Walking to elementary school should be a safe, simple part of every child’s morning routine.

For nine-year-old Nelida De Jesus Del Valle, that was supposed to be the case on December 20, 1976, when she left her home in South Boston, Massachusetts, to walk to school.

Nelida was a third grader at William Blackstone Elementary, attending a bilingual class. She was shy and rarely spoke to anyone she didn’t know, so her short walk to school should have been uneventful.

But something—or someone—prevented Nelida from ever reaching her classroom that morning.

At first, no one knew what had happened. In 1976, there were no doorbell cameras or street surveillance to piece together her final steps. Nelida had simply vanished.

Two weeks later, in early January 1977, authorities received a tip. The caller claimed that a man named Anthony “Rudy” Flores had some of Nelida’s clothing.

When investigators searched his home, they discovered Nelida’s hat and gloves—the same ones she had been wearing the morning she disappeared. Flores told police he had simply “found them on the street.”

Detectives also discovered a fake police badge and a toy gun among his belongings. Nelida’s mother wondered if he might have used these to lure her daughter, since Nelida was shy but would likely have trusted someone appearing to be a police officer.

Despite their suspicions, police found no direct evidence linking Flores to her disappearance.

What made the case more disturbing was that Flores had also been linked to another missing girl—14-year-old Cesilia Peña, who vanished in New York City just two months earlier, in October 1976.

Cesilia disappeared on her way home from school and was last seen on the subway. A witness later claimed to have seen her being led away by Anthony Rudy Flores, just a few yards from her usual subway stop.

Flores denied any involvement, and without solid evidence, investigators couldn’t charge him. Cesilia Peña’s case, like Nelida’s, remains unsolved to this day.

Nelida’s disappearance haunted her family for decades. Her mother, Theodosia De Jesus, never stopped searching for answers.

In January 1985, Theodosia was startled when she thought she saw Nelida’s picture in the apartment of a man named David Collins, a known offender with a criminal history involving kidnapping and child abuse.

Police found photos of 25 different young girls in Collins’ home, and they published them in local newspapers, hoping to identify the victims. Sadly, the girl Theodosia believed was Nelida turned out to be someone else.

Still, the discovery renewed attention to Nelida’s case and others like it.

Nelida vanished from a busy neighborhood, and somehow, no one saw what happened. Could someone have lured her away in plain sight?

Nelida De Jesus Del Valle disappeared from Boston, Massachusetts, on December 20, 1976. She was nine years old then—and would be 57 years old today.

She is described as a Hispanic female with brown hair, brown eyes, and pierced ears. She spoke Spanish and limited English. Her disappearance is classified as a non-family abduction.

If you have any information about what happened to Nelida, please contact the Boston Police Department at (617) 343–4200.

🕯️ It’s been nearly five decades. Nelida’s family still deserves answers.