Crime Junkie is investigating the disturbing disappearance and death of Franchesca “Cheka” Alvarado, a single mom from Philadelphia, Pennslyvania, who went for a fun trip in Atlantic City and sadly never came home.
Alvarado has now been missing for 14 years. Her family have no clue what happened to her, but they were horrified when her bones began washing ashore on the New Jersey coast.
On St. Patrick’s Day, 2012, 22-year-old Alvarado secured a babysitter for her three-year-old daughter and left for Atlantic City with an older male friend, Tracy Williams. Alvarado was due to start studying criminal justice at Community College of Philadelphia but had arranged this trip to have a bit of fun before she started classes.
Unfortunately, Alvarado and Williams became separated, and Williams drove home without her. He told the police that she said she’d make her own way home.
Alarm bells began ringing in the minds of Alvarado’s family. Her sisters knew she would never avoid contact with her daughter or the rest of the family. Her sisters filed a missing persons report and rushed to Atlantic City, where they put up missing posters and handed out flyers along the Boardwalk and elsewhere.
Alvarado had not taken her cellphone because it was either lost or broken. She had brought her laptop, but that remains missing.
There are zero clues about who killed Cheka Alvarado
According to her sisters, Tina and Frances, neither Williams nor Alvarado’s roommate cooperated with the investigation. Williams reportedly refused to take part in a lie detector test.
Watch the Latest on our YouTube ChannelAlvarado’s former boyfriend is currently incarcerated in federal prison on unrelated gun charges. No one has ever been charged with Alvarado’s murder.
The family was shocked when, 15 months after Alvarado’s disappearance, her sneaker with a severed foot inside washed up on shore at Corson’s Inlet near Ocean City. The following year, her tibia washed up on shore, and in 2015, her femur.
Alvarado’s bones were held in a funeral home, and the family hoped more of her remains would turn up. However, in April 2016, the family decided it was time to lay her to rest, and they held a funeral.
The New Jersey State Police investigated the case, and the file remains open. However, Detective Sgt. Joseph Itri told The Philadelphia Inquirer, “The leads have been exhausted.”
Franchesca Alvarado family is still searching for her
Alvarado’s family continues to search for her remains and clues as to what occurred in March 2012.
Sister Frances Casteing told the press, “Our soul still wants to search for her. We still Google bones found, remains found, washed ashore. We’re still searching for her. And, I think there’s a lot of people when it comes to missing people. You just never stop searching for the person.”
Anyone with information is asked to please contact the NJSP Major Crime South Unit at 609-882-2000, ext. 3353.
MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF: Franchesca Alvarado is available to download now at Crime Junkie.