Cynthia Day: Story featured on another blog

Hopefully the writer does not mind me reposting it here. It is a very thorough and well done story, and there was much that I did not know before. They included a description of Cynthia, phone numbers for contact information, and even the address of her website. The one more thing they could have included was a picture.

The date on the page was July 8, so it is probably quite up-to-date.

Story from http://investigation.discovery.com/blogs/criminal-report/missing-person/cynthia_louise_day-02.html:

The Missing - A Weekly exposé of Lost Souls - Issue #19
In this week's
edition of "The Missing," we revisit the mysterious disappearance of Cynthia
Louise Day, a 38-year-old resident of East St. Louis, Illinois, who went missing
on Aug. 10, 1990.
"I was 18-years-old and fresh out of high school when my
mom disappeared," Cynthia's daughter, Melody, said in a telephone interview with
Investigation Discovery. "On the day she went missing my sister, Kimberly, had
just come home from the hospital with her son. My mom was excited, so my sister
and I went over to her house so she could get to know her new grandbaby. My mom
took him around and proudly introduced him to all the neighbors. We had a good
time. We did not know it when we left, but that would prove to be the last time
that we ever saw her."
Approximately one week later, Melody and Kimberly
became concerned because they had not heard from their mother. It was unlike her
to stay out of contact for such a long period of time, so the girls decided to
go check on her. To their surprise, their mother, along with her boyfriend of
seven years, had vanished. In addition, all of their possessions were also
gone.
"My mother was into beauty and fashion and everything – clothes,
makeup, perfumes – was all gone" Melody said, adding, "We did not even find a
single toothbrush."
Both girls were young at the time and neither of them had
any idea what to do, so they went to the East St. Louis Police Department and
filed a missing person report. It was their hope that the police, people they
felt were skilled and knowledgeable in missing person cases, would be able to
uncover the mystery of their mother's disappearance.
"With each year that
passed by, I just assumed that the police were investigating the case," Melody
said. "I would call them whenever I heard they had found a body and would check
to see if it was my mom, but they always said it was not her. Then, in 2004,
when I needed a police report to get the website going and all this stuff, I
discovered that they had never even opened a case. We resolved the issue but
from that day forward I decided to do everything in my power to find out what
happened to my mother."
As part of her own investigation, Melody went back to
the neighborhood where her mother had lived and discovered that many of her
mom's old neighbors suspected that Cynthia's boyfriend had something to do with
her disappearance. This was something that Cynthia's daughters had also
considered because, according to Melody, their mother had allegedly voiced her
unhappiness about the relationship the last time they spoke. In addition, there
was another incident that had occurred prior to Cynthia's disappearance, which
her daughters found troubling.
"Sometime before they went missing, my uncle
Wayne supposedly shot himself in front of my mom and her boyfriend," Melody
said. "The entire thing is strange and my family is convinced that Wayne did not
commit suicide. We think that something happened to him and that my mom
witnessed it."
The case took another unusual twist about five years ago, when Melody
discovered her mom's boyfriend was being held in a California Prison. She cannot
recall the exact charges but said she believes they had to do with an armed
robbery.
"He never once contacted us to tell us that our mom was not with
him," Melody said. "Why didn't he say, 'where's my old lady, where's your
mom?'"
According to Melody, an officer in California questioned her mom's
ex-boyfriend but he claimed to have no knowledge of what happened to
her.
"The officer in California who questioned him told me he is convinced
this guy did something to both my mom and my uncle," Melody said. "He gave my
local police department permission to come down there and question the guy but
they said they did not have the money. I offered to buy the plane tickets myself
but they would not take me up on the offer."
The boyfriend was paroled from
prison two years ago and to date Illinois investigators have yet to question
him.
"Getting the cops to do something is like pulling teeth," Melody said.
"I've been the detective on this case for a long time. Two plus two equals four
and if the police had done their job they would have had this case solved a long
time ago. To know that the cops are not doing anything is frustrating. They take
more interest in an animal stuck in a tree than a missing person. We know my
mother is not alive, we just want to put her to rest whatever way we
can."
When asked what she would like to say to her mother, Melody
responded:
"I love and miss you so much. I am still looking for you all these
years later and will continue to look for you until I find you. You have a
beautiful family that is still hopeful. We will do whatever we can to keep your
memory alive."
Yesterday, Investigation Discovery contacted East St. Louis
police Capt. Lenzie Stewart and asked him if he could provide any information on
the case. Stewart had this to say:
"At this particular time we don't have
very much going for that. We have elicited the Illinois State Police to help us
… What has happened there is we have got DNA from the family members and we are
trying to run that through our database to see if we get any pop-ups on any Jane
Does we have found … I am not actively investigating the case and cannot answer
any further questions at this time."
Stewart referred further questions to
the investigator who is handling the case for the Illinois State Police; however
that investigator was unavailable for comment.
Cynthia Louise Day, nickname
"Peaches," would be 55-years-old today. She is described as a white female, 5'2"
tall, 125 lbs., with blonde hair and blue eyes. She has a hysterectomy scar and
is missing an eye tooth on the left side. Anyone with information is asked to
call the East St. Louis Police Department (Case # ES-04-06787) at 618-482-6724
or the Illinois State Police at 618-346-3781.
For more information or to
help, please visit: http://www.findcynthia.com/.

Also, according to the latest posts on Cynthia's guestbook, her flyer will be displayed at a missing persons' rally in Waterbury, Connecticut, on August 23. She is also one of the missing persons being honored in the making of a special quilt, which will also be at the rally.

Cynthia's MySpace page: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=72102351

Cynthia's guestbook: http://www.findcynthia.com/cgi-bin/guestbook.cgi

You can print a poster of Cynthia at http://www.theyaremissed.org/ncma/gallery/ncmaprofile_all.php?A200401797S.

CUE Center's 2008 On the Road to Remember Tour update

Among the many missing persons (and a few homicide victims) who are being included in the tour are a few that have been posted on this blog: Audrey May Herron (from Catskill, New York), Audrey Lyn Nerenberg (from Brooklyn, New York), William "Billy" Smolinski, Jr. (Waterbury, Connecticut), Cynthia Day (East Saint Louis, Illinois), and Jason Jolkowski (Omaha, Nebraska). In total there are 110 missing people and six murder victims featured.

So far there are stops planned in the states of North Carolina, West Virginia, New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Maryland, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, and Tennessee.

For a complete list of both stops and featured people, as well as some background information on the event, see http://www.angelsthatcare.org/OTRT__List_and_Info.doc.

Note: Locations for missing people are according to those given in the document, so they may different from what is stated elsewhere on this blog.

Samantha Kibalo now missing 7 years, Suffern, New York

Here is an account of Samantha's story from the Unsolved Mysteries website (http://www.unsolved.com/0208-Kibalo.html):

WANTED
ANN KIBALO
AGE: 39
DOB: 3/25/63
HEIGHT: 5'0"
WEIGHT: 120 pounds
HAIR: Brown
EYES: Blue
ALIASES: Ann Yermak, Ann Saul, Ann Kaplan
MISSING
SAMANTHA KIBALO
AGE: 3 1/2
DOB: 1/1/99
HEIGHT: 2'9"
WEIGHT: 22 pounds
HAIR: Light Brown
EYES: Brown
Broadcast Date: June 24, 2002
SYNOPSIS: Ann and Mike Kibalo married after dating for nine months. Only
one thing was missing to make their lives complete - a child. Two and a half
years after they were married, Ann gave birth to Samantha and the couple brought
her home to Suffern, New York. But their joy was short-lived. According to Mike,
Ann began behaving erratically almost immediately. She allegedly began yelling
at Mike saying that she didn't need him anymore. The following afternoon, Mike
returned home from work to find all the furniture missing. They baby's room was
also completely cleaned out. Mike called his mother-in-law. He claims Ann
answered the phone and told him the marriage was over and that he would never
see their daughter again. According to Mike, Ann told him that she had called
the police and reported that Mike beat her up and that he was also harming
Samantha. Police later determined that there was no evidence of abuse. Mike
Kibalo sued for divorce and sole custody of Samantha. As the divorce case weaved
through the legal system Ann was ordered by the court to share custody of
Samantha with Mike.
After a weeklong visit with Ann, Mike said Samantha was
returned to him with bruises on her face. Mike immediately took Samantha to the
family pediatrician. The doctor said that the bruise was three to five days old
- which means that it most likely occurred while Samantha was with her mother. A
court-appointed psychiatrist was assigned to evaluate Mike and Ann's fitness as
parents. While no determination was made as to how Samantha got the bruises, the
psychiatrist concluded that there was something odd in the way Ann was treating
her daughter. Over a span of 11 months Ann took Samantha to 7 doctors on 33
occasions. She also reportedly hired 23 lawyers and 11 psychiatrists - according
to some, a classic behavior of a person suffering from Munchausen's Syndrome by
Proxy. The final diagnosis was that Ann had a severe personality disorder with a
mixture of traits from several disorders. Soon Mike Kibalo was awarded full
custody of Samantha.
But the ordeal was far from over. Ann had appealed the
court ruling and she still had a right to see her child. The day before the
court made it's final decision on the appeal, Mike brought Samantha to the
police station for a scheduled overnight visit with Ann. Mike returned the
following day to pick up his daughter but Ann never showed up. All efforts to
find them have failed, leaving Mike Kibalo's life in ruins. Mike fears that his
daughter is in grave danger.
Two months later, police discovered Anne's SUV
abandoned in a Brooklyn parking garage. But a search of the vehicle provided no
clues as to Ann or Samantha's whereabouts. Both have been missing since February
of 2001. Samantha Kibalo would now be three years old. She has light brown hair
and brown eyes. Ann Kibalo is wanted for kidnapping and unlawful flight to avoid
prosecution. Authorities believe she may be traveling with her red Tibetan
terrier named Vodka. She may also be in contact with medical professionals.
If you have any information on the whereabouts of Samantha or Ann Kibalo,
please contact the Rockland County Sheriff's Department, the FBI, or call the
Unsolved Mysteries hotline, 1-800-876-5353.

The numbers for the Rockland County Sheriff's Office are (845) 638-5400 or (845) 638-5440.

Samantha and her mother may be in New York City; Palm Beach County, Florida; Boynton Beach, Florida; Illinois; or New Hampshire. There were also possible sightings of them in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 2006.

You can print a poster of Samantha of http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/PubCaseSearchServlet?act=viewPoster&caseNum=904495&orgPrefix=NCMC&searchLang=en_US.

Photos on left from Unsolved Mysteries. Age progression of Samantha from her poster.

Cynthia Day now missing 17 years, National City, Illinois

As I started writing this post, I ran Cynthia's name through a Google News search. There were so many results that I had to add the word "missing", in order to make sure it returned results on the right person. I did not think there had been any news on her in the past year, but it turned out I was wrong.

Her name came up in articles from last September about a DNA database that is being created by the Illinois state police. The database will include DNA from families of missing people and from six unidentified bodies found in the St. Louis, Missouri, area. (National City is close to St. Louis, and Cynthia's place of disappearance is also listed as East St. Louis.) Cynthia's daughters both submitted DNA for the database. (You can read more about it on her thread at http://www.crimeandjustice.us/forums/index.php?showtopic=9239.)

Cynthia is also featured on the May page of this year's Find Missing Printable Calendar (see http://beautifulpoems.tripod.com/id18.html).

Cynthia's story from http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/d/day_cynthia.html:

Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance
Missing Since: August 10, 1990
from National City, Illinois
Classification: Missing
Date of Birth:
November 11, 1952
Age: 37 years old
Height and Weights: 5'2, 125 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian female. Blonde hair, blue eyes.
Day is missing a canine tooth on the left side of her mouth. She has a scar on
her lip and a hysterectomy scar on her abdomen, and her ears are pierced. Her
nickname is Peaches. Day has previously fractured her pelvic bone.

Details of Disappearance
Day was last seen at a Washrack in in the
vicinity of the 100 block of St. Clair Avenue in National City, Illinois on
August 10, 1990. She was getting into a semi truck at the time. She has never
been heard from again. Her family filed a missing persons report with the East
St. Louis, Illinois police department on August 12, but law enforcement did not
begin to actually investigate Day's disappearance until 2004.
Day's family
believes her ex-boyfriend may have been involved in her disappearance, but he
maintains his innocence and has not been charged in her case. He is currently
incarcerated for an unrelated crime. Day may have been involved with
prostitution and/or drugs at the time of her 1990 disappearance. Her case
remains unsolved.

Investigating Agency
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
East St. Louis Police Department
618-482-6724
OR
618-781-7934
OR
Cleveland Police Department
216-621-1234

Cynthia's website: http://www.findcynthia.com/index.htm
Guestbook for messages to Cynthia's family: http://www.findcynthia.com/cgi-bin/guestbook.cgi
Cynthia's MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/findcynthialday
Blog: http://findcynthiasafe.blogspot.com/

You can print a poster of Cynthia at http://www.theyaremissed.org/ncma/gallery/ncmaprofile_all.php?A200401797S.



Photo and age progression of Cynthia from the Charley Project.

Samantha Kibalo: New age progression

Hopefully this will increase Samantha's chances of being found safe; she has been missing for six years and five and a half months now.

Some possible locations where Samantha and her mother might be are Santa Fe, New Mexico (possible sightings of them there); New York City (her mom's car was found in Brooklyn); Illinois; New Hampshire; Palm Beach County, Florida; or Boynton Beach, Florida.

From Samantha's poster:

Family Abduction
SAMANTHA KIBALO
DOB: Jan 1, 1999
Missing: Feb 3, 2001
Age Now: 8
Sex: Female
Race: White
Hair: Lt. Brown
Eyes: Brown
Height: 2'9" (84 cm)
Weight: 22 lbs (10 kg)
Missing From:
SUFFERN
NY
United States
Age Progressed
ANN
KIBALO
Abductor
DOB: Mar 25, 1963
Sex: Female
Race: White
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Blue
Height: 5'0" (152 cm)
Weight: 120 lbs (54 kg)
Samantha's photo is shown age-progressed
to 8 years. She was abducted by her non-custodial mother, Ann Kibalo. An FBI
warrant for Kidnapping was issued for the abductor on January 15, 2002. They may
be traveling with a 12 pound red mini Tibetan Spaniel dog. The abductor may use
eyeglasses while driving. The abductor may seek treatment for a dental condition
and may frequent medical facilities and doctor's offices with Samantha.

ANYONE HAVING INFORMATION SHOULD CONTACT
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
1-800-843-5678 (1-800-THE-LOST)
Rockland County Sheriff's Office (New
York) - 1-845-638-5400 or Your Local FBI

You can print your own poster of Samantha here.

Jason Jolkowski: Rally article

A few days ago, I had mentioned that Jason Jolkowski was going to be included in the CUE Center's Road to Remember Tour 2007. Here is an article on the rally that was held.

It sounds as if it was successful; now if only Jason and Jesse could be found!

Article from http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2798&u_sid=10042595. Photo of Jason from his website.

Published Thursday June 14, 2007
Missing people's stories told at ceremony
BY LEIA BAEZ
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
Kelly and Jim Jolkowski aren't giving
up.
Wednesday marked six years since they last saw their son, Jason Jolkowski,
then 19, when he left their Benson area home to walk to work.
More than 50 people attended a ceremony Wednesday night at Holy Name
Catholic Church to commemorate the day, which Mayor Mike Fahey declared Omaha
Missing Persons Day.
Project Jason, founded by the Jolkowski family, sponsored the event where
community members prayed and listened to stories from families of missing
persons.
"Things are going very good for Project Jason," Kelly Jolkowski said. "We
have had national recognition in many ways.
"Awareness is key."
Jolkowski said her toughest challenge has been living day to day not
knowing what happened to her son.
Through Project Jason however, she is able to show support to other
families of missing people and receive support in return.
The Cue Center, a nonprofit organization based in North Carolina that
provides assistance for families of the missing, included the Omaha event as a
stop on its fourth annual "On the Road to Remember Tour."
Monica Caison, founder of the organization, said it's important for
families of missing persons never to give up, but also to maintain a healthy
lifestyle for themselves.
The tour, which runs through June 21, will cover 2,400 miles, making 22
stops in 11 states and raising awareness for 75 missing person cases.
Don and Donna Ross of Belton, Mo., traveled to the Omaha event to show
support and raise awareness for their missing son, 20-year-old Jesse Ross.
Jesse Ross, who was a sophomore at the University of Missouri-Kansas City,
vanished Nov. 21, 2006, after attending a conference in Chicago. After a dance,
Jesse was seen heading to his hotel room, a 10-minute walk. He never made
it.
"Seven months later we are still hoping for word," Don Ross said. "Thanks
to (Project Jason), Jesse's story has been heard nationwide."

If you know anything about the disappearance of Jason Anthony Jolkowski, please call the Omaha Police Department at (402) 444-5657 or Omaha Crimestoppers at (402) 444-STOP.

Jason's website: http://members.cox.net/prayersandposters/

Jason's guestbook: http://pub36.bravenet.com/guestbook/show.php?usernum=3085091876

You can print a poster of Jason at http://www.theyaremissed.org/ncma/gallery/ncmaprofile_all.php?A200301135W.

Jason is one of the missing people you can "adopt" through Project Jason's Adopt a Missing Person program. For more information, visit http://projectjason.org/adopt.html.

To learn more about Jesse Ross, please visit http://boards.courttv.com/showthread.php?threadid=280760 and http://www.amw.com/missing_persons/brief.cfm?id=42565.

Project Jason website: http://www.projectjason.org/

For more information about the "Road to Remember Tour", including a schedule of stops, visit http://angelsthatcare.blogspot.com/2007/06/on-road-to-remember.html.

Samantha Kibalo now missing 6 years, Suffern, New York

There was a possible development in Samantha's case last year (see details below), so maybe this could be the magic year when she is finally found.
From the Charley Project:

Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance
Missing Since: February 3, 2001 from Suffern, New York
Classification: Family Abduction
Date Of Birth: January 1, 1999
Age: 2 years old
Height and Weight: 2'9, 22 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian female. Light brown hair,
brown eyes. Samantha may use the alias last names Yermak, Saul, and/or Kaplan.

Details of Disappearance
Samantha was last seen in Suffern, New York
on February 3, 2001. She was abducted by her non-custodial mother, Ann Yermak
Kibalo, during a court-ordered overnight vistation. Samantha's father, Michael
Kibalo, has had custody of her since she was almost a year old. He was given
custody after court testimony that Ann had hit the child and had taken her to
seven different doctors 33 times in the eleven months since her birth.
Photographs and vital statistics for Ann are posted below this case summary.
A Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) warrant for kidnapping was issued for
her on January 15, 2002. She also has warrants for her arrest on charges of
unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, custodial interference, and unauthorized
use of a motor vehicle. Her last known address was in New Hyde Park, New York.
Ann and Samantha were originally traveling in a black four-door 1996 Suzuki
Sidekick Sport with a gold-colored bumper and New York license plates. It has
was recovered in a parking garage in the New York City borough of Brooklyn two
months after the Kibalos disappeared. They may be accompanied by a 12-pound red
miniature Tibetan Spaniel or Tibetan Terrier dog named Vodka. They may frequent
doctor's offices and other medical facilities. Ann and Samantha may be with an
adult female relative. They may be in the New York City, New York area, or in
Palm Beach County or Boynton Beach, Florida; Illinois; or New Hampshire. In
2006, there were sightings of them reported in Santa Fe, New Mexico, but the
reports have not been confirmed.
Samantha is believed to be at risk; her
mother may have been abusing her prior to her disappearance. Ann may suffer from
Munchausen's Syndrome by Proxy, which would cause her to harm Samantha and/or
subject her to unnecessary medical treatment. Michael now lives in New Jersey
and is actively searching for his daughter. He believes Ann may be homeschooling
the child, as he cannot find evidence that she is enrolled in school anywhere.
Samantha's case remains unsolved.

Ann Yermak Kibalo
Left and Center: Ann Yermak Kibalo; Right: Age-progression to age 40 (circa
2003)
Date of Birth: March 25, 1963
Age: 37 years old
Height and Weight: 5'0, 115 - 120 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian female. Brown hair, blue eyes.
Ann wears eyeglasses while driving. She may use the last names Yermak, Saul,
and/or Kaplan. Ann may have cut her hair short and dyed it blonde. She has an
accounting degree from Brooklyn College and has previously worked in that field.
Medical Conditions: Ann has a dental condition and may seek medical
treatment for it. She is mentally unstable; she has a severe personality
disorder and several traits from other disorders, and may suffer from
Munchausen's Syndrome by Proxy, which could cause her to harm Samantha. Ann is
classified as disabled.

Investigating Agency
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Rockland County Sheriff's Office
845-638-5400
OR
845-638-5440

You can also call your local FBI office or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678).
You can print a poster of Samantha here.

Cynthia Day got her articles!

Almost a month ago, I asked readers to help try to get media coverage for a woman named Cynthia Day, who went missing from National City, Illinois, 16 years ago. I had been hoping it would come around the anniversary of her disappearance--August 10--and it seemed like a failure. However, I am now happy to report that she did in fact get media coverage two weeks later. It might not have been due to what we did, as I know her family was going to work on getting her coverage, too, but the important thing is that people in the area have now heard her story.
The two articles have different tones, and both have information I don't remember hearing before.
Article from http://www.ksdk.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=102470:

Family Still Searching For Answers 16 Years Later
created: 8/24/2006 7:46:16 PM
updated: 8/24/2006 7:50:34 PM

VIDEO
Click to watch Deanne Lane's report.

By Deanne Lane(KSDK) - Imagine a loved one
disappearing and not knowing where they are or even if they're alive or dead.
Imagine living that nightmare every second of every waking day for the last 16
years. A southern Illinois woman has been missing since 1990.
Cynthia Day, 53, was last seen in National City in August of that year. At
the time, her family filed a missing persons report with East St. Louis Police
Department. But the department reportedly never opened the case and never
established a file on Cynthia Day until 2004 when the family demanded
answers.
"East St. Louis police say they're not equipped to handle cold cases, so
I'm the cold case investigator," said daughter Melody Day of Dupo.
Melody has written articles about her mother in national publications and
has established a website with an age enhanced photo of her mother.
"Any news, any information would bring us some peace," said Melody.East St.
Louis police say they will contact Illinois State Police when and if they get a
break.
There are conflicting reports as to what happened to Cynthia Day. One
source said she was into drugs and prostitution and was last seen getting into a
semi-truck.
Her family disagrees.
They believe she may have gotten into a fight with a boyfriend -- a fight
which ended her life.
If you have any information in the disappearance, contact the East St.
Louis Police Department at 618-482-6767.

The second article is contains the "conflicting reports", giving it a darker tone. It comes from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

Women seek mother missing 16 years
By Denise Hollinshed
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
08/24/2006
EAST ST. LOUIS
Police are seeking the help of the public to find a mother who has been
missing for 16 years.
The woman, Cynthia Day, was living at 206 Bowman Avenue in East St. Louis
at the time of her disappearance, according to police. She was 38, about 5 feet
2 inches, 125 pounds, had blond hair and went by the nickname "Peaches." She had
a hysterectomy scar, pierced ears and a missing eyetooth on the left side.
Day's daughter, Melody Day of Dupo, said she and her sister, Kimberly Day
of Cahokia, reported their mother missing on Aug. 12, 1990. They heard nothing
from the police after the initial report, they said.
East St. Louis police
Capt. Lenzie Stewart said the department's files do not show that a report was
filed in 1990. He said an officer might have asked them to return later with an
older family member.
Melody Day disputed Stewart's explanation but said she did file a second
report in March 2004. A detective was assigned to the case at that time but has
turned up little.
The mother was last seen getting into a semi on First Street and St. Clair
Avenue in East St. Louis, said Melody Day, who added that she also had heard
that her mother may have been a prostitute and used drugs.
Since then, Day has taken on the job of investigating the case herself. She
searched the Internet and ran across stories on the so-called "happy face
killer," a trucker who killed women along the interstate and sent letters to
newspapers signed with a happy face. At this point, though, there is no known
connection between the "happy face killer" and Cynthia Day's
disappearance.
"I'm trying to cover all bases," she said. "It's like we don't know what
happened to her, but just finding her and putting her soul to rest, that's what
we are trying to do."
Day discovered that her mother's ex-boyfriend was in jail and had him
questioned by the head investigator in California's Wasco State Prison. She said
they even gave East St. Louis police permission to come there to interrogate
him.
"I was even willing to buy an airline ticket to fly one of them down
there," she said. "I'm serious. Their excuse is that they don't have a 'cold
case team' down there, but before, it was that they didn't have the money to fly
down there."
Stewart said Cynthia Day's old boyfriend probably needs to be interviewed
again. But, he said, his department lacks the staff and the resources to
properly investigate Day's disappearance.
He said the Illinois State Police has an investigator assigned to cold
cases and the resources to investigate Day's disappearance. Some information on
the case already has been forwarded to the State Police.
Greg Fernandez, a State Police spokesman, said late Wednesday that the case
would be looked at - if there are leads worth pursuing.
Stewart said an old police report indicates that Cynthia Day was staying
with her boyfriend at the Indian Mound Hotel in Fairmont City.
Stewart said the officer who worked the case after the 2004 report was
filed said he had talked to the owner of a tavern, Perry's Lounge in East St.
Louis, where Cynthia Day used to work.
The tavern owner, John Perry, said he couldn't remember the year or date
that he saw Day getting into the semi, according to Stewart.
Perry "said it went eastward, and he never saw her again," Stewart
said.
Anyone with information is urged to call 618-482-6700. In addition, Melody
Day has set up a website called www.findcynthia.com with information about her
mother.

You can print a poster of Cynthia at http://www.theyaremissed.org/ncma/gallery/ncmaprofile_all.php?A200401797S.
You can leave messages for Cynthia's family at http://www.findcynthia.com/cgi-bin/guestbook.cgi.
Cynthia's family has also set up a MySpace profile to help find her, http://www.myspace.com/findcynthialday.

Photo and age progression of Cynthia from her website.

Cynthia Day now missing 16 years, National City, Illinois

Update (Sept. 3): While it may not be connected to efforts from this blog, on August 24, two different media outlets in St. Louis, KSDK NewsChannel 5 and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, ran stories on Cynthia. To read them, follow the links.
This week I hoped that Cynthia L. Day could get some media coverage, too. I emailed one newspaper, two TV stations, and two radio stations, all in the St. Louis area, in hopes I could help get that for her. I knew it was a long shot, but I still thought it could work. I put "local missing woman" in the subject line, to try to get their attention. I invited all the readers of this blog to help, too. Hopefully, some of you did, and I thank you if you were one of them. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to have worked. At least, I haven't found any yet. (If you have, please let me know.) Maybe I should have emailed sooner. (I only did on August 7, three days beforehand.) Maybe there weren't enough of us. Maybe I should have marked the email "urgent". Maybe they didn't think it would do any good, since she's been gone so long. Whatever the reason, whatever the excuse, it doesn't change that Cynthia's daughters, Melody and Kim, have spent 16 years without knowing what happened to her. Her story on The Charley Project, a website which covers missing people who have been gone for longer than six months, is shorter than most, probably just because not much is known. But here it is (profile at http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/d/day_cynthia.html):

Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance
Missing Since: August 10, 1990
from National City, Illinois
Classification: Missing
Date of Birth:
November 11, 1952
Age: 37 years old
Height and Weights: 5'2, 125 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Blonde hair, blue eyes. Day is missing a
canine tooth on the left side of her mouth. She has a scar on her lip and a
hysterectomy scar on her abdomen. Her nickname is Peaches. Day has previously
fractured her pelvic bone.

Details of Disappearance
Day was last seen
at a Washrack in in the vicinity of the 100 block of St. Clair Avenue in
National City, Illinois on August 10, 1990. She has never been heard from again.
Few details are available in her case.
Some agencies state that Day
disappeared from East St. Louis, Illinois or Fairmont City, Illinois. She is
from East St. Louis and that city's police are investigating her case.

Investigating Agency If you have any information concerning this case,
please contact:
East St. Louis Police Department
618-482-6724
OR
618-781-7934
OR
Cleveland Police Department
216-621-1234

But that doesn't tell you much. Like, for instance, the fact she was a mom--and a grandma. Or of the struggle to get Cynthia some news coverage, which I have now had a bit of a firsthand experience with. Kelly Jolkowski, founder of Project Jason and mother of missing Nebraska man Jason Jolkowski, documented this well in a blog entry called "Ten Seconds for Mom". (Read it at http://voice4themissing.blogspot.com/2005/09/91205-ten-seconds-for-mom.html.)

Cynthia's website, http://www.findcynthia.com, has the two pictures above, other photos, letters, poems, a copy of a newspaper article from two years ago, flyers....Check it out!
Her family has also set up a MySpace profile to help find her, http://www.myspace.com/findcynthialday. Recently, there have been stories of MySpace being used for good (instead of just the common stories about its connections to crime), so hopefully this can be another one of those times! Some other missing people's families have set up MySpace sites, too. (Some of them are included as "friends" on Cynthia's page.)
You can leave a message for Cynthia's family at http://www.findcynthia.com/cgi-bin/guestbook.cgi.

You can print a poster of Cynthia at http://www.theyaremissed.org/ncma/gallery/ncmaprofile_all.php?A200401797S.


Banner available under the "Links" section of Cynthia's site. You can get the HTML coding to put it onto your own website.

Would you like to make a difference?

Update (Sept. 3): While it may not be connected to efforts from this blog, on August 24, two of the media outlets below, KSDK NewsChannel 5 and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, ran stories on Cynthia. To read them, follow the links.
Update (Sept. 18): Yolanda Bindics' body was found on September 10, 2006.
Hopefully your answer is yes!
This Thursday, August 10, will mark the anniversary of the disappearances of two missing moms. One of them, Yolanda Bindics of Jamestown, New York, I have posted about before, and I am pretty confident that she will continue to get the local media attention she deserves. The other, Cynthia Day, has been missing for longer, and she has not been as blessed. She was last seen in back in 1990 in National City, Illinois (a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri). One of Cynthia's daughters had emailed me a while ago asking me to post about her here, and although I may have heard her name before, that is when she first came to my attention.
So, what if Cynthia could have a shot at exposure? What if she could get some of the long overdue media coverage around the anniversary of her disappearance? What if you could help make that happen?
My idea is a simple email campaign, asking media outlets in St. Louis to do stories on Cynthia this week. Here are the five I have emailed, but you can always do more:
the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (newspaper): metro@post-dispatch.com
KMOV-TV 4: news@kmov.com
KMOX 1120 AM (radio): kmoxnews@kmox.com
KSDK NewsChannel 5: newstips@ksdk.com
KMWU 90.7 FM (radio): news@kwmu.org
Not sure what to say? Feel free to personalize a copy of my message:

Hello. This Thursday, August 10, will mark the 16th anniversary of the
disappearance of an East St. Louis woman named Cynthia Day. She was last seen in
National City, Illinois. Could you please do a story about her around that time,
if you were not already planning to do so? There does not seem to be a lot of
information about her case, and who knows whether a story about her could jog
someone's memory and help solve the case? Could you also please include at least
one photo of her with your story, since pictures are proven to be a great help
in recovering missing people? Photos of her, including an age progression of
what she might look like today, are available at her website,
http://www.findcynthia.com. You can also read more about her story at
http://voice4themissing.blogspot.com/2005/09/91205-ten-seconds-for-mom.html.
Please consider doing a story on her. It would mean so much to her family, since
it sounds like she does not get much media coverage. Thank you for your time.

Obviously, it will have to be a little different when you email the radio stations, since they cannot air pictures! I asked them to include a physical description.

I will try to leave this up for the next few days and put other posts on hold. But I'll be back on Thursday with anniversary posts on Yolanda and Cynthia, and hopefully our campaign will be successful and I'll have articles to post for both of these ladies! Also, if you belong to a missing persons forum, or you have your own missing persons website or blog, feel free to post on Cynthia and invite others to help. For things like this, it is definitely a case of "the more the merrier".

To see an article that was done about Cynthia in the past, visit http://www.findcynthia.com/images/paperpost.gif. It was around her 52nd birthday, which would have been November 11, 2004. Other than that it sounds like she has not gotten much media attention. Maybe together we can change that!

Samantha Kibalo now missing 5 years from Suffern, New York

Last Friday, February 3, marked five years since a little girl named Samantha Kibalo was abducted by her non-custodial mother.
Photos from top to bottom: Samantha around the time she disappeared; what she might have looked like at age 6; Samantha's mother; what Samantha's mother might have looked like two years after the abduction.
Info and photos from the Charley Project (http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/k/kibalo_samantha.html):

Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance
Missing Since: February 3,
2001 from Suffern, New York
Classification: Family Abduction
Date Of
Birth: January 1, 1999
Age: 2 years old
Height and Weight: 2'9, 22
pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Light brown hair, brown eyes.
Samantha may use the alias last names Yermak, Saul, and/or Kaplan.

Details of Disappearance
Samantha was last seen in Suffern, New York
on February 3, 2001. She was abducted by her non-custodial mother, Ann Yermak
Kibalo, during a court-ordered vistation. Samantha's father has custody of her.
Photographs and vital statistics for Ann are posted below this case summary.
A Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) warrant for kidnapping was issued for
her on January 15, 2002. She also has warrants for her arrest on charges of
unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, custodial interference, and unauthorized
use of a motor vehicle. Her last known address was in New Hyde Park, New York.
Ann and Samantha were originally traveling in a black four-door 1996 Suzuki
Sidekick Sport with a gold-colored bumper and New York license plates. It has
since been recovered in a parking garage in the New York City, New York borough
of Brooklyn. They may be accompanied by a 12-pound red miniature Tibetan Spaniel
or Tibetan Terrier dog named Vodka. They may frequent doctor's offices and other
medical facilities. Ann and Samantha may be with an adult female relative. They
may be in the New York City, New York area, or in Palm Beach County or Boynton
Beach, Florida; Illinois; or New Hampshire.
Samantha is believed to be at
risk; her mother may have been abusing her prior to her disappearance. Ann may
suffer from Munchausen's Syndrome by Proxy, which would cause her to harm
Samantha and/or subject her to unnecessary medical treatment. Samantha's case
remains unsolved.

Ann Yermak Kibalo Left and Center: Ann Yermak Kibalo;
Right: Age-progression to age 40 (circa 2003)
Date of Birth: March 25, 1963
Age: 37 years old Height and Weight: 5'0, 115 - 120 pounds Distinguishing
Characteristics: Brown hair, blue eyes. Ann wears eyeglasses while driving. She
may use the last names Yermak, Saul, and/or Kaplan. Ann may have cut her hair
short and dyed it blonde. She has worked as an accountant. Medical Conditions:
Ann has a dental condition and may seek medical treatment for it. She is
mentally unstable; she has a severe personality disorder and several traits from
other disorders, and may suffer from Munchausen's Syndrome by Proxy, which could
cause her to harm Samantha. Ann is classified as disabled.
Investigating Agency If you have any information concerning this case,
please contact: Rockland County Sheriff's Office 845-638-5400 OR 845-638-5440

What is Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy? As one article explains...

This is known as Munchausen syndrome by proxy, meaning the mother uses the
child's fake illnesses to gain attention.
In 95% of cases the mother is the
one abusing the child this way; in other cases, the father, grandparent, or even
babysitter may be the abuser. Some mothers go beyond making up symptoms to
actually causing symptoms.
In time the child can come to believe that he or
she really is sick. Some abused children fear contradicting their mothers, or
feel that no one will believe the truth if they tell it.

Read the rest of the article at http://rarediseases.about.com/cs/munchausensynd/a/091402.htm?terms=%22munchausen+by+proxy%22. As you can see, Samantha is in serious danger if she is indeed a victim of Munchausen by Proxy, because it is simply a lesser-known form of child abuse. So please, if you know anything about the whereabouts of Ann and Samantha Kibalo, call the Rockland County Sheriff's Office at the number listed above.

You can print a poster of Samantha here.

To learn more about parental abductions, visit http://www.stopfamilyabductionsnow.org/about_abduction.html