Anthonette Cayedito

[BlueGalexy]

The Cayedito case has always confused the hell out of me quite frankly, and I've never been able to come up with a conclusive theory about what might have happened. There are two major problems for me. One is that there seems to be an absence of verifiable information to go on. Two is that what little information IS available seems to be somewhat unreliable IMO. Basically we're left to try to decipher the midnight recollections of a young, traumatized child and the retelling of said recollections by her confused, traumatized mother (who may or may not have been under the influence of intoxicants at the time). I try to give Penny the benefit of the doubt in this case...I've never been comfortable pointing fingers based solely on statements and/or behavior that has been deemed "strange", or didn't seem right for whatever reason, or atypical, etc.

At least one of the problems I've always had with this case was recently resolved for me. Taking everything at face value, I always felt that whomever knocked on Penny's door that night was taking a huge risk in doing so. After all, how could they be so sure that a parent or some other adult present wouldn't have been the one to answer the door? It was recently pointed out to me however that it may not have been as risky as I'd always assumed. So what if it had been a parent or adult caregiver to answer the door? At that point, the perpetrator just pretends they have the wrong address, or had car trouble, or any one of a number of other benign excuses they came up with on the fly. Sure, it may seem a bit odd given the hour, or even a little unsettling to the homeowner, but chances are they simply close the door in the perpetrator's face and go back to bed, IMO at least.

I guess at the end of the day, even after all this time, I still have no idea what really happened that night.

[TheCars1986]

The biggest problem I have with the "Uncle Joe" abduction theory is that these men showed up at their home and knocked on the door at 3 a.m., and that Anthonette and her sisters went to the door and answered. "Uncle Joe" and his accomplice abduct Anthonette, and then...her sisters go back to sleep and do not mention any of this to their mother who is frantically searching for her or the police for five years?

Anthonette disappeared in April of 1986. The (IMO) prank call came in a year later. Then there was nothing until the restaurant sighting of a girl trying to seek out help in 1991 that the waitress believed could have been an older Anthonette. It was one month after this sighting that the police re-interviewed the family and this was the first time Wendy told her story about "Uncle Joe". I'm sorry but that all seems suspect to me. IMO, the sister was coached into making it up to have the story of Anthonette being alive more believable. Because after the restaurant sighting, of which I do not believe the girl was Anthonette, there is nothing. Take away the restaurant sighting and the phone call, and this case looks a lot different. The police have publicly said that they believe Penny knew more about Anthonette's disappearance in 2016.

ETA: Here is where Penny was out drinking until midnight that night in relation to where they lived. They were so close to a major highway.

[TheCars1986]

I went down a semi-deep rabbit hole with regards to the town of Gallup, NM and there was a lot of strange things that had happened over the years. Apparently a local man was caught molesting young boys between the ages of 9-11 years old and was arrested shortly after Anthonette's disappearance. He would take multiple boys on "picnics" where he would molest them. The police thought he was a good suspect until the victims told them that Anthonette had never went with them on any of these "picnics". Also of note, Anthonette's other sister, Senida, also came forward with a similar story to Wendy's years after Anthonette went missing.

The timeline that everyone agrees on is that Penny went out to the Talk of the Town Bar from sometime in the evening until midnight on April 6th, 1986. Penny left the children with a babysitter, who left after Penny came back home at midnight. Penny and Anthonette's two sisters all say that they stayed up until 3 in the morning when they all went into the master bedroom to go to sleep. They woke up at 7 in the morning and Anthonette was gone.

^ That is the version of events that the mother, babysitter, and two siblings agree on. We all know that 5 years after Anthonette's abduction her family was re-interviewed by the police. Wendy told them that she heard a knock at the door shortly after 3, and she accompanied Anthonette to the door. Anthonette asked who it was and a man said that it was "Uncle Joe", so Anthonette, having a real Uncle Joe, opened the door and was abducted. However, her sister Sineda told investigators that shortly after 3 in the morning they all (except for Penny, who was already asleep) heard knocking at the front door. She says that both a male and a female were asking to have the door opened because "we're cold out here", and claimed that they identified themselves as their aunt and uncle. Scared, they did nothing and she says that she fell asleep. Wendy's story is that there were two rounds of knocking on the front door, and after ignoring the first round of knocking, Anthonette got up on the second round and this is what she claimed to have witnessed her being abducted by "Uncle Joe". Oddly, Sineda was older than Wendy at the time, but UM made no mention of her version of events.

The whole story sounds coached and made up. Wendy was 5 and Senida was 7 at the time of Anthonette's disappearance. Neither one of them brought up any of this until 5 years after Anthonette disappeared. The original detective assigned to the case (not the one interviewed on UM) believed the family knew more than what they were telling. Multiple people were seen entering and leaving Penny's house the night before Anthonette's disappearance. Apparently a month after Anthonette's disappearance, a local rumor started going around that a child was found buried behind a local grocery store. After hearing this rumor, Penny suffered a nervous breakdown and was hospitalized for 4 days.

[BlueGalexy]

^^^Thanks TC for the additional details in this case. It's times like this that I wonder about the divide between what LE knows and what they've made public. I realize that Penny's accounting of the night in question is full of holes and her remaining children's version of events have been disjointed and subject to change in the years since. At the same time, I also know that children have indeed been abducted from their own homes, sometimes while their parents slept in adjacent rooms, and that on occasion there has been a sibling left behind who witnessed the crime.

For example, in the Elizabeth Smart case, the abduction was witnessed by her younger sister, and while the child reported what had happened immediately, it wasn't until months later that she was finally able to recall where she'd seen the abductor before. There's also the 1981 abduction of 14 year old Linda Smith from her home in Idaho. The crime was witnessed by her 9 year old brother Ben, who actually chased the abductor and tried to physically intervene only to be roughly shoved away. As their mother wasn't yet home, Ben had to run to a neighbor's home to call 911. He has later stated in interviews that LE seemed to dismiss his report and seemed to take the attitude that he had either dreamed the incident, or was outright making things up to "cover" for his teenage sister sneaking out. Ben even goes on to state that it seemed like LE had even tried to convince him that he was either mistaken or lying. He's been very candid over the years about how his memory seemed to change over time and how the trauma of the crime itself combined with how he was treated by LE had an undeniable effect on his perceptions and recollections. Sadly even though Smith's remains were eventually found, the case remains unsolved to this day.

Now I'm certainly not saying that this is what happened in the Cayedito case. I guess I just feel that regardless of how implausible a situation might seem, anything is possible, and I hope that LE allows for these possibilities during their investigations.

[jets4life]

Originally Posted by TheCars1986

I went down a semi-deep rabbit hole with regards to the town of Gallup, NM and there was a lot of strange things that had happened over the years. Apparently a local man was caught molesting young boys between the ages of 9-11 years old and was arrested shortly after Anthonette's disappearance. He would take multiple boys on "picnics" where he would molest them. The police thought he was a good suspect until the victims told them that Anthonette had never went with them on any of these "picnics". Also of note, Anthonette's other sister, Senida, also came forward with a similar story to Wendy's years after Anthonette went missing.

I've read about the man who molested the boys. He was cleared in the case, and is not considered a suspect. I believed he was strictly a homosexual pedophile.

The timeline that everyone agrees on is that Penny went out to the Talk of the Town Bar from sometime in the evening until midnight on April 6th, 1986. Penny left the children with a babysitter, who left after Penny came back home at midnight. Penny and Anthonette's two sisters all say that they stayed up until 3 in the morning when they all went into the master bedroom to go to sleep. They woke up at 7 in the morning and Anthonette was gone.

^ That is the version of events that the mother, babysitter, and two siblings agree on. We all know that 5 years after Anthonette's abduction her family was re-interviewed by the police. Wendy told them that she heard a knock at the door shortly after 3, and she accompanied Anthonette to the door. Anthonette asked who it was and a man said that it was "Uncle Joe", so Anthonette, having a real Uncle Joe, opened the door and was abducted. However, her sister Sineda told investigators that shortly after 3 in the morning they all (except for Penny, who was already asleep) heard knocking at the front door. She says that both a male and a female were asking to have the door opened because "we're cold out here", and claimed that they identified themselves as their aunt and uncle. Scared, they did nothing and she says that she fell asleep. Wendy's story is that there were two rounds of knocking on the front door, and after ignoring the first round of knocking, Anthonette got up on the second round and this is what she claimed to have witnessed her being abducted by "Uncle Joe". Oddly, Sineda was older than Wendy at the time, but UM made no mention of her version of events.

The whole story sounds coached and made up. Wendy was 5 and Senida was 7 at the time of Anthonette's disappearance. Neither one of them brought up any of this until 5 years after Anthonette disappeared. The original detective assigned to the case (not the one interviewed on UM) believed the family knew more than what they were telling. Multiple people were seen entering and leaving Penny's house the night before Anthonette's disappearance. Apparently a month after Anthonette's disappearance, a local rumor started going around that a child was found buried behind a local grocery store. After hearing this rumor, Penny suffered a nervous breakdown and was hospitalized for 4 days.

Yes, Penny was at the bar until at least midnight. This is when things get puzzling. According to Unsolved Mysteries, Anthonette opened the door at approximately 3 AM after a man identifying himself as "Uncle Joe." The problem with this theory, is that this was not known until over 4 years later, as it was disclosed by Wendy, who was 5 years old at the time.

It has now been well documented that Penny, the mother, failed a polygraph test at some point in the investigation, as to the whereabouts of Anthonette. Detectives were so certain of Penny's involvement, that in spring 1999, when Penny was terminally ill in the hospital, they tried to arrange a "deathbed" confession from her, but were unsuccessful.

There had been numerous rumors over the years that both Anthonette's parents were drug users (or sold drugs). Cars arriving late at night was not uncommon at their home. The supposed 3 AM abduction had no witnesses, but a van was observed early that morning between 6-7 AM by locals. This would contradict Wendy's story of the 3 AM abduction.

It should be noted that Wendy had admitted several years ago, that her and her mother used alcohol and drugs in the 90s, possibly to cope with her sister's disappearance. Wendy would have been 18 when Penny passed away in 1999. It's not known why Wendy waited over 4 years to disclose new information on the case, but there is speculation she was "coached" by Penny, who was never eliminated as a suspect.

The same theory can be applied to the mysterious phone call. An unidentified called who claimed to be Anthonette, was traced to Albuquerque, a good 200 miles away, and placed to the Gallop Police Department. This makes no sense. If it was Anthonette, wouldn't she either call her home, or the local Albuquerque police? The main thing about the phone call, is the caller never revealed any useful information (where she was being held, etc), just stating her name, then screaming.

The waitress tip may have been more believable if the sighting happened within weeks or months of the abduction. However, it was years later. And the note written at the cafe, leaves the same questions, as the phone call. If it really was Anthonette, why just state where she was and her identity. Just writing "Help me" sounds more of a joke than a significant lead.

The case may never be solved, but there is a theory that Anthonette may have been sold off to either pay off drug debts, or for money. It has been noted in the past that Penny purchased a rather expensive new vehicle a week after Anthonette went missing. Considering the family was poor, and living in a housing project, it's bizarre that a mother would purchase a new vehicle so shortly after her own daughter vanished.

[TheCars1986]

Thanks to crystaldawn for the heads up, but if you are interested about more information on this case, go to the forbidden site and search "Disappeared In Darkness: The Disappearance of Anthonette Cayedito | Part 1 | Full Episode (S1, Ep3)". The channel is "Crystal Gutierrez TV".

[comicbookwriter]

And the TRACE EVIDENCE PODCAST just did a major update on the case that reveals that Penny may have been directly involved with her daughter's disappearance.

I don't know if I can share the link, but a google search should take you to the right spot.

[rusty spike]

I have always thought that Penny lost her temper and accidentally killed Anthonette. I think the story of an intruder was created to make Penny feel better about the incident.

[TheCars1986]

Very damning information with regards to Penny. There is zero doubt in my mind she was involved now. From the Crystal Gutierrez report:

* Anthonette's mother, Penny, had plans to go out on the evening preceding Anthonette's disappearance. While she was getting ready, a man named Emeliano (nicknamed "Emo") came over to the residence and brought Anthonette flowers, a gift, and had Anthonette sit on his lap while Penny was gone from the room.

* Four days after Anthonette disappeared, Penny told investigators that Emo had given Anthonette flowers three times in the days leading up to her disappearance. Penny did not mention this to investigators until another family member brought it up in the presence of police.

* Per the police report, there were multiple witnesses who witnessed Emo bringing flowers to Anthonette the night before she went missing.

* Anthonette's younger sister, Sadie, says that her mother came home at around midnight, and made her and Anthonette's other younger sister Wendy go to bed. Penny and Anthonette stayed up "playing cards". Sadie said that this was unusual.

* Sadie says that shortly after being put to bed, a man began knocking on the door. Not the infamous "Uncle Joe", but another man who was asking Penny to let him in. Penny told the kids to ignore him and he would go away.

* According to police, a man named Roger told them he showed up at Penny's house at 3:30 A.M. and knocked on the door and a window checking on Penny because they "got into an argument at the bar". When no one answered, he left and spent the night at a friend's house. The friend backed up his story of events.

* Wendy was the sister who came forward 5 years after Anthonette disappeared and said she heard a second round of knocking at the door and that a man named "Uncle Joe" was asking for someone to open the door. She claimed that Anthonette opened the door and was abducted. Sadie, however claims there was no second knock at the door.

* Penny originally told local investigators that she woke up at 3 A.M. and saw Anthonette sleeping, and then when she woke back up at 7 A.M. Anthonette was gone. When the FBI interviewed Penny in 1994, she mentioned hearing the knocking at the door and said (verbatim):

I told her [Anthonette] to go ahead and answer it. I laid there for a period of time, maybe 30 minutes, and Anthonette never came back. I got up to see where she was but I couldn't find her.

* Penny says that the knock came about 30 minutes before it was "just getting light" outside. But she estimated the time to have been between 3:30-4:30 A.M., meaning it would have been impossible for her to see light.

* Penny's best friend was a man named Ronald, who had introduced Emo to Penny. According to Sadie, Emo was never at their house unless he was with Ronald until the night of Anthonette's disappearance, where he showed up with flowers and a bear necklace. Oddly, after Anthonette disappeared, Penny set up a shrine of sorts in her memory and that same bear necklace was used as an ornament on the shrine.

* After Anthonette's disappearance, neither Ronald or Emo ever showed back up or spoke with Penny ever again. Emo was given a polygraph but the results have never been publicly disclosed. Emo was never named as a suspect or person of interest by law enforcement.

* Roger, Penny, and Sadie all confirm that he knocked on the door between 3:30-4:00 A.M. Roger would have been an important witness because according to Penny the second knocks came at roughly this same time. Roger didn't report anything suspicious to investigators.

* At 6:30 A.M. on the morning of Anthonette's disappearance a search party was out a block away from her home looking for a lost dog. Penny's live-in boyfriend claims that members of the search party told him Anthonette was with them looking for the dog, but she never returned home.

* According to Penny, both Ronald and Emo failed polygraph tests given to them "miserably". There is no evidence in the case files handed over to Crystal Gutierrez of any polygraph results.

* Penny was re-interviewed by the FBI in 1994. When they confronted her over their belief that she was involved in Anthonette's disappearance, she asked them what would happen if she told them she was involved with Emo.

* Per the FBI report from her interview in 1994:

When advised that the FBI had information that she was directly implicated, Cayedito stated the words, "what if I told you Emo and I did this, would we both go to prison?" Cayedito stated that she and Emo got together on a plan prior to her daughter's disappearance. Cayedito advised that Emo [last name redacted] and Ron [last name redacted] had come over, she remarked to Emo that her oldest daughter was getting to be a problem and she wanted a better life for her. Cayedito advised that Emo then told her that he would be the person that would take Anthonette. Cayedito stated she wanted to know where. [Name Redacted] told her it was better she did not know.

* According to a former Gallup detective who investigated the case in the late 90's to early 2000's, he confronted Penny over the allegation that she had told people that she had sold Anthonette for drugs but couldn't remember to who. She denied knowing anything about Anthonette's disappearance. Oddly, when the FBI report was turned over to Gallup PD, they did not include the interview in which she basically confessed to them in 1994. He said that not knowing about this "confession" interview, as well as not being up to come up with a motive were reasons why he never formally charged her.

I think she planned on selling Anthonette to this Emo creep or wanted to get rid of her for her own twisted reasons. I do honestly think that this Roger guy showed up and knocked on the door asking for Penny. Penny and Sadie confirm that he knocked and Penny told everyone to ignore him and the knocking stopped. Shortly after this is when Roger arrived at the home of the babysitter Penny hired to watch the kids (who lived down the road from Penny), and the babysitter confirmed that Roger was with her at the home for the remainder of the night. I think it's possible that Penny had arranged for Anthonette to be abducted anytime from midnight to 7 the next morning. But she didn't anticipate Roger showing up at the home knocking on the door. So she had to incorporate that into the story somehow. So she invented the second round of knocking attributed to "Uncle Joe" and fed the story to Wendy. I do think Penny felt guilt over this and legitimately did try to find Anthonette. It's just baffling to me as to why the FBI didn't bring charges against her in 1994.

[Hambone2421]

Originally Posted by TheCars1986

It's just baffling to me as to why the FBI didn't bring charges against her in 1994.

Agreed. But there HAS to be more to this than what's in that file. The FBI wouldn't not arrest someone due to a lack of motive. Something has to give here. It's very strange that after all that was said in that 1994 interview, that not only were charges never filed, but that the case appears to have been dropped altogether.

[freakbook]

Originally Posted by TheCars1986

So she invented the second round of knocking attributed to "Uncle Joe" and fed the story to Wendy. I do think Penny felt guilt over this and legitimately did try to find Anthonette. It's just baffling to me as to why the FBI didn't bring charges against her in 1994.

Yep. Wendy basically confirmed a few years ago that "she doesn't remember a uncle Joe". And just kept saying "I don't know" when the interviewer asked her questions. So I'm pretty sure she was fed a bunch of lies to regurgitate to authorities. She also mentioned how she and her mother "smoke and drunk" when they thought about Anthoinette.

To be honest, Penny's motive for getting rid of Anthoinette is confusing. Anthoinette was her baby sitter and pretty much looked after her sisters when Penny went partying. But on the other hand Penny was seen with a new car shortly after her disappearance, so I do believe she sold her to Emo.

I don't think Penny felt bad for Anthoinette's disapperance at all. I think going on Unsolved Mysteries, and going to the "psychic" were all rues she used to look innocent to law enforcement. No way I can believe one sells or kills their child, goes out and buys a new car, then start feeling bad.

She definitely had something to do with it

[freakbook]

Originally Posted by Hambone2421

Agreed. But there HAS to be more to this than what's in that file. The FBI wouldn't not arrest someone due to a lack of motive. Something has to give here. It's very strange that after all that was said in that 1994 interview, that not only were charges never filed, but that the case appears to have been dropped altogether.

Honestly I think there was just a lack of evidence to charge her with. They can suspect her all they want, but there was nothing tangible to charge her with

[rusty spike]

There's no evidence of Anthoinette of being harmed or killed other than the fact that she went missing. There's a lot of conflicting statements by the witnesses.

[TheCars1986]

Originally Posted by freakbook

Honestly I think there was just a lack of evidence to charge her with. They can suspect her all they want, but there was nothing tangible to charge her with

She confessed to being involved. The Gallup detective who looked into the case in the late 90s said he would have charged her had he known about the confession to the FBI in 1994.

[MediaHoarder]

Originally Posted by TheCars1986

She confessed to being involved. The Gallup detective who looked into the case in the late 90s said he would have charged her had he known about the confession to the FBI in 1994.

Yeah, under what circumstances? How many hours of verbal abuse did she endure in the "interrogation" before she did what other disadvantaged people have been known to do and just told the investigator what they wanted to hear?
Did she have a lawyer for that questioning? If she did, I can bet it was not one that worked for her, but one that worked for the government. Highly doubtful she had the means to hire her own.

Even if the confession happened, I'm certainly not buying it.

After watching the episode, I came away with the same impression that most did. She was abducted, possibly in an event that was different from what anyone has been willing to discuss and maybe not fully above board. But subsequent to that she was trafficked. She called the only emergency number she knew when she got a chance a year later. And possibly she was the girl who tried to get help from the waitress. And by now she is almost certainly deceased.