Hi, I am a longtime UM watcher, and recently from googling came across this forum. Awesome!! I thought my wife and I were the only people who tried to find out if cases were solved. I'm wondering if anyone knows anything about the Kristen Modafferi case. I was living in San Francisco when this happened and haven't been able to find anything new on this case. Other than the website http://www.findkristen.com/ I couldn't tell if it had been updated recently. Thanks, and I look forward to contributing a lot.

NQ

http://ncrumors.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=361

In response to your message, I went to google.com, and discovered this link. It's new article (dated May 4, 2005) about the reauthorization of Kristen's Act. Named after Kristen Modafferi, Kristen's Act created a national database to search for missing adults as a result of foul play. However, Kristen has never been found.

Here's another link:

http://kristenfoundation.org

The site is named after Kristen Modafferi.

Thanks for both links, the first link was what prompted me to see if there was any update to her disappearance. I was wondering if the guy who is questionable on the findkristen.com website had been questioned, etc. I guess not.

not even a body? nothing new in this case....i did a search on this on google and found that no body or updates.

The disturbing part of this is that fact that one of the girls that the Jon character was abusing alleged that he mentioned Kristens name while the argued...this guy is guilty for sure just no evidence to back it up! sad case!!

Do you think it was Onuma?

Onuma is a shady character for sure, but that doesn;t necessarily mean he;s a killer.

I tend to lean toward suicide but I need to think on it more.

Hi, I am a longtime UM watcher, and recently from googling came across this forum. Awesome!! I thought my wife and I were the only people who tried to find out if cases were solved. I'm wondering if anyone knows anything about the Kristen Modafferi case. I was living in San Francisco when this happened and haven't been able to find anything new on this case. Other than the website http://www.findkristen.com/ I couldn't tell if it had been updated recently. Thanks, and I look forward to contributing a lot.

NQ

Old thread, but I have to admit I find that website a little unsettling. I'm not sure how fair it is to have people's names listed front and center in connection with the case just for having worked at the same place she did for less than a month. And people listed just for knowing the person of interest. Just doesn't seem right.

On another note, I tend to think she drowned and the guy just had a vendetta against some women and made the call. Stupid move, but even stupider if he did it.

My gut was always that Onuma is involved. He might not have killed her, or even been present when she was killed....but he is involved somehow.

always beenon the fence if onuma was involved. without giving away too much information, i have been living in san francisco so i am more than welcome to answer questions about the area.

always beenon the fence if onuma was involved. without giving away too much information, i have been living in san francisco so i am more than welcome to answer questions about the area.

Okay thanks. How likely do you think it is she was swept away at Land's End beach? Now her dad said in the segment that he didn't think so because it was a tourist area and someone would have seen something.
But from the info presented, I think it's the easiest and most likely explanation. She told co-workers before she left she planned to go there. The dogs tracked her there. It was mentioned in the segment that lots of people are washed away there.

The only things that point to other possibilities are the phone call and the blonde she was supposedly talking to. I think the beach scenario is at least as likely as the abduction scenario if not more so.

Knowing the area, what do you think of the beach scenario? How likely is it that she was swept away with no one witnessing it?
Thanks.

Okay thanks. How likely do you think it is she was swept away at Land's End beach? Now her dad said in the segment that he didn't think so because it was a tourist area and someone would have seen something.
But from the info presented, I think it's the easiest and most likely explanation. She told co-workers before she left she planned to go there. The dogs tracked her there. It was mentioned in the segment that lots of people are washed away there.

The only things that point to other possibilities are the phone call and the blonde she was supposedly talking to. I think the beach scenario is at least as likely as the abduction scenario if not more so.

Knowing the area, what do you think of the beach scenario? How likely is it that she was swept away with no one witnessing it?
Thanks.

i've been around there. i will visit that specific area. if you had to ask me, that area tends to be full of people particularly on a summer's day. its a trail (land's end), being to the trail once, i'd surmise that i do not think she was swept away...but i'd have to visit that specific location where the dogs lost her scent. but from what i do know...people would have been there if she fell over. if she fell over i wold think the tide woulda pushed her to shore or her body would have been just at the rocks. its not like a golden gate suicide where they just jump over the bridge and the current takes them. it would have to be a VERY VERY specific location for her to fall...and have the ocean take her to sea. so i guess its possible, but i dont think so.

if it was a sunny day and it was during day i'm pretty sure people would have saw her. it tends to be very sunny in august onto around october november here...but early summer tends to be somewhat cold and foggy. if you ask me though, i've been to trail, but i would have to know where her scent ended. and it is my opinion though that for almost all places, someone would have seen something and that i just dont think she fell over or committed suicide knowing area somewhat. if i didn't been to this trail, i would have guessed this is an accidental death.

the thing is this, even if the dogs followed her scent there, who's to say that she was there that day? she coulda went there on another day. thats just my gut opinion. sorry for rambling. i'll post some pictures when i get chance.

This article is nearly a year old but I'll post it anyway.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/03/03/MND01C7CBP.DTL

This case always fascinated me since I lived near San Francisco. In regards to the case, I think Kirsten was most likely killed. In the segment, it mentions that she wanted to explore the Bay Area as much as she could. IMO, she possibly when into the wrong area at the wrong time and perished as a result.

Old thread, but I have to admit I find that website a little unsettling. I'm not sure how fair it is to have people's names listed front and center in connection with the case just for having worked at the same place she did for less than a month. And people listed just for knowing the person of interest. Just doesn't seem right.



I agree. I looked at the website and it seemed to be saying "There's a 75-90% chance that ONE OF THESE PEOPLE [cue the scary music] killed her!!!" Honestly, if I were one of them, I'd be pretty upset to have my name up there like that. And weren't most of them (roommates, co-workers) cleared by the police?

Charli-Ann

I tend to lean toward suicide but I need to think on it more.


Just curious, what makes you think that it might have been suicide?

Charli-Ann

How likely do you think it is she was swept away at Land's End beach? Now her dad said in the segment that he didn't think so because it was a tourist area and someone would have seen something.
But from the info presented, I think it's the easiest and most likely explanation. She told co-workers before she left she planned to go there. The dogs tracked her there. It was mentioned in the segment that lots of people are washed away there.

The only things that point to other possibilities are the phone call and the blonde she was supposedly talking to. I think the beach scenario is at least as likely as the abduction scenario if not more so.


I go back and forth on this one. Too bad the identity of the woman Modaferri was (possibly) talking to was never determined. Onuma is a creep, but there's no concrete evidence that he ever had any contact with her. There's no mention of why the police no longer consider him a suspect.

It's possible that she was in the Land's End or Sutro Baths area and no one noticed what became of her. She wouldn't have been the first person to go missing from those locations. Below are some similar cases:

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/s/schakenberg_dirk.html

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/m/marcotte_noel.html

http://www.angelfire.com/mi3/mpccn/lupercio_richardo.html

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/e/ewing_michael.htm

hmm this one is a tough one!!
i doubt it was suicide. i mean she was excited to be there and explore, no reason whatsover to kill herself.

i think if she spoke of going to the beach thing, she probably did, maybe she met someone and was a little too trusting due to her willingness to explore,
maybe it was that Jon guy, he might of responded to her ad and said to meet at the water area. maybe pushed her in or took her somewhere else and killed her.

sad for the family, i wish that blonde woman would come forward

Just watched this. I never thought suicide. The brother said she was in a big city and naive...I think she met her death.

I never got a suicide vibe from this one...

I recently stumbled into this case, and have been reading up on it in my free time. It's really amazing that she just sort of vanished without a trace anywhere. They don't even know for sure she's dead. She seems like the kind of person who wouldn't leave her family in worry if she was alive, so my gut reaction is that she was murdered.

It hits a little close to home, as I was in San Francisco around the same time period, and she's only a year older than I was. Though I was with family when I went. I can not imagine how she did everything alone, like going to the concert on a train by herself. It's pretty unbelievable.

I've scoured the FindKristen.com website and though there is a lot of great information, some things seem to be lacking.

Like Jon Onuma, has some aliases that aren't listed. Here's what I've come up with: Toshi, Jade, Jade Zekkou from Zekkou Ultimedia, JadeAvAssociates (his ebay name), JadeSeven (jadeseven - deviantart username), exoticxdom (aol username), & jade yoshino. I have a friend who has discussed Jill Lampo with me, and she assured them that "Toshi" is the nickname preferred by Onuma's "friends" and Onuma himself.

He really doesn't want people to know his real name these days.

thaivisa(dot)com/forum/topic/74720-canadian-journalist-shot-dead-by-girlfriend-in-chiang-mai/page-9

Excerpt from post 216 from the above link:

"...When that didn't pan out, Daniel made plans to document his travels to South America and Central America and take Jade with him. This required international booking using Jade's real name, Jon Onuma . When he overheard me making travel arrangements, he overreacted, yelling and screaming at me that his name not be known to ANYONE. He threatened me, my family and those that were in the office. I tried to call the police but Jade pulled the phone cord out of the wall. I made it clear to Daniel and Geri that I would not tolerate that behavior and insisted that Jade be barred from the office area....."

From all I know, he sounds like a sadist. "He told the owner the the sight of a woman's vagina no longer excited him and that he need to beat the woman up just to get an erection. " - findkristen's The-Plumber page. As a matter of fact, Jill Lampo told my friend that the reason she finally broke up with Onuma was because the violence in their relationship had escalated to the point that he choked her unconscious, nearly to death.

And he threatened someone with Kristen's name. "He said, "You know I'm going to have to kill you. I can't let you go. 'Now you know what happened to Kristen Modafferi!' - findkristen's Debbie-s-Life-Threatened

But I'm not convinced he's the one who actually killed her.

He called in the fake tip from the very beginning to get back at people for the way they treated his girlfriend at the time Jill Lampo AKA Jillian Suzanne, AKA Jillian Lazzaro (Her FB page is under Lezzaro).

He said it was a prank. He has a sick sense of humor, and he's been paying for it ever since, constantly changing his name, because if anyone looks up his real name they see these sites.

There was supposedly a sighting of her in Nicaragua. This person who called in the tip, supposedly was in Nicaragua and about a year later was in Hawaii (2001), and finds out about the case, and puts 2 and 2 together, right? Isn't it a little bit interesting that the tipster calls in the tip while being in Hawaii where Onuma was hanging out? (findkristen.com's nicaragua page)

I sincerely believe that Onuma got this guy to put the tip in for him as a joke, or just another prank. Either to have fun, or to throw people off the track.

What I'm more interested in is Matthew Luque! His name is in the date book that has those 2 days ripped out. And when Mahon calls up Matt to find this Kelley Strathman, Matt sounds nice and pleasent until he hears Kristen's name and then flips out!

"Look", he said, "I've got nothing to do with this." Don't you ever call me again!"
"You got that?"
"You got that?"
"You got that?"

(findkristen's Matthew-Luque page)

Was it Matt who ripped those pages out? not Onuma?

And who is Kelley Strathman? Mahon has the name written 3 different ways on the website, his last name with and without an 'r' and his first name with and without an 'e'. No one has been able to find this guy and he was best friends with Luque!

Don't you think it's a little bizarre that no one knows who Kelley Strathman is? My theories are it was an alias from the beginning or Kelley was a middle name and he goes by his first name now. Either way, people always point out the blond haired woman never got in contact with the police, what about this Kelley person? Why haven't they?

Kelley Strathman & Matt Luque AKA Fyist were best friends. I also checked out Matt and his brother Mike's facebook pages and they seem to be Satanists. Could this have been some sort of ritual killing? We don't know if she was a virgin or not, what if?

Kelley Strathman was working at Spinelli's Coffee when Kristen disappeared and Matt Luque was working there after.

Of course, the other fascinating detail is that Jill Lampo was dating Matt Luque who was best friends with Strathman, so she obviously knew Strathman as well. It seems almost likely that Jill was the blond seen in the mall with Kristen the day she disappeared. Jill clearly enjoys being dominated by sadistic sociopaths, and could have easily been enlisted in a scheme to lure/abduct Kristen from the mall. It would have been easy for a psycho like Jill to dupe someone young and innocent like Kristen. If anyone has any contact information for Kelley Strathman please post it here, and I can forward it to the proper authorities.

-----

God please shine your light and help bring justice for all those who have been lost due to the wicked men of this world. In Jesus Christ's name I pray.

Psalm 10 Why standest thou afar off, O Lord? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble? 2 The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined.3 For the wicked boasteth of his heart's desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the Lord abhorreth.4 The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.5 His ways are always grievous; thy judgments are far above out of his sight: as for all his enemies, he puffeth at them.6 He hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved: for I shall never be in adversity.7 His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity.8He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily set against the poor.9 He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den: he lieth in wait to catch the poor: he doth catch the poor, when he draweth him into his net.10 He croucheth, and humbleth himself, that the poor may fall by his strong ones.11 He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten: he hideth his face; he will never see it.12 Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up thine hand: forget not the humble.13 Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God? he hath said in his heart, Thou wilt not require it.14 Thou hast seen it; for thou beholdest mischief and spite, to requite it with thy hand: the poor committeth himself unto thee; thou art the helper of the fatherless.15 Break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil man: seek out his wickedness till thou find none.16 The Lord is King for ever and ever: the heathen are perished out of his land.17 Lord, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear:18 To judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may no more oppress.

Possible development in the case http://www.wsoctv.com/news/news/local/official-possible-human-remains-found-where-missin/nmmJY/?ecmp=wsoctv_social_facebook_2014_sfp

I hope this leads to closure for this family.

Possible development in the case

I hope this leads to closure for this family.

Thanks for posting that. I still hope that whatever happened to Kristen, whoever was responsible for her going missing/being killed gets caught...

Fingers crossed that they will find something there. Kristen's now been missing for longer than she was alive :(

Fingers crossed that they will find something there. Kristen's now been missing for longer than she was alive :(

Yeah, it's really sad. :( Hopefully something will bring about some justice for her soon.

I think the case has a good chance to being resolved now that they most likely found her remains.

I think the case has a good chance to being resolved now that they most likely found her remains.

Hopefully, but so far all they have is soil samples with decomp. We have to wait a month to find out if it's the right time table. :/

has there been an update on the remains or possible remains? I just watched the segment this morning and it prompted me to look up what happened to her and I came across this forum. I honestly thought I was the only one that was looking a case up.

Are we still waiting for news? There is a reddit page on the case with an update from 2016 linking her disappearance to a cult killing but I am not sure how trustworthy reddit pages are.

there is a youtube link about the case from the primetime live segment they did on her. I am not sure if youtube llinks are allowed but a simple Kristen Modafferi on Primetime Live search will take you there.

After 20 years, new leads bring hope in the mysterious disappearance of Kristen Modafferi


SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Two decades ago, college student Kristen Modafferi left her job at a San Francisco coffee shop, never to be seen again.

The case is an enduring Bay Area mystery, but on the eve of the 20th anniversary of Kristen's disappearance, there's fresh hope in a seemingly cold case: Private forensic investigators say they've found new evidence and a possible DNA match.

Kristen moved to Oakland the summer of 1997 to take a photography class at UC Berkeley. She'd been awarded a scholarship from North Carolina State University to spend the semester living, studying and working in another city. Kristen chose the Bay Area, where the family had previously vacationed.

Now, the Modafferis, who are from Charlotte, are inextricably tied to the Bay Area by Kristen's disappearance. They sat down to discuss the new leads and reflect on the case that's taken bizarre twists over the years.

"When I think about 20 years having gone by, I feel quite robbed on having missed out on the experience and Kristen not being here, part of our family, for the beautiful milestones in our lives," said Lauren Modafferi, Kristen's sister, as she choked back tears.

Kristen is the second oldest of Bob and Debbie Modafferi's four daughters. Allison is the oldest, Lauren and Meghan are the two youngest.

"We think about her all the time," said Allison Modafferi emphatically.

Kristen had just turned 18 before she moved west. It's a detail that would later complicate the search, because as a legal adult, she wasn't considered a missing and endangered child.

On June 23, 1997, Kristen left the coffee shop where she worked, Spinelli's Coffee in San Francisco's Crocker Galleria. She withdrew money from the bank, a surveillance camera capturing what are the last known images of Kristen.

Coworkers told police they saw her walking with a blonde woman.

"As far as who that could be, we're just not sure," said her father, Bob Modafferi.

Despite efforts to locate the mystery woman, no one has ever come forward.

Though Kristen was last seen in San Francisco, she was renting a room at a home in Oakland, and her missing persons case is with that police department.

"This is specifically her file," says Officer Rodger Haley with the Oakland PD, as he pulls out a 3-foot-wide drawer.

It's packed with folders, notes on the investigation. Haley inherited the Modafferi case, plus hundreds of others, in his large case load. Kristen's case is still classified as an open case.

A NEW LEAD

In 2015, the Modafferis connected with a private forensic investigator and his K9.

Paul Dostie and Buster, who specializes in finding hidden graves, took another look at the Jayne Avenue property in Oakland where Kristen lived. Buster sniffed for human decomposition chemicals and alerted Dostie to a drainage pipe downhill of the home and at the vents around the basement.

"There's human decomposition present here, 100 percent," Dostie told ABC7 News in June 2015.

Under recommendation from Dostie, the Oakland police brought in specialists from Chico State. They used ground-penetrating radar in the basement.

"Based on that, they found an area of interest and came back and performed a dig," said Haley.

But, he noted, the dig didn't reveal anything. The soil, dense clay, would make it exceedingly difficult to bury someone in the basement, Haley said.

Dostie returned in February of this year and brought with him Dr. Arpad Vass, a research scientist and forensic anthropologist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He specializes in human decomposition.

While police investigators have long focused on San Francisco, the outside investigators believe Kristen may have made it back to Oakland.

Dr. Arpad Vass details his work as a forensic scientist in a TedX talk. Vass has developed a proprietary device that detects human decomposition chemicals. He and Dostie used it to pinpoint an area between the two Oakland houses at the base of some porch steps.

"That, we feel, is the source and, most likely, Kristen's blood there," Dostie said. "It is human blood, but ... we don't get an indication of a burial. It's more of a crime scene."

Bob Modafferi said his family was told there could be a connection.

"The DNA they were finding within these human decomposition chemicals was a match to our daughter Kristen," he said.

The Modafferis provided DNA samples for Vass and Dostie to use in their testing.

But, due to the proprietary nature of the device, details about how it works are highly guarded. It's currently under patent review. Both men are volunteering their time and expertise.

Nonetheless, Dostie said, "We feel pretty confident of our findings."

Their findings make the Modafferi family hopeful.

"This new DNA evidence, to me, it changes everything," said Meghan Modafferi. "It's like starting over. It's like a whole new story."

But the technology is new, which presents a challenge for OPD.

"That's the problem ... being able to understand it and being able to duplicate it in case this does go to a higher level, where we need to have a basis for proof," said Haley.

To treat this as evidence, OPD would have to scientifically and independently verify it. Then it could hold up if presented at a criminal trial.

"If they're able to come up with the same conclusions as Dr. Vass, I see no reason why this shouldn't be opened as a homicide case," said Bob Modafferi.

As Oakland police look into the findings, there's another unresolved thread in Kristen's case: two persons of interest.

"We've always felt that Jon Onuma and his then-girlfriend, Jill Lampo, are hiding something," said Kristen's father.

ABC7 News tracked the two down and, for the first time, Lampo spoke on camera.

(6/22/17)

After 20 years, new leads bring hope in the mysterious disappearance of Kristen Modafferi


SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Two decades ago, college student Kristen Modafferi left her job at a San Francisco coffee shop, never to be seen again.

The case is an enduring Bay Area mystery, but on the eve of the 20th anniversary of Kristen's disappearance, there's fresh hope in a seemingly cold case: Private forensic investigators say they've found new evidence and a possible DNA match.

Kristen moved to Oakland the summer of 1997 to take a photography class at UC Berkeley. She'd been awarded a scholarship from North Carolina State University to spend the semester living, studying and working in another city. Kristen chose the Bay Area, where the family had previously vacationed.

Now, the Modafferis, who are from Charlotte, are inextricably tied to the Bay Area by Kristen's disappearance. They sat down to discuss the new leads and reflect on the case that's taken bizarre twists over the years.

"When I think about 20 years having gone by, I feel quite robbed on having missed out on the experience and Kristen not being here, part of our family, for the beautiful milestones in our lives," said Lauren Modafferi, Kristen's sister, as she choked back tears.

Kristen is the second oldest of Bob and Debbie Modafferi's four daughters. Allison is the oldest, Lauren and Meghan are the two youngest.

"We think about her all the time," said Allison Modafferi emphatically.

Kristen had just turned 18 before she moved west. It's a detail that would later complicate the search, because as a legal adult, she wasn't considered a missing and endangered child.

On June 23, 1997, Kristen left the coffee shop where she worked, Spinelli's Coffee in San Francisco's Crocker Galleria. She withdrew money from the bank, a surveillance camera capturing what are the last known images of Kristen.

Coworkers told police they saw her walking with a blonde woman.

"As far as who that could be, we're just not sure," said her father, Bob Modafferi.

Despite efforts to locate the mystery woman, no one has ever come forward.

Though Kristen was last seen in San Francisco, she was renting a room at a home in Oakland, and her missing persons case is with that police department.

"This is specifically her file," says Officer Rodger Haley with the Oakland PD, as he pulls out a 3-foot-wide drawer.

It's packed with folders, notes on the investigation. Haley inherited the Modafferi case, plus hundreds of others, in his large case load. Kristen's case is still classified as an open case.

A NEW LEAD

In 2015, the Modafferis connected with a private forensic investigator and his K9.

Paul Dostie and Buster, who specializes in finding hidden graves, took another look at the Jayne Avenue property in Oakland where Kristen lived. Buster sniffed for human decomposition chemicals and alerted Dostie to a drainage pipe downhill of the home and at the vents around the basement.

"There's human decomposition present here, 100 percent," Dostie told ABC7 News in June 2015.

Under recommendation from Dostie, the Oakland police brought in specialists from Chico State. They used ground-penetrating radar in the basement.

"Based on that, they found an area of interest and came back and performed a dig," said Haley.

But, he noted, the dig didn't reveal anything. The soil, dense clay, would make it exceedingly difficult to bury someone in the basement, Haley said.

Dostie returned in February of this year and brought with him Dr. Arpad Vass, a research scientist and forensic anthropologist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He specializes in human decomposition.

While police investigators have long focused on San Francisco, the outside investigators believe Kristen may have made it back to Oakland.

Dr. Arpad Vass details his work as a forensic scientist in a TedX talk. Vass has developed a proprietary device that detects human decomposition chemicals. He and Dostie used it to pinpoint an area between the two Oakland houses at the base of some porch steps.

"That, we feel, is the source and, most likely, Kristen's blood there," Dostie said. "It is human blood, but ... we don't get an indication of a burial. It's more of a crime scene."

Bob Modafferi said his family was told there could be a connection.

"The DNA they were finding within these human decomposition chemicals was a match to our daughter Kristen," he said.

The Modafferis provided DNA samples for Vass and Dostie to use in their testing.

But, due to the proprietary nature of the device, details about how it works are highly guarded. It's currently under patent review. Both men are volunteering their time and expertise.

Nonetheless, Dostie said, "We feel pretty confident of our findings."

Their findings make the Modafferi family hopeful.

"This new DNA evidence, to me, it changes everything," said Meghan Modafferi. "It's like starting over. It's like a whole new story."

But the technology is new, which presents a challenge for OPD.

"That's the problem ... being able to understand it and being able to duplicate it in case this does go to a higher level, where we need to have a basis for proof," said Haley.

To treat this as evidence, OPD would have to scientifically and independently verify it. Then it could hold up if presented at a criminal trial.

"If they're able to come up with the same conclusions as Dr. Vass, I see no reason why this shouldn't be opened as a homicide case," said Bob Modafferi.

As Oakland police look into the findings, there's another unresolved thread in Kristen's case: two persons of interest.

"We've always felt that Jon Onuma and his then-girlfriend, Jill Lampo, are hiding something," said Kristen's father.

ABC7 News tracked the two down and, for the first time, Lampo spoke on camera.

(6/22/17)

Wow. That is really great news. I moved to SF about a month after she disappeared. There were posters with her face all over the area where I was living. I really hope they will be able to give the family some closure. I thought they had figured this out a few years ago because they mentioned some kind of possible break in the case on the local news, but I guess that was a false lead.

I didn't get the feeling that this was a suicide, either.

I think Jon Onuma is a pretty good suspect:
- He made the bogus call to police, falsely implicating other people (deflecting from his guilt IMO).
- Multiple women came forward, claiming that they were abused and assaulted by him.
- One of the alleged victims claims that he threatened her, saying that "the same thing that happened to Kristen Modafferi could happen to you".
- His girlfriend's journal had pages ripped out from it - which coincided with the time that Kristen vanished.
- He met women through personal ads and it is believed that Kristen had posted an ad in the newspaper shortly before she vanished.
- Finally, he used other women to meet with potential victims (like the blonde woman seen with Kristen when she vanished).

I go back and forth on this one. Too bad the identity of the woman Modaferri was (possibly) talking to was never determined. Onuma is a creep, but there's no concrete evidence that he ever had any contact with her. There's no mention of why the police no longer consider him a suspect.

It's possible that she was in the Land's End or Sutro Baths area and no one noticed what became of her. She wouldn't have been the first person to go missing from those locations. Below are some similar cases:

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/s/schakenberg_dirk.html

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/m/marcotte_noel.html

http://www.angelfire.com/mi3/mpccn/lupercio_richardo.html

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/e/ewing_michael.htm

I am convinced that she accidentally fell into the water and was swept away to drown. It’s sort of like the Amy Bradley case (she definitely fell into the water) where Occam’s Razor is the way I lean. Strongly.

The “mysterious” blonde woman was more than likely just a random person she ran into and had a casual conversation with while walking. I have had many one off casual conversations with strangers at stores, bars, sporting events, etc. over the years where I remember what was said but completely forgot about what the other person looked like within days. Perhaps the “mysterious” blonde woman was just a chatty person and completely forgot about the encounter too. For all we know the conversation may have only lasted 30 seconds on an escalator, therefore it would have been easy to forget about even days later.

This Onuma character just seems like a troll to me. There is absolutely zero evidence that he ever even met Kristen. He more than likely was just trying to jam up the women he accused of her disappearance out of pure spite. It’s a dick move for sure but it certainly doesn’t mean he killed her. Plus, if he did kill her, why even get involved at all? She was a total stranger and there was no physical evidence of them ever even meeting so he would have easily gotten away with it and never even been accused if not for the call. He certainly didn’t make the call for attention either since he demanded that his face be blurred out and his voice be modified in order to appear on UM. Those aren’t the type of demands that an attention seeker makes. It doesn’t make sense to me.

Then there is the bloodhound trail. Multiple co-workers of hers stated that she planned to go to Land’s End that day. The bloodhound led them directly to Land’s End. Then the scent just stopped completely. She had to go into the water since bloodhounds cannot pick up a trail underwater. There is no other explanation IMO.

Kristen’s father, much like Amy Bradley’s father, is in denial. Of course he wants to believe in his heart that she didn’t just completely disappear in order to eventually get closure if and when her body is found. His comment saying something along the lines of “there is ALWAYS someone there because it’s a tourist attraction” is simply not true. It would take less than 1 second for her to fall into the water. There is no chance that someone is watching every single spot on the edge of Land’s End every single second of every single day. I’ve done a lot of traveling in a lot of very touristy places. Sometimes there are wall to wall people, sometimes there are virtually none at all. It all depends on the time of the day, the day of the week, the time of the year, etc. Plus, the ledges in the area where she was are so high up that it would have been impossible to hear her hit the water. Plus, there are more than half a dozen other cases of people who were last seen in that area who completely disappeared never to be seen again. That water is quite treacherous to say the least.

1+1=2 here. She accidentally fell into the water to her death.

I've been following the 1997 KM case since last year. Very sad, and it's unfortunate that the family hasn't gotten closure. Without a body, there's always the extremely slim chance she's still alive somewhere. But, it's very doubtful because if that were the case, she would almost certainly have gotten in contact with her family at some point in the past 25 years.

When I first started doing research on the case & listened to the Dennis Mahon podcasts - I was half-way convinced that she did meet with foul play, or got kidnapped & was later killed.

However, as time has gone on I agree that the Land's End theory is the most plausible. I.e., Land's End is an area where people have lost their footing, fallen into the water, and drowned/gotten swept away in the current. I completely see this as being something that could have happened to her on 6/23/97 (the last day she was seen). This is especially plausible/possible if she went there alone & in the evening, when visibility wasn't as good & when others may not have seen what happened to her as easily as during the day.

I don't believe she killed herself, nor do I believe that she intentionally disappeared. She was only 18, starting college, and had her whole life ahead of her. She lived in NC, but had gone to SF (on her own) that summer to get new life experiences & to expand her horizons, etc. Also, she was working at the coffee shop/a museum - and had plans to start taking some summer college classes the day after her disappearance. These are not the actions of someone that is depressed & wants to end it all. These are also not the actions of someone who is getting ready to vanish.

I don't believe that the blonde woman means much at all. Apparently the blonde & KM? were too far away to see clearly, and KM may not even have been the woman the blonde was with. However, on the off chance that KM was the one seen with the blonde woman, apparently her manager at the coffee shop saw KM leave the mall alone. If this is true, then even if she was the one talking to the blonde woman - that doesn't mean she stayed with her and/or that she had plans with her later that day. And, even if KM didn't leave the mall alone - that still doesn't mean much.

i read somewhere that the police found traces of blood in her house, they tested it and it was hers.

So now they think she was killed in her house and her body was taken to another place

Is there any updates?

Then there is the bloodhound trail. Multiple co-workers of hers stated that she planned to go to Land’s End that day. The bloodhound led them directly to Land’s End. Then the scent just stopped completely. She had to go into the water since bloodhounds cannot pick up a trail underwater. There is no other explanation IMO.

Excellent post.

I agree. In the missing persons cases where someone seemingly disappears without a trace, especially near a body of water, the odds are much more in favor of an accident or suicide rather than foul play. There is no sighting of her at her home or anywhere near her home (where police theorize could have been the scene of a crime). The last sighting of her was at the Galleria, she told coworkers she was going to Land's End, and the bloodhound trail stops dead at Land's End. IMO, a very tragic accident.

The “mysterious” blonde woman was more than likely just a random person she ran into and had a casual conversation with while walking. I have had many one off casual conversations with strangers at stores, bars, sporting events, etc. over the years where I remember what was said but completely forgot about what the other person looked like within days. Perhaps the “mysterious” blonde woman was just a chatty person and completely forgot about the encounter too. For all we know the conversation may have only lasted 30 seconds on an escalator, therefore it would have been easy to forget about even days later.

100% agree. This was almost certainly a red herring. For all we know it could have been someone walking in the same direction being friendly and chatty.


This Onuma character just seems like a troll to me. There is absolutely zero evidence that he ever even met Kristen. He more than likely was just trying to jam up the women he accused of her disappearance out of pure spite. It’s a dick move for sure but it certainly doesn’t mean he killed her. Plus, if he did kill her, why even get involved at all? She was a total stranger and there was no physical evidence of them ever even meeting so he would have easily gotten away with it and never even been accused if not for the call. He certainly didn’t make the call for attention either since he demanded that his face be blurred out and his voice be modified in order to appear on UM. Those aren’t the type of demands that an attention seeker makes. It doesn’t make sense to me.

I also think this was a red herring, and this guy caused nothing but a distraction for the investigators. While he allegedly had a history of abuse, there is nothing connecting him to Kristen beside his false tip. It's possible he made the call to get back at the women he was fighting with to get that kind of attention, but didn't want his face showing on TV when admitting to his wrongdoing. But again, I don't think he was involved at all.


Then there is the bloodhound trail. Multiple co-workers of hers stated that she planned to go to Land’s End that day. The bloodhound led them directly to Land’s End. Then the scent just stopped completely. She had to go into the water since bloodhounds cannot pick up a trail underwater. There is no other explanation IMO.

Kristen’s father, much like Amy Bradley’s father, is in denial. Of course he wants to believe in his heart that she didn’t just completely disappear in order to eventually get closure if and when her body is found. His comment saying something along the lines of “there is ALWAYS someone there because it’s a tourist attraction” is simply not true. It would take less than 1 second for her to fall into the water. There is no chance that someone is watching every single spot on the edge of Land’s End every single second of every single day. I’ve done a lot of traveling in a lot of very touristy places. Sometimes there are wall to wall people, sometimes there are virtually none at all. It all depends on the time of the day, the day of the week, the time of the year, etc. Plus, the ledges in the area where she was are so high up that it would have been impossible to hear her hit the water. Plus, there are more than half a dozen other cases of people who were last seen in that area who completely disappeared never to be seen again. That water is quite treacherous to say the least.

1+1=2 here. She accidentally fell into the water to her death.

So I used to be convinced this was a case of foul play, but reading more about Lands End and the numerous casualties there, I'm inclined to agree this is the most likely scenario. You would think other people would notice someone going to the water, but that's not necessarily the case. It may have been summer, but going right after her work shift doesn't necessarily mean a bunch of people would have been there. Those linked Charley Project cases are a testament as to how unrelenting nature is. Doesn't matter if someone is a strong swimmer, if she fell, she would have been swept out to sea.

There is a visitor's center now, but back when Kristen vanished, it's possible she was alone or that no one was near enough to even see her fall or get washed off the rocks. It's very tragic, as if this is what happened, there will never be answers to show for it.

https://abc7news.com/kristen-modafferi-disappearance-san-francisco-coffee-shop/2134466/

https://web.archive.org/web/20181207063132/https://www.sfgate.com/local/article/Kristen-Modafferi-cold-case-Oakland-Jayne-DNA-13005068.php
This update lends more to homicide.