Above: Anthonette Cayedito in 1986 (left) and an age-progressed image to 42, circa 2018 (right)

Anthonette Christine Cayedito

Last seen in Gallup, New Mexico on April 25, 1986

Vital statistics: Biracial (american indian/white) female. Born on December 25, 1976. Black hair, dark brown eyes. She has moles on her right cheek, nose, back and one of her ankles and has scars on one of her knees and on her lip. Her ears are pierced. Last seen wearing a pink nightgown. She is of Italian and Navajo descent. Was nine at the time.

Circumstances: Cayedito was last seen inside her family's residence. Her sister said she was pulled into a car by a man claiming to be her Uncle Joe. Her uncle has been questioned and is not a suspect. There were possible sightings of Cayedito in the days following her abduction. She was supposedly seen at a restaurant with a man, and kept dropping her fork. A note was found after she had left asking for help and to call police. It is not known if Cayedito was actually seen. Classified as a Non-Family Abduction.

Theories: Cayedito's case became interesting for me after the disappearance of the Groene children in Idaho. Both children, Shasta and Dylan, went missing from their home after a triple homicide. Although I look for people, not bodies, I thought like the rest of the world they were dead. When Shasta was found alive six weeks later, I was stunned. But by this time Dylan was dead. I realized then how this thinking pervaded the population. I was the very victim of the stereotype I wanted to stop. The children were both alive for a long period of time. We could have saved both, but our blindness killed a child. Police suspect Cayedito is dead. I think this may be right, but the public forced Cayedito to her own death. I understand the problem of missing children is largely neglected, and systems in effect today such as the AMBER alert system could have saved her. But extensive publicity could have made that individual at the restaurant who later found the note stop and help her. Maybe, just maybe, she could have been recovered. Is she alive now? That I do not know, but her case should serve as a lesson to all.

If you have any information as to Cayedito's whereabouts, or the identity of her abductor, please e-mail For the Lost at this address. Or you may contact the Gallup Police Department at 505-863-9365. Any tips sent by e-mail will be kept confidential.


Information used to compile this case file came from the following sources:
The National Center For Missing and Exploited Children
The Doe Network
The Charley Project
Operation Lookout
Unsolved Mysteries
NamUs National Missing Persons Data System
Child Protection Education Of America (site now defunct)

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