently confined to a state mental hospital, a jail spokeswoman said Tuesday.

Hart was arrested in Olympia last July 17 for a purse-snatching. He used an alias, was released, failed to appear in court and was then arrested again Sept. 7 for violating parole on a Missouri charge of second-degree assault, Voltmer said. He also has been convicted of unlawful use of a weapon, resisting arrest and property damage, she said.

While nobody reported seeing Hart leave the pool with Ashley, she borrowed a friend's cell phone to call him that day, Voltmer said. Hart is also known to have stopped by a house, where he told someone his car was packed and he was going to pick up Ashley, Voltmer said.

Police have never found the car, a gray 1995 Pontiac Bonneville, Missouri plates 377MPY, Voltmer said. They also have not heard from anyone who saw Ashley after she left the pool that day, she said.

"I would have thought she would have called someone, a friend or someone," Navinskey said. "Even if she thought this was some sort of adventure, I find it hard to believe she wouldn't have contacted someone."

A Web site devoted to Ashley's disappearance, ashley.4ourangel.com , refers to her as a "fun-loving young girl" who loved to swim. She is described as 5 feet, 3 inches tall, and 110 pounds with sandy blonde hair.

After her disappearance, investigators learned that she had mentioned to friends she was going to run away. She had been seeing Hart, who lived near her home and had promised he would take her to California one day, according to the Web site. She had a bipolar disorder, the site said.

Anyone with information is asked to call Voltmer at (816) 271-4747 or a TIPS hot line, (816) 238-TIPS.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansa...on/12059922.htm
 
http://www.kq2.com

Ashley Martinez Vigil
( Air Date: 7/6/2005 )
One year ago today, St. Joseph teen Ashley Martinez went missing. Today her family still has hope she`ll some day return home safely. A candlelight vigil was held tonight at Krug Park across from the pool where Ashley was last seen. A family and a community gathered to hope and pray they`ll see her again. The only person in custody who might know where Ashley is -- or if she`s even still alive -- is 33-year old Christopher Hart, but he refuses to talk at all about the case. A $5,000 reward is established for information that leads to Ashley`s safe return.
 
http://www.belleville.com/

Posted on Thu, Jul. 07, 2005

Family, friends mark anniversary of teen's disappearance

Associated Press


ST. JOSEPH, Mo. - A group of 50 family, friends and community members gathered to mark the one-year anniversary since a St. Joseph teen disappeared in the company of a convicted felon.

Ashley Martinez, who would now be 16, was last seen leaving the Krug Pool with Christopher Hart, 33, who police say told her he would take her to California. Hart was arrested in September in Olympia, Wash., for a parole violation and was extradited to Jackson County. He has refused to talk about Ashley or her whereabouts.

The girl's mother, Tammy Navinskey, said Wednesday she was still optimistic her daughter was still alive and felt the gathering, featuring pictures, white roses and other personal items was helpful.

"Hopefully this will be a strong enough prayer to get her home," Navinskey said.

St. Joseph Police Sgt. Jill Voltmer said investigators have checked more than 100 tips on Ashley's disappearance but haven't found anything yet.

Among the people attending the candlelight vigil Wednesday was Kelly Jolkowski, founder of Project Jason, an Omaha, Neb.-based nonprofit organization that helps in missing person searches.

"Oftentimes when leads run out, all we have is awareness and hope," Jolkowski said.
 
http://www.stjoenews-press.com/

STORY: CANDLELIGHT VIGIL MARKS 1 YEAR FOR MISSING GIRL

Wednesday marked the 365th night Tammy Navinskey went to sleep not knowing where her daughter, Ashley Martinez, was.
No phone calls. No letters. No trace of her.

Family and community members gathered Wednesday night in an effort to shed some light on Ms. Martinez’ disappearance, so that some night Mrs. Navinskey can know where her daughter is sleeping.

“It’s been a year and we’ve had no contact with her,” said John Navinskey, Ms. Martinez’ stepfather.

Ms. Martinez, now 16, left town July 6, 2004, and was last seen at Krug Pool — the location of a candlelight vigil conducted in her memory Wednesday night.
A group of about 50 lit candles and prayed at dusk in the pool’s parking lot. Pictures of Ms. Martinez, white roses and some of her personal items adorned an altar-like table in front of the crowd.

“Hopefully this will be a strong enough prayer to get her home,” Mrs. Navinskey said.

The St. Joseph Police Department has received more than 100 tips on Ms. Martinez’ disappearance, but none have checked out, according to Sgt. Jill Voltmer.
“I can assure you we will not give up until we bring Ashley home,” said Ms. Voltmer, lead missing persons investigator for the Police Department. “… That’s my guarantee to John and Tammy.”

Kelly Jolkowski, of Omaha, Neb., said she has spent more than 1,000 nights waiting to find out what had happened to her son, Jason.

Ms. Jolkowski, founder of Project Jason, a non-profit organization that assists in missing persons searches, traveled to St. Joseph Wednesday to speak at the vigil.

“Oftentimes when leads run out, all we have is awareness and hope,” she said, encouraging family and friends to post Ms. Martinez’ posters in as many places as possible. “This is why what you do is so important.”

Ms. Martinez left St. Joseph last year with Chris Hart, 33, a convicted felon. Mr. Hart was arrested in Washington on a parole violation warrant in September and since has been extradited to Jackson County. He continues to refuse to divulge Ms. Martinez’ whereabouts, police say.

The Carole Sund/Carrington Memorial Reward Foundation is offering a $5,000 reward for anyone with information leading to the safe return of Ms. Martinez.

Citizens are asked to call the Tips Hotline, 238-TIPS, Ms. Voltmer at 271-4747 with any information regarding the endangered teen runaway.
 
Ashley's story is featured today on the Project Jason-Voice for the Missing blog. It's a little bit unusual, and was inspired by Ashley and her mother's love of classic movies.

Direct Link to Ashley's Story

Be sure to help out the families of the missing by telling others about the blog. This is just another way we can reach out and let the faces of the missing be seen. We welcome appropriate website links. Other ideas are posting the blog link on other forums you frequent, and sending it out to your friends and family via email.

Thank you for helping us to help others.

Kelly Jolkowski, Mother of Missing Jason Jolkowski
President and Founder,
Project Jason
http://www.projectjason.org
Read our Voice for the Missing Blog
http://voice4themissing.blogspot.com/
 
http://www.wowt.com/news/headlines/2759506.html

Miles For The Missing

Bike ride keeps memories of missing children alive


An annual bike ride called "Miles For The Missing" is making sure missing children will never be forgotten.

Grief brought on by the mysterious disappearance of three teens is why family members, and supporters gathered in Council Bluffs Sunday.

November of 2005 is the last time anyone saw 12-year-old Amber Harris.

"Without these extra resources, we wouldn't have known to do anything but just put out fliers and just look all the time," said Melissa Harris, Amber's mom.

July of 2004 is the last time anyone saw 17-year-old Ashley Martinez of Saint Joseph Missouri.

"We have not heard a word. It's been a nightmare," said Tammy Navinsky. "I don't know how you want to describe it. We spend every day trying to get on the Web sites, trying to find organizations to help."

Jason Jolkowski, 19, of Omaha vanished in June of 2001.

"It's an ongoing trauma. It's also a process of grief that you get stuck in because you don't really know," said Kelly Jolkowski, Jason's mother. "What am I grieving for? Am I grieving because someone's deceased? Am I grieving because they went away from us?"

Project Jason, a support system for families of missing children, sponsors the event in which bikers ride from one to 44 miles.

Kelly Jolkowski, the founder of Project Jason set up Sunday's bike ride.
 
From her website:

On September 7, 2004, Olympia, Washington police arrested Christopher Hart for purse snatching. They discovered a warrant was out on him and he was also wanted for parole violations. But young Ashley was not found with him. Hart proved to be uncooperative with the Olympia and St. Joseph law enforcement authorities on Ashley's whereabouts
 
Project Jason's talented volunteer webmaster, Kathy, has redone Ashley's website to better reflect this vivacious teen.

Please come and visit and leave a note for the family on her guestbook.

We have hope Ashley will be found safe and brought back to her loving family.

http://www.findashleymartinez.com/

Thank you.

Kelly Jolkowski, Mother of Missing Jason Jolkowski
President and Founder,
Project Jason
http://www.projectjason.org
Read our Voice for the Missing Blog
http://voice4themissing.blogspot.com/
 
I feel so sad for this family. I wish someone could go into that jail and force that man to tell where Ashley is. If he dropped her off somewhere why can't he say so? Maybe he had left her somewhere and she was to meet him later after he had gotten some money for them but he got caught before he could get back to her. If he is afraid of facing charges for Ashley leaving with him can the Pros make a deal with him. God only knows, they do it all of the time.
There should be some way to get him to talk. He has to know where she is.

If I were Ashley's mom or dad I think I would go to the jail and try and talk to him. Beg him to tell me where she is if it came to that. I wonder if he is even still in jail?

If this beautiful is still alive I wish she would call her family. They love her so much and so do her friends. She has been gone way to long.
 
I Don't Know All Of The Details Of The Mans Arrest In California That Is Suspected Of Taking Her. But I Kinda Have Been Wondering If On The Day She Went Missing, If That Might Be The Same Day He Started To California And Drove Her Until Around Night Fall And Got A Hotel Room Or Maybe Even A Rest Stop Area And Possibly Raped And Murdered This Poor Child. Seems Like Going Along That Senerio, Investigators Could Try To Esablish A Reasonable Time Line Construction From The First Day Until The Day He Was Located. Does Anyone Know If This Man Would Have Had Credit Cards To Fund His Half Across The Country Trip. Just Suppose That He Only Drove Her For 4 Hours Or For 6 Hours, And So On, See What Type Of Areas That Gets You To, He Could Have Kept Her Until He Made It To The Desert Area Of Neveda. I Sure Hope She Is Alive, This Creep That Took Her And Him Being Found Without Her Sure Sounds Like It Might Have A Different Outcome. Reading Storys On Here About Children Being Found After 8 Yrs Or Longer Certainly Leaves Some Hope She Is Out There And Can't Get Away.
 
On paper, Ashley Martinez is just a number, one of 14 juveniles missing in Northwest Missouri. But for every number, there is a story, a family who misses their child and worries about their life.


“We got all of her dental records together, and just all information hoping something will surface and come forward,” Ms. Navinskey said. “It’s been quite a journey.”


After reporting Ashley as missing, her family and investigators learned she planned on running away with Christopher M. Hart, a convicted felon who was on probation for assault charges. She told friends he was taking her to California.


“With a 15-year-old, to her I guess it seemed exciting at the time. Out there in that world, she didn’t have curfews and she could come and go as she pleased,” Ms. Navinskey said.


Investigators believe Mr. Hart was driving a 1995 gray Pontiac Bonneville, with license plate 377MPY — a number Ms. Navinskey can recite as though the image is seared in her memory.


When Mr. Hart was found 11 days later, neither Ashley nor the car were with him. Mr. Hart was arrested and charged on an unrelated case, and investigators did not find any evidence linking him to Ashley’s disappearance.

http://www.newspressnow.com/localnews/26664836/detail.html
 

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