CA CA - Cynthia Sumpter, 5, San Jose, 27 April 1974

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Such a sad case. Although I didn't live here at the time, my house is just a few hundred yards away from where this happened. I posted the Mercury News article on our neighborhood's Nextdoor site last year in hopes that some long time residents might remember the case and have some information to share, but my post didn't get any responses. I guess it was just too long ago.
 
Lavender Moon said:
Cynthia Sumpter is one of three little girls--all about the same age-- who disappeared from California in 1973 and 1974 . Anna Christian Waters vanished in January 1973 and Tracy Davenport went missing three months later, in April 1973. I don' t see how the three cases could not be connected.
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I wonder where the various members of the Church of the New Song were during this time period.
 
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Cynthia looks so sad in her picture.
 
j. smith said:
One night when I was at Cynthia's house her mom asked me if I remembered what her boyfriend looked like & I said yes. She explained that the night before she had caught her boyfriend fondling Cynthia in the bathtub & she told me that if he came over not to let him in. He never came over & I never saw him again. Sincerely, J. Julius, formerly J. Smith
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Respectfully snipped by me.

Who was mom’s boyfriend? Seems an obvious suspect. Did Mom report the abuse to the police?

According to this article

https://www.mercurynews.com/2016/04/26/san-jose-42-years-after-cynthia-sumpter-went-missing-mother-still-hopes-shell-be-found/

mom, Linda Hayes, asked the neighbor girl (who must be J. Smith), to wait in the apartment while she went out and got sandwiches for lunch.

So, just the day before mom catches Cynthia being sexually abused and then the next day allows her to go out and play alone. Really? I know times were different then, but come on.
That poor baby must have been severely traumatized.
 
Bumping for Cynthia. I continue to wonder if her case is connected to those of Anna Christian Waters and Tracy Davenport. Can that really be only coincidence?
 
amber1 said:
So many young girls vanished around the area that Michaela Garecht, Amanda Campbell, Angela Bugay and many others disappeared, all within the same time period...there HAS to be some connection!
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Although Amber 1's post is an older one which has previously been quoted, I'm quoting her as I bump this case forward. At least some of these cases are connected. How could they not be?
 
CLSumpter.jpg
CLSumpter2.jpg
CLSumpter3.jpg
CLSumpter4.jpg

The two images on the right are age-progressed to 42 and 47 years.

Name: Cynthia Lynn Sumpter
Case Classification: Endangered Missing
Missing Since: April 27, 1974
Location Last Seen: San Jose, Santa Clara County, California

Physical Description
Date of Birth: July 18, 1968
Age: 5 years old
Race: White
Gender: Female
Height: 3'8"
Weight: 55 lbs.
Hair Color: Blond/Strawberry
Eye Color: Blue. Her eyes may appear dark blue to hazel in color.
Nickname/Alias: Cindy
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Cowlick on the right side of her hairline and a small cleft chin. A mole on her left shin, left side of her neck and left side of her back.

Identifiers
Dentals: Not Available
Fingerprints: Not Available
DNA: Available

Clothing & Personal Items
Clothing: Sleeveless red and white striped shirt with a blue star on front and long purple slacks. No footwear.
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Unknown

Circumstances of Disappearance
Sumpter was last seen playing outside her apartment complex on Elm Street in San Jose, California. Her mother discovered her missing between 1:30 p.m. and 1:45 p.m. She searched on her own for about a half hour, called her parents to see if they had her and then contacted the police.

One neighbor told police that she had left her small son with Cindy while she dashed to her apartment for a baby bottle. When she returned a moment later, her son was alone. Another witness spotted Cindy from her car and reported that the outgoing little girl had stuck her head in the window to say hello. Witnesses reported they had seen her in a blue car driven by a mysterious young man with blond hair and a mustache; these sightings have not been confirmed.

At first, police considered Cindy's father a suspect, as the parents were divorced. Sumpter's parents had had a bitter divorce a year before her disappearance and each one accused the other of hiding her. Eventually, both parents took lie-detector tests that showed they knew nothing of Cindy's whereabouts. Police decided they were no way involved.

Several people claimed to know Sumpter's whereabouts and attempted to extort money from her parents, but none of them really knew anything about her case. Antonio Madrid was investigated for possible involvement in her disappearance. He was the stepfather of one of her friends and only lived about 100 yards from her apartment. Madrid committed suicide two days after Sumpter's disappearance. After his death, police found a bloodstained shirt belonging to him, and blonde hairs in his car.

A convicted murderer named Eugene Joseph Wesley is also a possible suspect. He took two polygraph tests about Sumpter's case and the results indicated that he knew more than he was saying about her disappearance. Wesley was never charged in connection with her case, however, and has since died in prison.

Sumpter's mother has since remarried and moved to Pocatello, Idaho. She believes her daughter is still alive. Police believe Sumpter was abducted and foul play is suspected in her case.

Investigating Agency(s)
Agency Name: San Jose Police Department
Agency Contact Person: Sergeant Quan
Agency Phone Number: (408)-537-1340
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: 7483994
NCIC Case Number: M-136918861
NamUs Case Number: 6703

Information Source(s)
NamUs
NCMEC
National Missing Persons Directory
California Department of Justice
Facebook
334DFCA - Cynthia Lynn Sumpter
 
Richard said:
CLSumpter.jpg
CLSumpter2.jpg
CLSumpter3.jpg
CLSumpter4.jpg

The two images on the right are age-progressed to 42 and 47 years.


Circumstances of Disappearance
Sumpter was last seen playing outside her apartment complex on Elm Street in San Jose, California. Her mother discovered her missing between 1:30 p.m. and 1:45 p.m. She searched on her own for about a half hour, called her parents to see if they had her and then contacted the police.

One neighbor told police that she had left her small son with Cindy while she dashed to her apartment for a baby bottle. When she returned a moment later, her son was alone. Another witness spotted Cindy from her car and reported that the outgoing little girl had stuck her head in the window to say hello. Witnesses reported they had seen her in a blue car driven by a mysterious young man with blond hair and a mustache; these sightings have not been confirmed.

r
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RSBM... I would like to know who the neighbour was who left her young son with Cindy so she could dash into her apartment to get her son a bottle? When she came back out, Cindy was gone. How far away was her apartment to where she left the kids? Did she have to use keys to get in? Go up an elevator, make a bottle, then get back downstairs and outside? How long was she gone for? I'd be grilling this woman if Cindy were my kid, because maybe. Just MAAAYBE she might have some snip of a memory of someone, something, anything that could help? I'd pay good money to read her original statement to police!! I'm also wondering, how old was her son? If he needed a bottle, probably quite young... Know what else would be interesting to find out? What was her son's demeanour when she returned? Was he crying? Screaming? Happy? Walking or moving or even pointing in any particular direction? That might provide some insight here. For example, if the child was happy when left with Cindy, but screaming and freaked out when mom got back, might that be an indication that someone / something scared him? But we're not given that information. We're just told when mom returned, her son was there, and Cindy was gone. It seems likely then that Cindy was lured away vs snatched and screaming when she vanished. Additionally, if she left that other child alone, what could have caused her to do so? Was she generally a responsible child? Unlikely to leave a baby behind without something she'd consider a good reason? Did she think she was going to the curb only to get a candy? And while I'm at it, what did that other mother think of Cindy not being there when she got back? How long was it before she realized Cindy was missing, and hadn't just wandered away? Was it Cindy's habit to be out and about on her own very often? Was she stalked? Someone saw her in that moment when the other mom left her child with Cindy and took her away. That is creepy! Lastly, its telling to me that the other child was left where he was, unharmed. What if anything can we infer from that? The abductor wasn't interested in the baby boy (too much trouble? Too small? No market for him?). I don't think this was a trafficking kind of thing, nor do I think this was someone who thought they were rescuing Cindy from some neglectful situation or unhappy home. It seems sadly more likely that someone saw her (stalked her?) and just wanted her for their own gross reasons. :(
 
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Cynthia Sumpter, age 5, Missing 27 April 1974

Missing for over 45 years...

LINK:

https:///forum/index.php?threads/cynthia-sumpter-missing-from-san-jose-ca-27-april-1974-age-5.5559/
 
Cubby said:
Cynthia's NamUs profile doesn't show a dna is currently available..

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

The blonde hairs alone might not be enough but if the blood on the shirt proved to belong to Cynthia along with the hairs at least it might mean partial closure.

I so wish there were answers for Cynthia's case.
I've always kept her case in my prayers.
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DNA must be available on file somewhere though because a few years ago they tested someone who thought she might BE Cynthia... the test was negative...

San Jose: 42 years after Cynthia Sumpter went missing, mother still hopes she’ll be found – The Mercury News
 
I wonder if mom (or dad) have ever done ancestry DNA? If Cindy was taken just because someone wanted a small child, and if she wasn't killed, its possible she may have added herself to Ancestry DNA or to the other big DNA databases out there (eg: 23andme)... it might be worth a try??
 
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