CA CA - Melissa Ann Espinoza, 12, Rancho Cordova, 1993

[Blue Girl1991]

Missing Since: December 2, 1993 from Rancho Cordova, California
Classification: Non-Family Abduction
Date Of Birth: September 23, 1981
Age: 12 years old
Height and Weight: 5'1, 125 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Descriptions: black Chicago Bulls jacket, a black low-cut blouse, black pants and black low-top Nike sneakers.
Distinguishing Characteristics: Hispanic female. Brown hair, brown eyes. Espinoza's hair was permed at the time of her 1993 disappearance. She has a homemade tattoo of a heart encircling the letter "M" near the thumb of one of her hands.
scars on both knees and a one-inch scar on her chin.

Melissa was last seen in her hometown of Rancho Cordova, California on December 2, 1993. She had an argument with her mother at 11:00 p.m. on December 1 and left the house angry. At 3:00 a.m., she was seen sitting on a car hood in the parking lot of an apartment complex on White Rock Road.

Melissa and her family had lived in the complex before January 1993, when there was a fire and they moved. The area around the White Rock Road complex was frequented by pimps and drug dealers in 1993 and was considered dangerous.

Melissa's parents are divorced. She had lived with her father and two older siblings in Sacramento, California in 1993, but moved in with her mother and younger brother a month before her disappearance. She has a history of running away after arguments, but had always returned within a short time.

Melissa was close to her brother at the time of her disappearance; he says she would have never been gone this long without contacting him. She also called her grandmother daily.

Melissa's brother stated he saw some suspicious people near her apartment in the days prior to her disappearance, and he believes they may have been involved in her case. No one has been charged in connection with her disappearance, however, and no one is named as a suspect.

Due to the lack of clues in Melissa's case, it is classified as a non-family abduction. She is considered to be missing under suspicious circumstances and foul play is suspected in her disappearance.

Contact details:
AGENCY: Sacramento Sheriff's Department
PHONE NUMBER: (916) 874-5467
CASE NUMBER: 93-90888

Melissa Ann Espinoza – The Charley Project
Melissa Ann Espinoza - from Oag.ca.gov

I would like to thank to the member SheWhoMustNotBeNamed
who brought in 2008 the details in the forum missing children in America- A profile, this was the first time that how I found about Melissa's disappearance.
Thank you to Whiskers16 who helped me to find out where to open the thread for Melissa.

CA - Melissa Ann Espinoza (12) - Rancho Cordova CA, 1993

I am praying for justice for Melissa and for her family,
I hope they bring Melissa home and the perp/perps will be punished after 25 years.

 

[Blue Girl1991]

An article about Melissa from her childhood friend

Crime Q&A: Any news of 12-year-old girl who disappeared from Rancho Cordova in 1993?

Her then 15-year-old brother told The Bee at the time that he had misgivings about some of the people he had seen Espinoza with near the Rancho Cordova apartment.
-----------------------------------------------
Q: There was a childhood friend that was missing from Rancho Cordova in the 1990s named Melissa Espinoza. She lived off Mills Tower Drive with her mother and siblings. I was wondering what happened.

RANCHO REPORTER, RANCHO CORDOVA

A: Melissa Ann Espinoza was 12 years old when she was reported missing in December 1993.

According to stories in The Sacramento Bee, she stormed out of the Coloma House apartment she shared with her mother and three younger children about 11 p.m. Dec. 1 following a heated argument with her mother. She was last seen several hours later sitting on the hood of a car in the parking lot of the White Rock Road complex.

Espinoza’s parents were divorced, and she had moved back to her mother’s Rancho Cordova residence about a month before her disappearance after living four months with her father and two older siblings in downtown Sacramento. Her then 15-year-old brother told The Bee at the time that he had misgivings about some of the people he had seen Espinoza with near the Rancho Cordova apartment.

She had run away before but had always returned home, and she had kept in daily contact with her grandmother.

Although sheriff’s detectives in the months following Espinoza’s disappearance said they considered it a high-priority case, they said they had few leads to pursue.

Espinoza would be 35 now. Her case is included on the Polly Klaas Foundation website and a number of other missing-person websites.

Another picture of Melissa

 

[Murder Inc]

Cordova Kidnapper

 

[Blue Girl1991]

Cordova Kidnapper

Thank you for the article Murder Inc,it is a possible option.I think another option is that a dangerous people from the neighborhood that Melissa was familiar with took her and killed her.

 

[Angel caraballo]

I think melissa looks similar to highland park jane doe.

 

[Pennysmom1]

Melissa Ann Espinoza – The Charley Project

• 
• 
• 
• 

Melissa, circa 1993; Age-progression to age 35 (circa 2016)

• Missing Since 12/02/1993
• Missing From Rancho Cordova, California
• Classification Non-Family Abduction
• Sex Female
• Race Hispanic
• Date of Birth 09/23/1981 (42)
• Age 12 years old
• Height and Weight 5'1, 125 pounds
• 
  
• Clothing/Jewelry Description A black Chicago Bulls jacket, a black low-cut blouse, black pants and black low-top Nike sneakers.
• 
  
• Distinguishing Characteristics Hispanic female. Brown hair, brown eyes. Melissa's hair was permed at the time of her 1993 disappearance, and she usually wore it tied in a ponytail and slicked back with gel. She has a a heart encircling the letter "M" carved near the thumb of one of her hands, scars on both knees and a one-inch scar on her chin.

Details of Disappearance​

Melissa was last seen in her hometown of Rancho Cordova, California on December 2, 1993. She had an argument with her mother at 11:00 p.m. on December 1 and left the house angry. At 3:00 a.m., she was seen sitting on a car hood in the parking lot of an apartment complex on White Rock Road.

Melissa and her family had lived in the complex before January 1993, when there was a fire and they moved. The area around the White Rock Road complex was frequented by pimps and drug dealers in 1993 and was considered dangerous.

Melissa's parents are divorced. She had lived with her father and two older siblings in Sacramento, California in 1993, but moved in with her mother and younger brother a month before her disappearance. She has a history of running away after arguments, but had always returned within a short time.

Melissa was close to her brother at the time of her disappearance; he says she would have never been gone this long without contacting him. She also called her grandmother daily.

Melissa's brother stated he saw some suspicious people near her apartment in the days prior to her disappearance, and he believes they may have been involved in her case. No one has been charged in connection with her disappearance, however, and no one is named as a suspect.

Due to the lack of clues in Melissa's case, it is classified as a non-family abduction. She is considered to be missing under suspicious circumstances and foul play is suspected in her disappearance.

Investigating Agency​

• Sacramento County Sheriff's Office
• 916-874-5115
• 916-874-5467

Source Information​

• The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
• The Polly Klaas Foundation
• The Sacramento Bee
• California Attorney General's Office
• NamUs

Updated 7 times since October 12, 2004. Last updated June 16, 2017; age-progression updated.

 

[Pennysmom1]

783DFCA - Melissa Ann Espinoza

3 Left: Espinoza, circa 1993; Right: Age-progression to 28 years (circa 2010)

 

[John/Jane Doe]

Melissa Ann Espinoza – The Charley Project