Case Profiles #73
Nelida De Jesus Del Valle
On December 20th, 1976, 9-year-old Nelida De Jesus Del Valle was walking on Shawmut Avenue in Boston, Massachusetts on her way to school. Nelida was a third grade student at William Blackstone Elementary School and was in a bilingual class as her primary language was Spanish. Nelida was still learning how to speak, read and write in English. Despite the walk from Nelida’s family’s home being just a block and a half away from the school, she never made it to her class. Two weeks after her disappearance, a man named Anthony Flores, who went by “Rudy,” had given a woman in the neighborhood a pair of gloves and a winter hat for one of her children. The woman was suspicious as Anthony resembled the police sketch drawn from witness descriptions of a man seen in the area when Nelida was walking to school. The woman called police, and they determined that the winter hat and gloves belonged to Nelida. Another witness came forward and said that he saw little Nelida on the day of her disappearance walking, but she had been holding the hand of an adult male that he identified as Anthony Flores. Anthony was taken in by police for questioning and in his possession were a fake gun and a fake police badge. Anthony claimed that he had found Nelida’s hat and gloves in the street along the route she was walking to on the day of her disappearance. Due to lack of evidence, Anthony was released. Initially, Nelida’s family said that she was very shy and quiet and would not go off with a stranger, especially on her way to school. After the information about Anthony having a fake badge and gun came out, Nelida’s family said that she knew that police officers were trusted adults and she likely would have gone off with Anthony if he was posing as a police officer.
Anthony is also the suspect in the disappearance of 14-year-old Cesilia Pena on October 6th, 1976 from New York City as he was seen with her on the day she went missing. Cesilia shares some resemblance with Nelida and she is also Hispanic. There have been no further leads in Nelida’s case and it remains unsolved. At the time of her disappearance, Nelida was 9-years-old, 4’0” and 50 pounds. She is a Hispanic female with brown hair and eyes and her ears are pierced. She spoke Spanish and limited English. She was last seen wearing a gold coat, dark blue pants, a white sweater, black platform shoes and her winter hat and gloves. Anyone with any information on the whereabouts of Nelida De Jesus Del Valle is asked to please call the Boston Police Department at (617) 343-4200.
Nicholas Brown
On September 24th, 2016, police in Hartford, Connecticut were alerted via the ShotSpotter system to Magnolia Street at roughly 10:30 p.m. Upon arrival, they discovered 26-year-old Nicholas Brown lying in a pool of his own blood on the sidewalk. He was brought to nearby St. Francis Hospital where he was unfortunately pronounced dead from his injuries - 18 bullet wounds. Police interviewed as many as 20 witnesses and did manage to collect a decent amount of evidence, but found that all leads were short and no witness could share too much. Based on witness testimony, it is believed that the suspects fled in a car. However, there has never been any description of the suspects or car that has been released. Nicholas Brown was a well-loved father of three who was working hard to get his life turned around after spending several years in jail. He was said to be fiercely loyal to his family loved ones, but also to people who did not deserve his loyalty due to their lifestyle. A $50k reward has been offered regarding details surrounding Nicholas’ death, however there has still been no justice to this day. Investigators are asking anyone with information to contact the Hartford Police Department at 860-757-4000 or the tipline at 860-722-8477.
Image sources:
charleyproject.org - “Nelida De Jesus Del Valle”
gunmemorial.org - “Nicholas Brown, age 26”