NY NY - Lourdes Gruart, 46, New York City, 14 Oct 2000

http://charleyproject.org/cases/g/gruart_lourdes.html

The brothers actions are a wee bit suspicious. Hopefully the cops have not dismissed as a suspect.

Throwing out of furniture is not a good sign. IMO.

Some articles:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpa...F934A15753C1A9669C8B63&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss


http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/crimelaw/features/4141/

How about this one:

http://doenetwork.org/cases/540ufny.html

Her height should help in identifying her, as she is alittle taller than many women.

Julessleuther said:

How about this one:

http://doenetwork.org/cases/540ufny.html

Her height should help in identifying her, as she is alittle taller than many women.

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I didn't even notice her height until you mentioned it. We are the same height at 5'10......although she was definetly thinner than I will even hope to be.

I can see the resemblence on this one. The one flaw I see is they suspect her to have been killed between 1980-1990 and Lourdes disappeared in 2000.

Julessleuther said:

Some articles:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpa...F934A15753C1A9669C8B63&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss


http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/crimelaw/features/4141/

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Thanks for the links. THe NYT article was really interesting. The woman was obviously on the verge of a nervous breakdown. If she was prostituting on the side it is possible one of her wealthier clients asked her to accompany him somewhere and that is why she left in a hurry........but she wouldn't leave all of her clothes behind then would she?

The fact all of her lingerie is missing is a mystery. I have no idea what to make of her brother.

My lord, not to be rude, but her and her brother both sound absolutely insane. She also sounds a bit unhinged combined with aggressive(yet not physically). I imagine should could have flew off the handle and accused someone of something, and they may have attacked her in response(not blaming the victim, just trying to come up something that sounds like it could match her lifestyle).

I agree Stealth the woman was coming unhinged. I can understand in a way. I live in NYC and work around a bunch of really, really wealthy people (don't know any of them) and even that adds more pressure to you than I ever realized until I experienced. For her being a model and actually piercing the inner circles of the upper eschelions of 'high' society that pressure was magnified a million percent on top of her pre-existing issues with financial security, acceptance from her peers, etc. I was shocked to read she was making only 45,000 a yr and paying 1500 month in rent. She must have been broke all the time. My fiance and I combined make significantly more than her, our rent is cheaper and we struggle all the time with rent plus just expenses of living in this city.

Nutso or not. I sure would like to know what happened to her. Did she walk out the door into oblivion or did Mario kill her in a rage?

Wow. Lourdes Gruart. Talk about a small world.

I knew Lourdes, her parents Mario and Lourdes, baby sister Gloria, and middle sister Alicia. Baby boy Mario was born after they moved away.

Lourdes and her family were my next door neighbors in Southern Pines, NC, back in the 1960s. I used to baby sit them. Lourdes was only 4 years younger than I, but I believe I was about 13 or 14 at the time I was baby sitting. I know that Gloria was in diapers. Alicia had the most outgoing cheerful, funny personality. Lourdes was very quiet, almost solemn. She was very lean and very tall. I never saw them again after they moved away. At one time they lived in Greensboro NC. I think Mr. Gruart died.

Mr. Mario Gruart, Lourdes' father, was an architect. They left Cuba when Castro came into power. That did not help Mr. Gruart's profession, to be uprooted. I could tell that they had been used to finer things before coming to the US.During that time, another Cuban came to the US, who was friends with the Gruarts, a Dr. Enfante. Dr. Jose Enfante gave up his profession and became a Spanish teacher once in the US. He was the best Spanish teacher I ever had, and I took 7 years, high school thru college.

I believe Dr. Enfante is living in my city. I saw him once, at another job he had, just out of sheer luck. Couldn't believe it, after decades. He is the nicest man ever. They all, the Enfantes and Gruarts, had the finest social graces, education. Down to earth, really nice people.

I can't imagine when Lourdes became like the pieces I have read about her. The self absorbed, jet setter, model in NYC, and what ever happened to have young Mario Jr. become so strange and lacking in jobs, career, etc.?

I wonder how her little sisters Gloria and Alicia are? I'm just amazed at how life brings things around. Amazed.

Mrs. Gruart called my mom a few years ago, on a trip through our old home town in NC. I believe that Alicia was with her. Mom didn't see them, though. I would have loved to have seen them.

I wonder when Mr. Gruart died? How that affected the family?

Anyone from Plantation FL, where I heard they lived at one time? And of late, they could be living in Greensboro NC. Don't know. Mom never gets things straight. She's 80 now.

Hi ncnative! I can't believe you used to baby-sit Lourdes - what a small world.

Did you hear about Lourdes disappearing when it happened?

Mario Gruart died May 12th 1993. His last known address was in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.
http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi

From the articles Mrs Gruart has visited NYC several times to look for her daughter.

Thanks Gaja! I just got lucky to find Lourdes on Websleuths. I use Websleuths for checking on several murders in our area, one in my neighborhood. i live in the Raleigh NC area.

No, I didn't know about Lourdes' disappearance until later on. Her mom seems to be still going back to places where she remembers Lourdes. It is so scary thinking of what her life had become, and what young Mario (brother) became. They came from such a nice family, yet the two of them went into extreme lifestyles.

I wonder what the father Mario ended up doing for a living before he died? It's sad how the educated affluent Cubans had to leave there and come to the US to escape Castro's rule. When these lucky people who were able to escape came to the US, they mostly came with nothing but their lives. They had to start over. It's sad to know one turned to being a mattress salesman when he used to be a PhD, and Mr. Gruart was an architect before leaving Cuba.

Whatever could have happened to daughter and son Lourdes and Mario Jr.? What did Mario Sr. die from? I never saw Mr. Gruart much. I suppose he was always at work.

If I were lucky enough to see Lourdes today, I'd remind her of both our childhoods when she lived next door. I'd ask her many questions. She was always the solemn child. Beautiful, long hair, extremely long lean arms and legs, as a 10 yr. old girl. Maybe she took after her dad in her nature. But her mom, Alicia and Gloria were full of life, laughter and fun. Loud too!

PS: I remember always laughing at little Alicia. She was probably 7 or 8, can't remember. Alicia taught me my first "dirty words" in Spanish: caca. Alicia would say it and laugh forever. She'd say, "Gloria has caca in her diaper!" Of course, she wouldn't say it around her mom. The whole neighborhood of kids had a great time going around talking about "caca" and our moms didn't know what it meant (at first).

North American Missing Persons Network

http://www.nampn.org/cases/gruart_lourdes.html

NY Gov - Police Department

http://www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/images/missing persons/manhattan/mn_lourdes_gruart.jpg

http://www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/html/missing_persons/missing_persons_man.shtml

Lourdes has been missing for fifteen years now. There doesn't appear to be any recent updates for this case. Her brother's actions are definitely odd but LE concluded that he isn't a suspect. Since this happened in New York City, I doubt he would have been able to get away with hiding her body if he was involved.

NamUs

All I can say is wow. I just realized that Lourdes and I had an acquaintance in common.

Back in the 80's, I was in an on again/off again relationship with a guy who also had immigrated to the US from Cuba during the revolution. His family was living in Miami at the time. They had been well to do in Cuba and lived a privileged lifestyle there with servants, maids, etc. Once they resettled in the US of course their lifestyle changed quite a bit.My friend was very eccentric, lots of fun to be around, but never really settled into a profession. During the time I knew him he was in school off and on but never held a job that I am aware of . He told me about his friend Lourdes who he knew in Miami. "she is crazy!!" He showed me a head shot of her in a modeling pose and she had written a note to him on it. At the time she was in Europe. So I am convinced this is the same Lourdes.

Very sadly my friend passed away in the 90's from a muscular degenerative condition. I always wondered if his experiences during the Cuban revolution and transition to life in the US affected his ability to pursue a "normal" career. I'm sure it was also very difficult for Lourdes and her family. I really appreciated the comments by NCNative who knew her family in North Carolina.

My question is: How the heck did the brother move that sofa to the curb by himself? The apartment was on the fourth floor in a walk up building according to the NYMag article. No way he moved that on his own. Did the investigators ever pursue that matter? Did they try to interview whoever assisted him? Or other people who lived in the apartment building? There is so little information available and I am surprised they no longer feel he is a suspect. IMO he is definitely involved in her disappearance.

It looks like he has moved back to FL and is still interested in reptiles.

I was doing some googling, and found a real estate agent in Cataluna, Spain with the name listed as Gruart Cot Maria Lourdes.
I'm thinking that the way it is listed means Gruart Cot is her last name, Maria Lourdes is her first name, Maria Lourdes Gruart Cot. Could Cot be the name of a husband?
I know these are very common names in Hispanic culture, so I'm sure it is just a coincidence.
We know Lourdes' passport had expired, so I don't see how she could have relocated to Spain.
It would be nice to believe that she is safe in Spain, happily married and having discovered a career in Real Estate!
If it really were this Lourdes Gruart, however, I'm sure she would have contacted her family, unless there is much more to the story?
Not sure if posting a link is allowed, but if you are interested, google Gruart Cot Maria Lourdes and you will see what I am talking about.
Anyone here have connections in Spain?

I registered literally to post this (although I am a huge fan of unsolved mysteries etc).

I wondered if this could be her: https://identifyus.org/en/cases/9803

She has the right face/cheekbone structure and the timeline works. I don't have any way to contact Greene County to check though.

BarlowDale said:

I registered literally to post this (although I am a huge fan of unsolved mysteries etc).

I wondered if this could be her: https://identifyus.org/en/cases/9803

She has the right face/cheekbone structure and the timeline works. I don't have any way to contact Greene County to check though.

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Great find BarlowDale and so glad you joined!:loveyou:

I am not that familiar with forensics and wonder would her body have had time to fully skeletonize in less than two years? Just thinking out loud, I imagine it would have if left in a secluded area where wildlife and severe weather could come in to play. I see Greene County appears to be a straight shot up Rte 87 from NYC. I am not familiar with the process of contacting a case manager in this situation, but I would be glad to call. Does anyone else have experience with this ?

Great find. I would call it in, or if you're like me and not a phone person, at least email the regional case manager and go from there. Can't hurt.

[h=2]Local Contact[/h]
[h=2]Case Manager[/h]
[h=2]Regional Administrator[/h]

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IDK said:

Great find BarlowDale and so glad you joined!:loveyou:

I am not that familiar with forensics and wonder would her body have had time to fully skeletonize in less than two years? Just thinking out loud, I imagine it would have if left in a secluded area where wildlife and severe weather could come in to play. I see Greene County appears to be a straight shot up Rte 87 from NYC. I am not familiar with the process of contacting a case manager in this situation, but I would be glad to call. Does anyone else have experience with this ?

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jodierenee said:

Great find. I would call it in, or if you're like me and not a phone person, at least email the regional case manager and go from there. Can't hurt.

Local Contact

Name	Richard Vigilo
Agency	Greene Cnty Coroners Ofc
Phone	518-622-9503

Case Manager

Name	Daniel Mitchell
Phone	518-622-8600

Regional Administrator

Name	Lori Bruski
Email	Lori.Bruski@unthsc.edu
Phone	817-718-7904

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I will be able to call tomorrow and will let you know what they say.

Update here: I called the local contact who had no idea what I was talking about. I called and left a message for the case manager, Daniel Mitchell.
If I don't hear anything back in the next week or so I will call again/and or email the Regional Administrator