Philadelphia, Franchesca Alvarado 22

[meme]

Police seek help finding missing Philadelphia woman

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

PHILADELPHIA - March 28, 2012 (WPVI) --Philadelphia police are asking for the public's help in finding a woman who has not been seen in nearly two weeks.

There is growing concern over a mother of a 3-year old who walked out of her home more than two weeks ago and hasn't been seen since.

Franchesca Alvarado, 22, was last seen by her sister at her residence in the 4200 block of Darien Street back on Saturday, March 17th.

Her sister said Alvarado stated she was going to Atlantic City with a friend. She has not been seen since.

A large crowd gathered at East Detectives Headquarters in Hunting Park to call attention to the case.

Family members of Franchesa Alvarado wanted to remind police and the community that they are still heavily involved in the search for her.

The family of 22 year old Franchesca "Cheka" Alvarado hit the streets handling out flyers and held a prayer vigil for her Wednesday night.

It has been 17 days since loved ones have seen or heard from the Hunting Park mother. Police are calling her missing and endangered.

"She's never done anything like this and something is wrong, something is really, really wrong," said Christina Diori.

Police say Alvarado took off to Atlantic City for a day trip with a friend on March 13th.

"We've been back and forth to Jersey; we've been everywhere, everywhere, up and down the board walk, everywhere, we've stayed there for nights and nothing," Christina Diori.

At this point, investigators are not releasing many details about the case or the friend Alvarado was with, but they did say they are working with the New Jersey State Police and checking casino cameras in Atlantic City.

Family and friends stood outside the 25th Police District and released balloons.

"It symbolizes our hope, our faith we are praying diligently that she comes home safe, but we rely on the public, we rely on the people, somebody had to see her," said Alma Rios.

Alvarado has a tattoo of her daughter's name, Janiah, on her right torso.

For the sake of her three year old, Alvarado's family is pleading for any information.

"She's just 3," said Christina. "Everything is about her mom, and we just keep saying she's coming. And you guys can remain anonymous. I just want to know where she is to get her back."

"Her phone is not working. It's just not like her not to call," her sister said. "We're just going through so much right now. It's just unbearable."

Alvarado is described as 5'7" tall and weighing 110 pounds with brown eyes and black, curly hair.

Anyone with information is asked to contact East Detective Division at 215-686-3243.

abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news%2Flocal&id=8599042

[meme]

MISSING PHILADELPHIA WOMAN LAST SEEN IN ATLANTIC CITY

- 3/29/12 08:38 pm Last
Updated - 3/30/12 09:42 am

ATLANTIC CITY -- A 22 year-oldwoman from Philadelphia has been reported missing for almost a week and family members say she may be escorting in Atlantic City.

Franchesca Alvarado was reported missing by her sister on March 23rd, last Friday.

Authorities say Alvarado was last seen by family members on March 12th and was last known to be at Resort's in Atlantic City with her boyfriend.

According to her family, Alvarado could possibly be engaging in prostitution.

She is described as a Hispanic female with light complexion standing at about 5 feet 7 inches tall, 110 pounds with brown eyes and black hair.

If anyone knows any information on her whereabouts, you're asked to contact the Philadelphia Police Department at(215) 685-9836 or [phone]. Information may also be called into the Atlantic City Police Department Criminal Investigations Unit at [phone].

www.nbc40.net/news/21658/

[meme]

Franchesca Alvarado disappeared in Atlantic City last month and hasn't been heard from since

05 April 2012 07:41

Franchesca Alvarado left her Hunting Park apartment for Atlantic City on March 13, a trip she made often, according to her sister Tina.

Alvarado dropped her three-year-old daughter off at a friend's house and set out for the shore town with a male acquaintance, a man her family says she didn't know well.

Days passed. Alvarado's sisters figured the young mother had simply decided to extend her stay.

Then the man returned. Alvarado did not. Her family filed a missing persons report on March 17.

"She was supposed to come back later on the next day," Tina said. "You know, you go to Atlantic City for the day and you’re expected to come back."

While her travel partner allegedly claimed that Alvarado left without him, her family isn't buying it. "Franchesca didn’t have a car. He was her ride there and it’s very mysterious," Tina said.

Family and neighbors said the disappearance is uncharacteristic. Alvarado had recently decided to enroll in community college to study business so she could better support her daughter. She called Tina on a daily basis for years, even more frequently after Tina became pregnant.

"There was so much we were going to do," Tina said. "She was supposed to help me plan a baby shower. She bought her daughter Easter clothes. When you’re preparing to spend the holiday with your child and are excited about it, you don’t just go disappear and not call anybody.

"Her daughter is her whole world and [Alvarado] hasn’t spoken to her or the person she left her with. It breaks my heart when her daughter’s always talking about her mom," Tina said. "There's nothing that you can say."

Now a community is rallying around the cause. A group of 30 or more family members and friends have been traveling to Atlantic City every two days and spending nights walking the boardwalk, handing out fliers and scrutinizing every passerby. They created a reward fund. They staged a rally outside the 25th District and planned to gather near Alvarado's apartment yesterday evening.

Philadelphia police could not provide any details about the investigation yesterday, but a detective did say the Special Investigations Unit is now handling the case.

"The not knowing is what's going to kill us, because it's been so many days," Tina said. "When somebody's missing, you live every day without knowing what's happened to them. Even if she's not okay, even if she's not alive, if we can just find her. Because who can live with looking for a loved one every day without knowing what happened to them? It's horrible how can you wake up in the morning and the sun is shining, it's beautiful and then night comes and it's another night -- another night that she hasn't come home." Sister says Alvarado mislabeled The family was further pained when reports surfaced last week claiming that Alvarado was a sex worker and when some fliers, which her relatives claim were distributed by police, implied that Alvarado was depressed.

"People really believe she was an escort or that she was depressed or sad," Tina said. "She just went to Atlantic City for the day – I don’t know where they got she was an escort. She's never done that in her life, she doesn’t have criminal record and she's not a drug addict. ... I just didn't want people to think she was somebody that was sad and walked away from her life."

Anyone with information is asked to call East Detectives at 215-686-3250.

www.metro.us/ArticlePrint/1139501?language=en

[meme]

What happened to Franchesca Alvarado?

June 01, 2012

FRANCHESCA Alvarado, where, oh, where are you?

Back on March 13, you went to Atlantic City for the evening with an older male friend named Tracy Williams, who drove you there. You were going to have some fun before registering for classes the following week at Community College of Philadelphia. You were thrilled, at age 22, to be starting college life as a criminal-justice major.

You were last seen around Resorts and the Borgata, but you never came home that night, as you’d planned to.

Your brother and six sisters have not heard from you, which is alarming. You’re a tight family, having survived a tough childhood together — you’re never out of touch with each other for more than a day or so. And you would never have left your 3-year-old daughter, Janiah, the light of your life, whom you’d placed with a sitter for the night. Your credit cards, phone and Facebook page have gone dormant, too.

Your siblings are sick with worry. They are running out of ways to explain your absence to Janiah, who is staying with your sister Frances, and your friend Yari. They tell her you are working, but she’s a bright kid and can sense that something is wrong. Another sister, Christine, says that Janiah has taken to praying at bedtime for your protection."She’s very spiritual; Cheka taught her to pray," says Christine, using your childhood nickname — Cheka. "She prays all the time."

Neither Christine, Frances nor Yari wanted their last names used because they are afraid.

According to Lt. Harold Lloyd, of Philly’s East Detectives, Tracy Williams said that he and you split off from each other in Atlantic City, that you announced you’d find your own way back to Philly.

Frances, who says that no one in the family is acquainted with Williams, finds the notion ridiculous. You’re a homebody, would never leave the city by yourself and have been to the Jersey shore so infrequently you’d be scared of climbing aboard the wrong bus back.

Lloyd says that his detectives, who are working with Atlantic City police and the FBI, questioned Williams extensively and that, in the beginning, he was cooperative. Now, Williams has lawyered up and refuses to take a polygraph.

"This is very much an ongoing investigation, so I can’t say whether [Williams] is or is not a person of interest," Lloyd told me. "We are working on some new leads."

articles.philly.com/2012-06-01/news/31923567_1_tracy-williams-childhood-nickname-frances

[meme]

Family searches for missing 22-year-old

Sunday, September 16, 2012

PHILADELPHIA - September 15, 2012 (WPVI) -- It has been nearly 6 months since a Hunting Park woman walked out of her home and vanished into thin air.

"This is not like her at all," said Frances Casteing. "As soon as we hadn't heard from her in a couple of days, we knew there was a problem."

The family of 22-year-old Franchesca Alvarado, or "Cheka" as she is called, has not seen her since St. Patrick's Day, March 17th. It was a Saturday.

She went to Atlantic City with a friend and was to return the following day.

Her family says her male friend returned, but she did not.

They say she did not run away, because she loves her 3-year-old daughter, Janiah, and would never leave her.

Her sister says Francesca had big plans.

"She also this year was going to start community college. She took the placement test in February, and she was just waiting to enroll in her classes," said Frances.

The Citizens Crime Commission is offering a $1,000 reward for information that would lead to Franchesca's whereabouts.

Anyone with information can make an anonymous call to 215-546-TIPS.

The family really misses her.

"That's my best friend," said Frances. "I miss talking to her; there is so much that I have to tell her now. I just miss her."

Family and friends have been hitting the streets handing out flyers. They have held vigils and fundraisers, and even released balloons as a sign of hope.

Franchesca's sister is making an urgent appeal.

"If anyone knows where she's at, please, you have to tell us because she needs our help. She's not somewhere doing her thing; she needs our help," she said. "Whoever does know or may be in the circle of knowledge, someone does know."

abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news%2Flocal&id=8812392

[meme]

Family continues search for missing woman in AC

Posted: Feb 17, 2013 10:31 PM CST
Updated: Mar 03, 2013 10:37 PM CST

ATLANTIC CITY -

"We're just hoping and praying that somebody can speak up for us."

Franchesca "Cheka" Alvarado has been missing for 11 months, and her family and friends have been searching for her ever since she disappeared. On Sunday, Franchesca's birthday, her family and friends spent the day in Atlantic City raising awareness about her disappearance.

Franchesca's sister, Frances Casting, said, "We've been waiting for 11 months for someone to speak up, for my niece who desperately needs her mother, and we're just dying for someone to speak up. We hope and pray that somehow she feels us out here today on her birthday."

Yari Acevedo said, "I'm not giving up. I don't have no worries because we here, and we strong, and we just trying to get some closure out of this."

Franchesca's family passed out flyers with information about when and where she was last seen hoping Atlantic City residents may remember something from the night she went missing.

Family members say they are suspicious of the man Cheka went out with the night of her disappearance. "Not once has he cooperated with the family. We asked him to take a polygraph test, he refused. He's not cooperating with us at all. We just want some answers," said Casting.

Because Franchesca was last seen here at Resorts casino in Atlantic City, her family and friends lit Chinese lanterns on the beach Sunday night - hoping residents would see them and ask questions about them. Their plan worked.

Donte Brown saw the lanterns and asked, "What was going on? Who was putting up the lanterns and why were they putting up the lanterns? And when I found out, it's a great cause for the safe return of their loved one."

Casting said, "We hope she can just feel our love because we desperately miss her. We really, really need someone to speak up and to tell us what happened to Franchesca 11 months ago."

Anyone with information regarding Franchesca's disappearance is asked to call the Philadelphia East Detectives 215-686-3243 or the family at 267-241-9592 with your anonymity protected.

The family has raised $25,000 as reward money for information leading to Franchesca's whereabouts.

www.nbc40.net/story/21229971/family-continues-search-for-missing-woman-in-ac

[ac]

Thanks, Meme.

[meme]

Mar 10, 2013 7:03:39 GMT -5 ac said:

Thanks, Meme.

You're very welcome Ac

[meme]

What happened to Franchesca Alvarado?

A women referring to herself as "Mia," holds a missing person poster of her younger sister Franchesa "Cheka" Alvardo while sitting at Piccoli Park and City Recreation Center in the Juniata section of Philadelphia on Wednesday, May 30, 2012

FRANCHESCA Alvarado, where, oh, where are you?

Back on March 13, you went to Atlantic City for the evening with an older male friend named Tracy Williams, who drove you there. You were going to have some fun before registering for classes the following week at Community College of Philadelphia. You were thrilled, at age 22, to be starting college life as a criminal-justice major.

You were last seen around Resorts and the Borgata, but you never came home that night, as you’d planned to.

Your brother and six sisters have not heard from you, which is alarming. You’re a tight family, having survived a tough childhood together — you’re never out of touch with each other for more than a day or so. And you would never have left your 3-year-old daughter, Janiah, the light of your life, whom you’d placed with a sitter for the night. Your credit cards, phone and Facebook page have gone dormant, too.

Your siblings are sick with worry. They are running out of ways to explain your absence to Janiah, who is staying with your sister Frances, and your friend Yari. They tell her you are working, but she’s a bright kid and can sense that something is wrong. Another sister, Christine, says that Janiah has taken to praying at bedtime for your protection."She’s very spiritual; Cheka taught her to pray," says Christine, using your childhood nickname — Cheka. "She prays all the time."

Neither Christine, Frances nor Yari wanted their last names used because they are afraid.

According to Lt. Harold Lloyd, of Philly’s East Detectives, Tracy Williams said that he and you split off from each other in Atlantic City, that you announced you’d find your own way back to Philly.

Frances, who says that no one in the family is acquainted with Williams, finds the notion ridiculous. You’re a homebody, would never leave the city by yourself and have been to the Jersey shore so infrequently you’d be scared of climbing aboard the wrong bus back.

Lloyd says that his detectives, who are working with Atlantic City police and the FBI, questioned Williams extensively and that, in the beginning, he was cooperative. Now, Williams has lawyered up and refuses to take a polygraph.

"This is very much an ongoing investigation, so I can’t say whether [Williams] is or is not a person of interest," Lloyd told me. "We are working on some new leads."

Franchesca, your family can’t say enough good things about the Philly police. The detectives have been serious and thorough about your disappearance since the beginning. State Rep. Tony Payton has also been committed to helping your siblings find you.

"We are in his office every other day, using the color copier for fliers" seeking information as to your whereabouts, says Frances. "He’s always in touch. We have so many people who care about my sister."

Frances wouldn’t mind my saying that she cries for you every day. The day that I met with her at Piccoli Playground, in Juniata Park, where you and she would take your kids to play (her two little ones are like siblings to Janiah), she wept as she rifled through the stack of posters that she and your siblings carry around like Bibles.

They push them into the hands of anyone who will take them. They post them in the Hunting Park neighborhood where you were living and around West Kensington, Williams’ neighborhood. Every other week, they trek to Atlantic City, where they plaster the Boardwalk with your photo.

Whoever is responsible for your absence, says Frances, must have known of your tough background and presumed, wrongly, that no one would miss you if you were gone. Nothing could be further from the truth.

"We are all very, very close," says Frances. "Our dad is in prison, and my mom was sick when we were growing up. She passed when Cheka was 9 and I was 13. Before she died, she told me to always look after Cheka. We were the youngest and she wanted us to stick together."

During that dark time, a relative sexually abused you and Frances, and it took a long time to come to grips with what was done to you. Healing together formed a bond between you and Frances that will never be broken. Your other siblings’ support only strengthened your love as a family.

They miss you, Franchesca — your huge smile, big heart, the way you’d drop everything to help them. What hurts them is that this terrible thing has befallen you just as you were coming into your own, surviving a childhood that not many girls would survive with their spirits intact.

You did. That you might not be around to revel in your survival, to raise your daughter with the stability you never had, is unthinkable.

Please come home, Franchesca. Your family misses you terribly.

The family of Franchesca Alvarado is offering a reward for information on her whereabouts. If you can help, call East Detectives at 215-686-3243 or Christine, Franchesca’s sister, at 267-241-9592. For updates on Facebook, join "Find Franchesca Cheka Alvarado."

articles.philly.com/2012-06-01/news/31923567_1_tracy-williams-childhood-nickname-frances

[meme]

Severed Foot in shoe belonged to Missing Woman

Thursday September 26, 2013

Mia Casteing has conflicting emotions after Philadelphia Police say DNA of a severed foot found inside a shoe at the Jersey Shore is a match for her sister, 22-year-old Franchesca Alvarado, who went missing last year.

"It gives me a little bit of peace," Casteing said while in tears. "But it frustrates me."

A fisherman discovered the skeletal remains of a foot inside a size 5 1/2 tennis shoe that had washed ashore back in August at Corson's Inlet State Park in Ocean City. On Wednesday, the family of Alvarado announced on Facebook that the foot belonged to her.

"It is with deep sadness, pain and heartache that we inform you -- TEAMCHEKA -- the loss of our beloved sister Franchesca Milagros Alvarado," the woman's family wrote on Facebook. "It has been confirmed from the State of New Jersey that the DNA match is our sister."

Philadelphia Police later confirmed this with NBC10.

"I'd rather still be looking for her actually," Casteing said. "Just to keep that hope that maybe she will come home."

Alvarado left her home on her way to Atlantic City in March 2012 and was never heard from again.

The 22-year-old mom, who friends and family called "Cheka," had plans to start college before her disappearance. Family members say she left her home in the Hunting Park section of the city with a man she was friends with.

NBC10's Luann Cahn talked with the man who took Alvarado to Atlantic City the night she was last seen. He says that Alvarado left him that night and he came home alone.

Loved ones say the hardest part has been trying to explain to Alvarado's 4-year-old daughter that her mother will never come back.

"I kept telling my niece, 'Mommy's working, mommy's gonna come home,'" Casteing said. "Yesterday I had to look at her differently."

No one has been charged in Alvarado's death. Alvarado's family says their focus has now shifted. They believe "Cheka" was murdered and now they want her killer to be brought to justice.

"As a family and for Franchesca we will never stop until we find out exactly what happened," said her sister, Tina Diori.

The family says they will hold a memorial service in her honor next week.

While police have not confirmed that Alvarado was murdered, they continue to investigate and are offering a $25,000 reward to anyone with information about her death.

www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Family-Severed-Foot-in-Shoe-Belonged-to-Missing-Woman-225247052.html

[meme]

Severed Foot in Shoe Found at Jersey Shore

Investigators are testing those remains to see if these remains could be a Philadelphia mom who disappeared last year

Saturday, Sep 21, 2013

A Philadelphia family is waiting to find out if DNA, from a severed foot found inside a shoe at the Jersey Shore, is a match for their loved one who has been missing since last year.

A fisherman discovered the skeletal remains of a foot inside a size 5 1/2 tennis shoe that had washed ashore back in August at Corson's Inlet State Park in Ocean City.

"We're just praying that it doesn't belong to Franchesca, just like anyone who is missing a loved one," said Christine Dior.

ior's sister, Franchesca Alvarado, left her home on her way to Atlantic City in March of 2012 and was never heard from again.

The 22-year-old mom, who friends and family called "Checka," had plans to start college before her disappearance. Family members say she left her home in the Hunting Park section of the city with a man she was friends with.

"It's heart wrenching when you get a phone call when you are watching the news and you see a body has been found. Your heart just stops," said Dior.

NBC10's Luann Cahn talked with the man who took Alvarado to Atlantic City the night she was last seen. He says that Alvarado left him that night and he came home alone.

No one has been charged with Alvarado's disappearance.

"We will not rest, we will not stop looking for her," said Dior.

www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Severed-Foot-in-Shoe-Found-at-Jersey-Shore-224641401.html

[meme]

Family told skeletal foot likely belonged to missing woman Franchesca Alvarado

Wednesday, September 25, 2013


PHILADELPHIA - September 25, 2013 (WPVI) -- Family members of a missing Philadelphia woman have been told that a skeletal foot, found in a shoe that washed up in Ocean City, New Jersey, likely belongs to their loved one.

That woman, 22-year-old Franchesca "Cheka" Alvarado, had been missing since March 2012.

"Now, we, the family, are preparing for a memorial service next week," sister Alma Rios said.

"There were many speculations, her maybe in Vegas, her maybe doing this; she's an adult, she left willingly and maybe she'll come back willingly, but we knew, we knew," sister Mia Casting said.
It was this past August when a shoe washed up ashore and was found by a fisherman at Corson's Inlet Park in Ocean City, New Jersey with human remains inside.

Family members told Action News they were informed by police that the foot was tentatively identified as Alvarado's.

A Facebook page dedicated to finding Alvarado was recently updated to reflect the finding.

Alvarado leaves behind a big family including seven siblings and her four-year-old daughter Jania.

"Yesterday, we had to really break the news to her that mommy is not really coming home and it's just sad," Mia said.

So now, the lingering question is what happened?

It was about a year and a half ago when Franchesca went to Atlantic City with a male friend.

That friend told investigators Alvarado left their hotel room in the morning and simply never returned.

Now, Francesca's family wants to know who, if anyone, is responsible.

"It's still an investigation and we're going to make sure we get justice," sister Christine Diori said.

abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/local&id=9261127