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.

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.

Ashley Martinez now missing 3 years, Saint Joseph, Missouri

A little less than a month ago, Ashley Renee Martinez was included in the CUE Center's Road to Remember Tour. An article mentioning the rally can be read at http://stjoechannel.com/content/fulltext/?cid=12356. Photos from that and other news on Ashley are featured on her thread on the Project Jason forum, http://projectjason.org/dpforum/thread.php?id=890.

From the North American Missing Persons Network:

Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance
Missing Since: July 6, 2004 from St. Joseph, Missouri
Classification: Endangered Missing
Date Of Birth: January 24, 1989
Age: 15
Height: 5'3"
Weight: 110 lbs.
Hair Color: Sandy Blonde
Eye Color: Blue
Race: White
Gender: Female
Distinguishing Characteristics: Scars on left wrist,peircing holes for her ears, tongue, and belly button.
Medical Conditions: Bi-Polar Disorder
Clothing: Black top, blue jean shorts, white Reebok tennis shoes, and black bikini with red cherries on it underneath her clothing.
NCIC Number: M-874158505
Case Number: 04-26313; NCMC993587
Details of Disappearance
Ashley was last seen at a local public pool on July 6, 2004 in St. Joseph, Missouri. She was persuaded into leaving the state with a 32 year old sexual predator, Christopher Hart. He picked her up near the pool in his dad's gray 1995 Pontiac Bonneville with Missouri license plate, 377MPY.In September 2004, Hart was arrested in Olympia, Washington, and is awaiting extradition back to Missouri. Hart exhibited bizarre and unorthodox behavior while in jail. He has been sent to Western State Hospital for a mental evaluation, prior to his arraignment in court. Since his arrest, he has been uncooperative about Ashley's whereabouts or the location of the car.
Ashley's mother describes her as a beautiful girl who loves to read
and has a great sense of humor.
In 2005, the Carol Sund Foundation offered a $5000 reward for any information regarding the whereabouts of Ashley Martinez.
Investigating Agency
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
St. Joseph Police Department
(816) 271-4747

You can also call the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678).

Ashley's website: http://www.ashleymartinez.com/
Guestbook for messages to Ashley's family: http://www.findashleymartinez.com/ashleygb
You can print a poster of Ashley here.

You can "adopt" Ashley through Project Jason's Adopt a Missing Person program. For more information, visit http://www.projectjason.org/adopt.html.

Ashley Martinez: Included in On the Road to Remember 2007, other news

The On the Road to Remember Tour is held by the CUE (Community United Effort) Center, a non-profit missing persons organization based in North Carolina. It stops in various locations in several states and holds rallies to gain attention for local missing people who have become "cold cases".

This year their schedule included a stop at the Krug swimming pool in St. Joseph, Missouri, on June 14. Ashley Martinez, then 15 years old, was last seen there on July 6, 2004. She is believed to have run away with a 32-year-old convicted felon named Christopher Hart. He was arrested in Olympia, Washington, on September 4, 2004, but Ashley was not with him. He had been promising to take her to California, or she may be in Nebraska or Kansas City, Missouri. The car they were supposedly traveling in, a stolen grey 1995 Pontiac Bonneville with Missouri license plate 377MPY, has also not been found.
Ashley has bipolar disorder and may engage in dangerous behavior when she does not have her medication. She also has asthma. She did not bring along her medicine or any of her personal belongings. Therefore, she is rightly classified as "endangered".
Update: Article mentioning rally from http://stjoechannel.com/content/fulltext/?cid=12356:

National Spotlight Shines on Missing People in the Area

Reported by: Patty Santos
Thursday, Jun 14, 2007 @10:30pm
A
national spotlight shines on missing people in the Midland Empire. The 4th
Annual Missing Persons Tour made a stop in two area towns. Word of Branson
Perry's disappearance will reach 11 states by the end of June, giving his family
another glimpse of hope that the 26-year-old will soon be found.
"It's an awesome feeling, it makes you feel like there is hope, that there
are people that really do care," Becky Klino, mother, said.
Monica Caison is leading the "On the Road to Remember" tour spreading the
word and pictures of 75 missing adults across 5,100 miles.
"A lot of these cases that we are featuring, are cases that have gone cold,
because they weren't promoted properly at the beginning, of they just didn't
have enough information to go on," Caison said.
For the remaining 2,400 miles the van will attract the attention of many
people in small and big communities. They also want to grab some media
attention.
"It's important that we get the press involved, and get Perry's name out,"
Ben Espey, Nodaway County Sheriff, said. "We're still looking for clues and
leads that we can follow up on."
Branson's mother said it's vital to keep these cases front and center. So
far the group has helped bring in several new leads in other cases. Every
opportunity to get Branson's name to one more person could mean one more
clue.
"You feel like you're very alone and with organizations like this, you feel
like you are embraced with a lot of love, a lot of support and it gives you
strength," Klino said.
"We don't have a reason or rhyme or why, we're here for them and its just
one more piece that it gives them to get through another day," Caison
said.
The tour is sponsored by the community uniter effort organization. The tour
features mostly missing adults, whom they said are often left by the wayside.
The group also stopped by Krug Pool to feature Ashley Martinez. Her family
has been searching for her since she disappeared from this same area three years
ago. The runaway would now be 18 years old.
Her mother said having the community united effort feature her daughter's
story in 11 states could lead to her where abouts. Martinez's family and friends
gathered at the park wearing pins with her picture on it.
They said they're not giving up hope on finding her. For more information
on the tour log on to www.ncmissingpersons.org .

Ashley's mother was recently interviewed for Project Jason's missing people podcast. You can listen to it by clicking on the following links: http://www.lumospub.com/images/Ashley_Martinez_Item_3a_missingpeoplepodcast.com.mp3 , http://www.lumospub.com/images/Ashley_Martinez_Item_3b_missingpeoplepodcast.com.mp3 and http://www.lumospub.com/images/Ashley_Martinez_Item_3c_missingpeoplepodcast.com.mp3.

Ashley was also scheduled be featured on the Missing radio program yesterday (June 15).

If you have any information about the disappearance of Ashley Renee Martinez, please call the Saint Joseph Police Department at (816) 271-4777 or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678).

You can print a poster of Ashley here.
Ashley's website: http://www.findashleymartinez.com/
Ashley's guestbook: http://www.findashleymartinez.com/ashleygb
Additional information at http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/m/martinez_ashley.html.

You can "adopt" Ashley through Project Jason's Adopt a Missing Person program. For more information, visit http://www.projectjason.org/adopt.html.

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.

Photo and age progression of Ashley from the Charley Project.

Ashley Martinez: New age progression

Below is a copy of Ashley's poster from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children:

Endangered Runaway
ASHLEY MARTINEZ
DOB: Jan 24,
1989
Missing: Jul 6, 2004
Age Now: 18
Sex: Female
Race: White
Hair: Sandy
Eyes: Blue
Height: 5'3" (160 cm)
Weight: 110 lbs (50 kg)
Missing From:
SAINT JOSEPH
MO
United States
Age Progressed
Ashley's photo is shown
age-progressed to 18 years. She was last seen on July 6, 2004. Ashley may still
be in the local area, or she may have traveled to Nebraska or Washington. She
may be traveling in a gray 1995 Pontiac Bonneville with Missouri license plates
377MPY. Ashley's tongue, navel and ears are pierced. She has a scar on her left
arm.

ANYONE HAVING INFORMATION SHOULD CONTACT
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
1-800-843-5678 (1-800-THE-LOST)
Saint Joseph Police Department
(Missouri) 1-816-271-4777

Ashley's website: http://www.findashleymartinez.com/

Guestbook for messages to Ashley's family: http://www.findashleymartinez.com/ashleygb/

You can "adopt" Ashley through Project Jason's Adopt a Missing Person program. For more information, see http://www.projectjason.org/adopt.html.

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!

Ashley Martinez now missing 2 years, Saint Joseph, Missouri

Ashley's story, like many others, comes to you from The Charley Project (http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/m/martinez_ashley.html). Before you write her off as "just another runaway", please read:

Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance
Missing Since: July 6, 2004 from Saint Joseph, Missouri
Classification: Endangered Runaway
Date Of Birth: January 24, 1989
Age: 15 years old
Height and Weight: 5'3 - 5'5, 110 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Sandy blonde hair, blue eyes.
Martinez has a scar on her left wrist. Her tongue, ears and navel are all pierced.
Clothing Description: Blue jean shorts, a black top, a black bikini printed with red cherries under her other clothing, and white Reebok sneakers with red accents.
Medical Conditions: Martinez suffers from bipolar disorder
and is supposed to take medication. She left her medicine behind when she vanished. Martinez may have violent mood swings and exhibit impulsive, risky behavior when she is not taking her medication as directed; she could be a danger to herself and others.

Details of Disappearance
Martinez was last seen at 12:00 p.m. on July 6, 2004, when she was dropped off at the Krug Pool in the vicinity of St. Joseph Avenue and Krug Park in Saint Joseph,
Missouri with her younger brother. When her mother came to get them later, only
the brother was waiting; Martinez had disappeared.
Subsequent investigation showed that Martinez had planned to run away to California with Christopher M. Hart, a 32-year-old living close to her home. He was on parole for second-degree assault and has also been convicted of drug possession, unlawful use of a weapon and resisting arrest. He and Martinez were going to go to California.
Eleven days after Martinez's disappearance, Hart was arrested in Olympia, Washington for purse-snatching. He gave the Washington officials a false name and as a result they did not know he was wanted in Missouri, so he was released. On
September 7, two months after Martinez's disappearance, Hart was arrested again
after Washington police discovered his true identity and the charges against him
in Missouri. He had been staying with a cousin in the Olympia area.
Washington investigators found no sign of Martinez, or the stolen gray 1995
Pontiac Bonneville with Missouri license plates numbered 377MPY, which she and
Hart had allegedly been traveling in. Hart's cousin said he had not seen
Martinez or ever heard Hart mention her. Hart, who remains in custody, has
refused to divulge any information whatsoever on Martinez's whereabouts. He
began acting bizarrely while in jail and was sent to the state mental hospital
for a psychiatric evaluation.
Martinez may still be in the local area or she may be in the Kansas City, Missouri area. There is no evidence that she ever arrived in Washington. When she disappeared, she left behind all her personal belongings, including her medication. She has a history of running away from home, but has never left the state and had never been gone this long. Her case remains unsolved and is still classified as a runaway.

Investigating Agency
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Saint Joseph Police Department
816-271-4777

You can also call the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678).

Ashley's website: http://www.findashleymartinez.com/
Guestbook for messages to Ashley's family: http://findashleymartinez.com/comments50
You can print a poster of Ashley here.
Ashley is also one of several people included in Project Jason's Adopt a Missing Person program. For more information on how you can "adopt" Ashley or someone else, visit http://www.projectjason.org/adopt.html.

There are more photos of Ashley at her website or on The Charley Project, so please check them out if you think she looks even slightly familiar.