Marlene Santana

[mah79]

Hi Everyone,
Does anyone remember the story of Marlene Santana? I think this case came on UM sometime in the late 1980's. I have seen it a few times on Lifetime, and I think Spike aired it as well (though I have not seen the Spike version). Marlene was a 3 day old infant who was kidnapped from an NYC hospital in 1985 at gunpoint by a woman, and has never been seen again. In fact, if she is alive, I think her birthday is in fact this week...so she would be 24 years old.
I also thought to post this question. Or rather re-post it, as I came across it elsewhere on the board. I came across this theory in another thread, and it really does make me think if Marlene Santana and this child are one in the same. Someone had asked if it might be possible if Marlene Santana and "baby Hope" are one and the same. Baby Hope was the name given to a still unidentified Hispanic child whose body was found off the Henry Hudson parkway in the summer of 1991. She was believed to have been strangled and sexually assaulted. She was about 5 or 6 years old, the same age Marlene would have been. She was never identified, but I think a sympathetic police officer gave her a name and a burial.
If Baby Hope was Marlene Santana, perhaps it might explain why no one has come forward? I mean, Marlene was kidnapped. If Baby Hope was a kidnap victim, perhaps her parents don't know where she is, and that is why she is unidentified? What do you think? I think that, if anything, DNA testing could be done with Baby Hope and Marlene's parents, to see if there was a connection?
Two very sad cases. I hope that one day justice is found for Baby Hope, and that Marlene is found.
These are the links to Marlene, and to baby hope:
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/...a_marlene.html

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/400dfny.html

http://doenetwork.org/cases/50ufny.html

[Necco]

That's a very good possibility. While I would hope this match has already been pursued and ruled out, you never know.

[egswanso]

It's possible; DNA would say one way or the other.

I think it's likely baby Marlena was raised by her abductor as her own, and barring a death-bed confession by her "mother," will never know she was ever abducted in the first place.

[mah79]

I just realized that today is October 21. Marlene Santana was kidnapped 24 years ago today. She turned 24 on October 18th. I hope that one day she may be found.
I am also curious to hear what anyone thinks about this. ON Unsolved Mysteries, and also on the Doe Network, 2 theories are presented. The first one is that Marlene was sold into an illegal adoption ring. The second is that Marlene's kidnapper may not have been able to have a child of her own, and stole Marlene so that she would have a baby to raise. Which do you think happened? I tend to lean toward the second theory.
I remember that the Lifetime version of Marlene's story also briefly featured stories about 2 other infant kidnap vicitms, a black baby girl named Carlina White, and a young white boy. I have seen Carlina White's story on Doe Network and Charley project (links below). She has still not been found. Her story was also profiled on the TLC special "I'd Kill for a Baby," whcih describes stories of women who have faked pregnancies and kidnapped infants.
Does anyone remember the name of the little boy? Has he been found? Thanks for the info.

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/...e_carlina.html

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/333dfny.html

[justins5256]

Here is a thread I started some time ago about the two cases profiled in brief after the Marlene Santana story. Neither of the children have been found:

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/...d.php?t=224480

As for Marlene, I always figured that she was either sold, or perhaps raised by the woman who abducted her. That being the case, I think there is a good chance that Marlene may be alive today with no knowledge of the true circumstances behind her birth and abduction.

[Fanight]

There is a Facebook page for Marlene Santana please help spread the word. The family still hopes to find her one day.

[1990 UM fan]

I think Marlene is still alive. She most likely has no idea she was kidnapped but what I'm wondering is if she went through the same thing Carlina White did and needed her birth certificate and other information? Wouldn't she have thought something was up if she didn't have one? Christopher Abeyta, not sure if he is alive sadly.

[DarkDante]

Originally Posted by 1990 UM fan

Christopher Abeyta, not sure if he is alive sadly.

Yes there are some who believe Christopher was killed on the night of his abduction. Some even suspect family involvement but who knows?

[amandab1234]

Maybe it’s just me, but I always found this case kinda suspicious. I find it strange that a random woman just came up and kidnapped her. The mother said the abductor said she had been “waiting for her all day”. Of course this might have been a figure of speech, but if this is true, there should have been more witnesses. She then said they walked 6 blocks at gunpoint, surely someone would have had to seen something. I mean they were in Brooklyn, NY and no one saw anything? It is a sad case but part of me thinks there is more to the story.

[wiseguy182]

huh. I just looked at the charley project page again, and I was always baffled why they said it was just Marlene, her mother and the adbuctor walking the six blocks. The UM re-enactment showed 2 of Marlene's adult relatives with her.

I also just noticed they have a second sketch of the abductor, which I've never seen before. This one looks quite different from the first one.

[WishfulDreamer]

I have also wondered if there is more to the story. But I don't think the mother made up the story. The pain in her eyes seems very legitimate to me. But of course there are so many questions. Why was the woman at the hospital? Scoping out targets? And were they really right in front of the hospital when the woman pulled out a gun and no one was there to see it? Or was the reenactment inaccurate?

[wiseguy182]

I always thought Marlene's mom leaving the hospital at 9 p.m. with her was a little weird, especially if the part about it being just the 2 of them is to be believed.

[WishfulDreamer]

Originally Posted by wiseguy182

I always thought Marlene's mom leaving the hospital at 9 p.m. with her was a little weird, especially if the part about it being just the 2 of them is to be believed.

THIS. Don't you have to check out earlier than that and they would usually insist on a new mother being wheeled out to the car, etc. Even if the hospital didn't have those procedures, what was up with the time?

[TracyLynnS]

Marlene had to stay an extra day in the hospital due to jaundice. I wonder if that's why she was discharged so late in the evening. It could have been a different kind of discharge policy for a patient undergoing treatment compared to the standard new baby and mom leaving the hospital scenario.

Unsolved.com says this: A few hours [after she first saw the woman at the nursery window], at 9:00 PM, Francesca checked out of the hospital. According to Francesca, her two sisters-in-law came to take her home:

"When we were going downstairs, a woman came to me, the same woman that I saw in the nursery. She told me she was waiting for me all day."

According to Francesca, the woman then pulled out a gun and pointed it at the baby:

"She told us to walk or she was going to blow up the head. And, we walked."

They walked over six blocks at gunpoint. Finally, they stopped near a deserted junkyard. At first, Francesca thought that they were being robbed. The woman demanded that Francesca give her the baby, then got in a car driven by an accomplice and drove off. Francesca was in a state of shock:

"When she took the baby... I didn't know what to do. I was crying, I tried to stop the car and... nobody helped us."

It also says she went to the police and described the car (a white 1976 Chevy Malibu, with red lettering on the door). If her sisters in law were with her, I wonder if they also gave a statement to the police describing the car and the abductors.

Marlene was born in 1985. I don't know what this hospital's policy was for taking out new moms and newborns at the time of discharge but I had two kids in the 80s. In 1987, my son and I were discharged at about 11:00am three days after he was born. We were both healthy and it was just that hospital's policy to keep newborns for three days. We were taken in a wheelchair to the door of the hospital, I can't remember if we were wheeled outside the door or not.

In 1989, I had my daughter at a different hospital. She was born at 5:00pm and we were discharged 24 hours later, which was kind of an odd time to be sent home. A staffer took us in a wheelchair just outside the door then immediately turned around and went back inside the building. I imagine something very similar could have happened with Marlene and her mom: just dropped off outside the door and left to make her own way to the car in the parking lot or whatever, especially if her sisters in law were with her.

FWIW, Marlene was abducted at night on October 21, 1985, which was a Monday. Weather on that day was a high of 70 and a low of 58 and there was no precipitation. It would have already been dark for a couple hours by the time Marlene and her mom left the hospital which would have probably made it easy for the abductor to not be noticed loitering around outside.

[UnsolvedMFanatic]

Originally Posted by DarkDante

Yes there are some who believe Christopher was killed on the night of his abduction. Some even suspect family involvement but who knows?

Christopher's case indeed has a suspect always has. Her name is Emma Bradshaw and from the evidence it's pretty clear she took Christopher. She was the woman that Mr Abeyta had had an affair with. Christopher disappeared the very night that Mr Abeyta came back home for the first time,having reconciled with his wife. He dumped Emma and she said she's get him,and it looks as though she has. I'm updated frequently on his case,they just came out with a new age-progressed photo (the original one always looked a bit creepy to me in the eye area). I follow his case closely on their FB page and the family is still very committed to finding him,and believe his is still alive.
I'm somewhat torn. Knowing who did this,her documented background,there's always the chance she killed him that night,she was a nut-bag. However,I find it equally as plausible that she sold him,turned him over to someone to raise and he's alive and well,simply not knowing who he really is,and his "adoptive" parents having no idea they adopted a stolen child. Or perhaps his "adoptive" parents obtained him illegally and knows very well,but has kept silent.
It's all very open for interpretation,and there was definitely bungling on the part of the PD who investigated his disappearance. I wish UM had done a full segment on this case,rather just adding it at the end of Marlene's story.