Walking to elementary school should be a safe morning routine for all children.
Nelida, at age nine, left her house on the morning of December 20, 1976 to do just that- walk to school.
Nelida was a third grader at William Blackstone Elementary in Boston, Massachusetts, and was in a bilingual class. She was shy and wouldn’t talk to anyone she didn’t know, so a walk to school should have been uneventful.
But something, or someone, prevented Nelida from arriving at her class that morning.
Soon, it was clear that Nelida had actually vanished on the way to school
Things were different in 1976. There weren’t RING Doorbell Cams and there wasn’t surveillance or traffic cams on every corner like today. No one had any idea what happened to Nelida that morning.
Two weeks after she disappeared, in early January 1977, authorities received a tip. The caller said that a man by the name of Anthony Rudy Flores had some of Nelida’s clothing.
When law enforcement investigated Anthony’s home, they discovered Nelida’s hat and gloves she had worn that morning she vanished. Anthony told authorities that he had found them on the streets.
Detectives did find a fake gun and a fake police badge in his possession. Nelida’s mother if these items were possibly used to lure her daughter.
Nelida was very shy, but her mother said she did believe that Nelida would trust a police officer if approached.
Law enforcement was suspicious but had nothing else to tie him to Nelida’s disappearance.
Coincidently, Anthony Flores was linked to another missing person case in New York City just two months prior.
Cesilia Pena vanished on her way home from school in October 1976. She was last seen on the New York subway.
Shortly after, a reported sighting came in of her, with a witness claiming that they saw her with a man named Anthony Rudy Flores and that he was taking her by the arm just yards away from her subway exit.
Anthony Flores lived in New York City at that time.
He claimed no knowledge of Cesilia’s disappearance, and there was no evidence (other than the witness) to tie him to Cesilia.
Cesilia Pena was just 14 years old when she went missing and her disappearance remains a missing person to this day.
The disappearance of Nelida haunted her family and her mother never gave up hope.
In January 1985, Nelida’s mother, Theodosia De Jesus said she saw her daughter’s picture in the apartment of a man named David Collins.
Authorities investigated the apartment and found pictures of 25 different girls. The unidentified photos were published in a local newspaper in an attempt to identify the girl’s pictures.
Collins had a criminal history that involved kidnapping and the sexual abuse of minors.
This brought a lot of attention to not only Nelida’s disappearance but others as well.
Sadly, the girl in the photo was identified and it was not Nelida.
Nelida vanished from a busy and populated area in South Boston.
Is it possible that she was lured away and no one noticed?
Nelida disappeared from Boston, Massachusetts on December 20, 1976. She was only nine years old then, and would today be 57.
Nelida is described as a Hispanic female, with brown hair, and brown eyes. Nelida’s ears are pierced. She speaks Spanish and limited English.
Her disappearance has been classified as a non-family abduction.
Anyone with any information on Nelida De Jesus Del Valle, please contact the Boston Police Department at 617–343–4200.
