A Mystery Unfolds
Crystal’s disappearance came as a complete shock and left so many questions unanswered. What was her reason for leaving? Is she ever going to come home? Is she still okay? Where did she go? Her family and friends stayed hopeful, but no one could predict what would actually happen.
A Mystery Unfolds
Cynthia’s Struggle
As a single mother of four back in 1997, Cynthia was working hard and grueling days at a store to ensure her kids had food on the table, clothes on their back, and a roof over their heads. Times were difficult, but she remained dedicated to her family.
Cynthia’s Struggle
Same Story Different Day
Nothing seemed strange about the day Crystal went missing. She had arrived at the store to pick up some milk and cereal, and Cynthia thought nothing of it. She asked Crystal to “stay around the house,” to which Crystal said she would.
Same Story Different Day
A Nightmare
After finishing up her work shift, Cynthia returned home to find that Crystal was missing. Filled with worry, she called up anyone she could think of to try and track Crystal down. However, no one knew where she went. With nowhere else to turn, Cynthia called the police.
A Nightmare
Searching Frantically
With a mind full of dread, Cynthia searched high and low for any sign of her daughter. Looking for Crystal in every brown-haired girl, she tried to focus on the baseball cap that Crystal always wore, but it was nowhere to be found.
Searching Frantically
Years Later
20 years passed by in the blink of an eye. The police had halted their search, and no one had heard anything. One day, all of a sudden, Cynthia got a phone call from one of her daughters. Crytal has messaged her on Facebook.
Years Later
New York City
Cynthia was in total disbelief. However, after checking her daughter’s Facebook, there was little doubt in her mind that this was Crystal. Less than 30 minutes later, Cynthia’s daughter was in a car on her way to New York.
New York City
Together Again
Crystal had short hair, was fluent in Spanish, and even had kids. She had adopted an identity as Crystal Sanders, and was now 44, instead of 35. This changed didn’t matter to her family though, all that mattered was that Crystal was finally home.
Together Again
The Story
The story that Crystal recounted has hard to believe. She didn’t just up and leave, there was a reason for her disappearance. However, the question of why that was, and where she ended up going remained unanswered, but not for long.
The Story
A Hard Choice
Crystal had no money and nowhere to go. However, she needed to leave immediately. She was on the run from something horrible. Someone, in fact, that she couldn’t stand to be around another minute.
A Hard Choice
New Life
When she left, Crystal was coming up with her plan on the go. First and foremost, she needed to leave her home, so she took a bus to New York. When she arrived, she got herself a fake driver’s license, changing her name to Crystal Sanders and putting nine extra years onto her age.
New Life
Building Blocks
After adopting her new identity, Crystal set to work building a new life for herself. She got herself a place to stay in the Bronx and picked up the odd job cleaning houses. How did she manage to execute her escape so successfully, though?
Building Blocks
Crystal’s Plan
The day she left, Crystal had been hanging out with her friends like she normally did. However, once midnight hit, she took what little she had and got on that bus to New York, and just like that, her new life began.
Crystal’s Plan
First Born
It didn’t take long for Crystal to become pregnant with her first child. With her new identity intact, she managed to get herself a Medicaid card and become part of the Dominican community, before going on to have three more children.
First Born
A New Family
Crystal’s new community eventually became her family. She got so close to some members that she began to refer to them as her cousins and grandma. Despite having found a place to fit in, she still struggled with her past.
A New Family
Life Goes On
Time passed for Crystal. She had her new family, four kids, and even became fluent in Spanish. Despite this, though, she still checked up on her old family regularly via social media. Why didn’t she contact them sooner?
Life Goes On
Police Search
The police search for Crystal had gone on for a total of 13 years. Eventually, the Baltimore police had exhausted all of their options in their hunt for the missing girl. With heavy hearts, they had to inform Cynthia that they were ceasing their search. She stopped celebrating Christmas after the news.
Police Search
20 Long Years
Cynthia spent a total of 20 years, eight months, and two weeks longing to see her daughter again. She never gave up hope, and never even sold the family home in case her precious daughter ever ended up returning to her.
20 Long Years
Hope Pays Off
Despite holding out hope, it came as a shock when Cynthia finally saw her daughter again. Despite her never leaving her mind, she couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw Crystal again for the first time in 20 years.
Hope Pays Off
Readjusting
Crystal had lived her own life when she returned home, so things were different. That little girl that went missing 20 years ago was gone, and in her place stood a fully grown woman. Despite being overcome with joy, Cynthia still had questions that needed to be answered.
Readjusting
Rekindling
Despite being mother and daughter, Cynthia and Crystal were practically complete strangers to one another. The two had so many questions for each other, and it was going to take a lot of work to rebuild their relationship.
Rekindling
Many Questions
After the initial shock has worn off, Cynthia couldn’t help but began to ask Crystal some questions. She needed the answers as to why she ran away. Whether it was something she had done, or if something or someone else was the cause.
So Many Questions
Her Mother’s Worry
Despite everything still being unanswered, Cynthia couldn’t bring herself to ask her daughter the all-important question. She treaded lightly with her, worried that she might scare her away again, driving her from her life once more.
Her Mother’s Worry
Finally Some Answers
Finally, the two sat down to talk about the reason for Crystal running away. Unfortunately, Cynthia’s worst fears were realized when Crystal began to recount her tale, and give the reason for it all happening in the first place.
Finally Some Answers
Opposite Perspectives
While Cynthia remembered the times when Crystal was a child fondly, Crystal herself had a very different opinion. While her mother just saw a happy kid, Crystal remembered not getting along with her siblings and sneaking out of the house regularly.
Opposite Perspectives
The Disappearance
Crystal had gone over to a friend’s house that fateful night and waited in the garden while her friend was inside. That was the last time any of her friends or family had seen her, as when her friend came back out, Crystal was gone.
The Disappearance
Limited Information
When Crystal disappeared, all police had to go on was what she was wearing that night and her physical description. Crystal was 5’5″, weighed 140 pounds, and was last seeing wearing her light brown hair back in a ponytail, keeping it out of her brown eyes.
Limited Information
Runaway Rates
There was a staggeringly high runaway rate at the time, so the police came to the conclusion that Crystal had, indeed, run away from home. Luckily, the police had got it right, but that didn’t stop them from carrying out their search.
Runaway Rates
Status Change
However, despite being correct, labeling Crystal as a runaway robbed her family of the precious resources that would have been necessary to find her. A few months after that, she was updated to endangered missing, before the case eventually ran cold.
Status Change
Lost Hope
After updating Crystal’s status to endangered missing, it meant that the police were now searching for a body and not a person. Crystal’s case had been turned into just another one of many, and eventually, it began to fall through the cracks.
Lost Hope
One in a Million
Despite being just another missing person statistic, Crystal’s case was far from ordinary, and when she resurfaced 20 years later it was confirmed as such. Online skeptics couldn’t believe the turn of events, with people calling for more information about the case.
One In A Million
Educational Advances
In 1998, only one year after her disappearance, Crystal used her fake ID to get into The City College of New York. She was pursuing a bachelor’s degree in business management. Meanwhile, the police back home were searching high and low for any trace of her.
Educational Advances
Graduation
In 2002, Crystal graduated from college with her degree. A year later, Detective Terrance Parker was assigned her case as one of the 48 cold cases that were actively being investigated by the Baltimore Police Department.
She Graduated
Deafening Silence
According to Detective Parker, it was very unusual to not receive any information at all in a case like this. Typically one or two people would come forward with a sighting, but the silence on Crystal’s whereabouts was deafening. Therefore, Parker decided to go back and start at the beginning.
Deafening Silence
From the Beginning
Parker interviewed Crystal’s friends and family again, starting from the beginning like it was a freshly opened case. He spoke to neighbors, as well as recruiting external help from various different child service organizations.
From The Beginning
Different Priorities
According to the Executive Director of the Missing Children’s Division at the time, police weren’t even required to enter missing children cases into the database. Even still, he claimed that there was more focus put on tracking stolen property.
Different Priorities
Aged Overnight
The question of how Crystal managed to pull off being nine years older than she actually was remained a mystery when, in fact, it was as simple as her looking much older than her age. Combine that with her pregnancy, and she made a convincing case.
Aged Overnight
Crystal’s Deception
While she was all wrapped up in her new identity, Crystal would often get asked about her family. “It’s not a rare thing to not have a family,” she would respond regularly, and people wouldn’t really press after that.
Crystal’s Deception
The Truth
Cynthia’s worst fears were realized when Crystal sat down to tell her the horrible truth. From the age of nine, she had begun to be physically assaulted by a neighbor on a regular basis. She thought that her mother knew when Cynthia was actually oblivious to her daughter’s suffering.
The Truth