CA CA - Kristen Modafferi, 18, San Francisco, 23 June 1997

[Caring1]

5 Unidentified Person Exclusions

 

[Jber]

I wish I was posting to convey some new info in this case, but sadly I am not.

I wasn’t aware of this case until a year or so ago, when I was reading something about the Kristen Smart case and Kristin Modaferri’s case was mentioned. The name seemed oddly familiar to me, so I did some searching online… and realized the name was familiar because I knew Kristen in middle school. I only attended that school for one year (my family moved after that), and we were not super close or anything - I remember a sleep over (a birthday party maybe?) and not much else specific. But when I saw one of the photos of Kristen (one in particular), it matched my recollection perfectly. I remember her being smart and kind.

Anyhow, it was very strange and sad to realize that someone I once knew is, remains, a missing person. My heart hurts for her family. It’s a case I’ll certainly be paying attention to, and I’ll be hoping for new information that brings answers for her family.

 

[geojeffrey]

There have been promising leads that lead nowhere useful apparently. it is SO HARD to believe that the 26th year anniversary of her disappearance is comiung up on June 23.

Will this case ever be solved?????

 

[austinhazel]

There have been promising leads that lead nowhere useful apparently. it is SO HARD to believe that the 26th year anniversary of her disappearance is comiung up on June 23.

Will this case ever be solved?????

It’s crazy to think that with everything we have see uncovered in this case and things that look pretty solid in terms of leads, this case is still unsolved a quarter century later. This case was having tips and leads coming in left and right when it was appearing on tv shows and the news, if it gets back in the spotlight hopefully someone finally comes forward

 

[Biggles]

An article about Kristen Modafferi's disappearance and the search for her was posted today on the SFGATE website.

This one always stuck with me because my girlfriend at the time (today my wife) flew out to SF to visit me exactly one week before Kristen went missing, on the 16th, and I drove up from Los Angeles. I had a relative with an apartment right off Golden Gate Park, giving us a place to stay. We actually spent a fair amount of time that week going up and down Geary - we'd park in the Sutro parking lot and hold hands and talk, and look down at the surf, and then we'd go back up Geary to my favourite Hakka cuisine restaurant, Ton Kiang (now gone - the Spruce St branch if anyone remembers it!) I have no reason to think we ever crossed paths with Kristen, and by Friday afternoon we were up in Marin County... but it was all so close on the heels of Kristen's disappearance that I've never forgotten her case.

The article says about the now-retired detective that "he hopes the case will soon be solved", and I sure hope that's true, but I can't say that I read anything therein that suggests a new lead...

 

[dotr]

An article about Kristen Modafferi's disappearance and the search for her was posted today on the SFGATE website.

This one always stuck with me because my girlfriend at the time (today my wife) flew out to SF to visit me exactly one week before Kristen went missing, on the 16th, and I drove up from Los Angeles. I had a relative with an apartment right off Golden Gate Park, giving us a place to stay. We actually spent a fair amount of time that week going up and down Geary - we'd park in the Sutro parking lot and hold hands and talk, and look down at the surf, and then we'd go back up Geary to my favourite Hakka cuisine restaurant, Ton Kiang (now gone - the Spruce St branch if anyone remembers it!) I have no reason to think we ever crossed paths with Kristen, and by Friday afternoon we were up in Marin County... but it was all so close on the heels of Kristen's disappearance that I've never forgotten her case.

The article says about the now-retired detective that "he hopes the case will soon be solved", and I sure hope that's true, but I can't say that I read anything therein that suggests a new lead...

Thank you for the romantic story and the link too!

https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/san-francisco-missing-person-kristen-modafferi-18415384.php

This photo shows Kristen Modafferi on a family trip to San Francisco in 1994.
Courtesy Modafferi Family




This is believed to be the last photograph of Kristen, taken by a coworker in an unknown art gallery space in SoMa, San Francisco, June 1997.
Courtesy Dennis Mahon

 

[ekardh]

I've recently seen a few posts from San Franciscans who vouch for the treachery of Land's End, one of whom even lost a friend there. I'm still inclined to believe that Kristen suffered an accidental fall, and her body was never recovered. I certainly don't rule out the possibility of foul play as an alternative, but all the stuff with Jon Onuma muddied the waters.

 

[Sonny Crockett]

I've recently seen a few posts from San Franciscans who vouch for the treachery of Land's End, one of whom even lost a friend there. I'm still inclined to believe that Kristen suffered an accidental fall, and her body was never recovered. I certainly don't rule out the possibility of foul play as an alternative, but all the stuff with Jon Onuma muddied the waters.

Agreed. When I first started looking into the case two years ago, I initially felt that KM very possibly was kidnapped/met with foul play/etc. And, yes - the lies by JO made all of this more "credible" & confused the investigation.

However, obviously not all missing person(s) cases involve crime. And, yes - the Land's End explanation makes a lot more sense, especially given the timing. I.e., it does sound like she intended to do some more sight-seeing after work that day (the last day she was seen). And, if she did go there by herself & had a mishap in that area due to the waves, etc. - there's a good chance no one saw anything.

I've never been there, but there has never been a mention of cameras in that Land's End area - or at least there don't seen to have been any in 1997.

 

[John/Jane Doe]

Kristen Deborah Modafferi – The Charley Project

 

[John/Jane Doe]

1864DFCA - Kristen Deborah Modafferi

 

[Markybug]

Is 1 female staying with 4 unknown males not unusual ? Have they kept their noses clean in the years since?
Could the blonde woman have been bait for a male predator (though i believe this extremely rare?)

 

[dotr]

1864DFCA - Kristen Deborah Modafferi

Thank you, from link..
''Added: 01-21-2006; Last Updated: 03/16/2024 - By: mc''

Name: Kristen Deborah Modafferi
Nickname/Alias: Unknown
Case Classification: Endangered Missing
Missing Since: June 23, 1997
Location Last Seen: San Francisco, San Francisco County, California

Physical Description​

Date of Birth: June 1, 1979
Age: 18 years old
Race: White
Gender: Female
Height: 5'6"
Weight: 140 lbs
Hair Color: Brown hair, below the shoulders in length
Eye Color: Brown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Dark eyebrows; distinct facial dimples

Identifiers​

Dentals: Available
Fingerprints: Available
DNA: Unknown

Clothing & Personal Items​

Clothing: Black t-shirt with Spinelli's Coffee Shop on it; tan slacks; dark blue plaid flannel shirt
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Dark green Jansport backpack with 2 library books in it

Circumstances of Disappearance​

Kristen Modafferi was last seen at the Crocker Galleria Mall in the downtown financial district of San Francisco, California on June 23, 1997. She had just finished her shift at Spinelli's Coffee Shop.

Kristen had clocked out at 15.00, but was seen 45 minutes later on the second floor of the Galleria walking with a blonde woman carrying a backpack. That was the last time Kristen Modafferi was seen.

Earlier, Kristen had asked a coworker for directions to Baker Beach, which is next to Land's End Beach. With the help of a bloodhound, police went to Land's End Beach where Kristen's scent was picked up and lost at the water's edge. They also traced her scent in the Crocker Galleria and lost it at the bus stop.

Kristen was a design student at North Carolina State University at the time of her disappearance. She had arrived in San Francisco where she planned to spend the summer. Within three days of arriving in San Francisco, Kristen took a job at Spinelli's Coffee Shop (now known as Tulley's). Within three weeks, she went missing.

She disappeared the day before she was to attend a photography course at the University of California at Berkeley.''

 

[dotr]

Re-post.

The search for Kristen Modafferi: 20 years later

<p>This month marks 20 years since a Charlotte teen disappeared while taking college courses in California.</p>

www.wsoctv.com

By Paul BoydJune 07, 2017
''Vass has volunteered his time and expertise to help the Modafferis. He told the family his team found human decomposition chemicals next to the home Kristen Modafferi was renting on Jayne Avenue.

The Modafferi family said Vass told them the DNA they were finding within these human decomposition chemicals was a match to Kristen Modafferi.

That doesn't mean Kristen Modafferi's body is there, but it may have been there all those years ago.

This is all new information to Oakland police investigating the case.

"We are working with our lab and contacting the people that the Modafferi family had do the work, so we can get a better understanding of how they did it," said Rodger Haley, who's leading the investigation.

He wants to know exactly what science is involved in order to move forward.

Channel 9 reported Vass recently contacted Oakland police and gave them a specific set of directives that should closely match the results he achieved with his technology.

"It's certainly a list of action items that the Oakland police can take and should take to move the investigation forward," said Bob Modafferi.

Oakland police said they are certainly hoping for a breakthrough in the case.''

 

[geojeffrey]

Thank you, from link..
''Added: 01-21-2006; Last Updated: 03/16/2024 - By: mc''

Name: Kristen Deborah Modafferi
Nickname/Alias: Unknown
Case Classification: Endangered Missing
Missing Since: June 23, 1997
Location Last Seen: San Francisco, San Francisco County, California

Physical Description​

Date of Birth: June 1, 1979
Age: 18 years old
Race: White
Gender: Female
Height: 5'6"
Weight: 140 lbs
Hair Color: Brown hair, below the shoulders in length
Eye Color: Brown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Dark eyebrows; distinct facial dimples

Identifiers​

Dentals: Available
Fingerprints: Available
DNA: Unknown

Clothing & Personal Items​

Clothing: Black t-shirt with Spinelli's Coffee Shop on it; tan slacks; dark blue plaid flannel shirt
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Dark green Jansport backpack with 2 library books in it

Circumstances of Disappearance​

Kristen Modafferi was last seen at the Crocker Galleria Mall in the downtown financial district of San Francisco, California on June 23, 1997. She had just finished her shift at Spinelli's Coffee Shop.

Kristen had clocked out at 15.00, but was seen 45 minutes later on the second floor of the Galleria walking with a blonde woman carrying a backpack. That was the last time Kristen Modafferi was seen.

Earlier, Kristen had asked a coworker for directions to Baker Beach, which is next to Land's End Beach. With the help of a bloodhound, police went to Land's End Beach where Kristen's scent was picked up and lost at the water's edge. They also traced her scent in the Crocker Galleria and lost it at the bus stop.

Kristen was a design student at North Carolina State University at the time of her disappearance. She had arrived in San Francisco where she planned to spend the summer. Within three days of arriving in San Francisco, Kristen took a job at Spinelli's Coffee Shop (now known as Tulley's). Within three weeks, she went missing.

She disappeared the day before she was to attend a photography course at the University of California at Berkeley.''

One correction to the post: Kristen did NOT actually clock out from work. She left her work station, but did not physically stamp her time card: was she distracted about something, or did she simply forget???