WEBVTT
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The views and opinions expressed in Cold and
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Missing are exclusively those of the hosts. All
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parties mentioned are considered innocent until
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proven guilty in a court of law. Cold and Missing
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also contains adult themes and languages. Listener
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discretion is advised. I'm your host, Ali McLaughlin
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-Sulkowski. And I'm your co -host, Eli Sulkowski.
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And this is Cold and Missing, where we cover
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cold cases and missing person cases. Hello, everyone,
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and welcome back to Cold and Missing. I'm your
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host, Ali. And I'm your co -host, Eli. Welcome
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back, everyone. Yes, Eli's work schedule has
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calmed down this week, so we were able to get
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together and record, and we just thought we should
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just go ahead and get into this week's episode.
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We're both here. We should just get into it.
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Yeah, we are on episode 154, and this week's
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case is a... A cold case. All right, let's do
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it. Let's do it. Today... We are talking about
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the cold case of Maria Bianca Cortes, and this
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takes place in March of 1992 in the Mission Valley
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neighborhood in San Diego, California. But first,
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a little bit about Maria. Maria Bianca Cortes
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is just 23 years old in 1992. It does seem like
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she goes between the name Maria and Bianca, so
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you might hear me refer to her as both throughout
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the podcast or people refer to her as Bianca
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as well. She was a young mother devoted to raising
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a two -year -old daughter who was the center
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of her world. Maria's daughter is also very important
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to this timeline. However, it does seem that
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Maria's daughter is seeking privacy in her adult
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life, so For that reason, I'm just going to refer
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to her as her daughter throughout the podcast.
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I don't think it will be too confusing, but I
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just want to respect her privacy. Maria was born
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and raised in Mexico, but in 1987, she made the
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decision to move to the United States, settling
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in San Diego. She was in the process of becoming
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a U .S. citizen and worked very hard to build
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a stable life for herself and her daughter. Maria
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lived with her boyfriend, Raul, who was also
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the father of her daughter. Maria didn't have
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a car, which meant navigating San Diego almost
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entirely by bus. Many days required two or more
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buses to get where she needed to go, and when
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transfers ran late, Maria often found herself
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walking alone at night for long stretches. Occasionally,
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to avoid these long and exhausting trips, she
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would sometimes accept rides from strangers.
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Despite these challenges, Maria never let transportation
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stop her from giving her daughter a full life.
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As her sister said, quote, Whatever that little
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girl wanted, she would take her. Maria worked
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long hours as a babysitter and housekeeper. When
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she was working, her daughter was often cared
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for by family and close friends. Those close
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to her described her as a loving, attentive mother
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who lived a quiet, honest life. Her brother -in
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-law says, quote, It's a tragedy, a total tragedy.
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And with that, we'll get into a timeline of events.
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Tuesday, March 3rd, 1992. So Maria was last seen
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around 6 .30 p .m. on that Tuesday evening. She
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was picking up her daughter, I believe from a
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relative's house. It's reported that it was her
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sister. It's believed Maria could have been heading
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to a sewing class in Linda Vista at the Bayside
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Settlement House later that evening. Some reports
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say that her sister drove Maria and her daughter
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to a bus stop and dropped them off around 6 .30
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p .m. So 6 .30 p .m. is the last known sighting
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of Maria. Police, however, will continue to report
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that the last confirmed sighting of Maria Bianca
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Cortes was her walking toward Marina Boulevard
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with her two -year -old daughter. Maria's boyfriend
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was working that evening, but when he returned
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home later that night, He found neither Maria
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or his daughter were home. He immediately knew
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something was wrong as this was extremely unusual.
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He waited anxiously through the night. But finally,
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on the morning of Wednesday, March 4th, when
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the sun started to rise and they still were not
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home, he called police to report them missing.
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Early that morning, a man was reading a newspaper
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near a shopping center in Mission Valley. Behind
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the shopping center was an open field. From a
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distance, he noticed something that didn't make
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a lot of sense. Unsure of exactly what he was
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seeing, the man flagged down a woman riding her
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bike. She decided to ride into the field to investigate,
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expecting to find a person facing homelessness
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who maybe needed help. Instead, she made a horrifying
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discovery. She says, quote, I saw it was a little
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girl, who was bloody, who was sitting on a body,
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and she just turned and looked at me. Quickly,
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the biker rode off to find a phone to call police.
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At approximately 7 .15 a .m., police were dispatched
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to 7500 Mission Valley Road after receiving a
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call that a child was sitting on top of a body
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in an open field. Today, this area is very busy
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and built up, but back in 1992, there was far
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less there. When officers arrived, Maria's daughter
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ran into the arms of a female officer that came
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to the scene. Reports say that she didn't start
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crying until police arrived, and that's when
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she began to cry. Maria's daughter had been sitting
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with the body of her mother in a muddy field
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behind a shopping center. Ultimately, the autopsy
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will show that Maria had been strangled and stabbed
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in the groin. Investigators believe the stab
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wound was ultimately what killed her. The autopsy
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will also confirm that she had not been sexually
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assaulted. Maria's daughter had been sitting
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with her mother's body for hours. She was covered
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in blood. None of it was her own. Hypothermia
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was beginning to set in, but otherwise, the two
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-year -old was unharmed, physically unharmed.
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Maria's daughter was taken to a hospital and
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treated for the exposure. Police immediately
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start searching for her father, Raul, as they
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need to question him before they're able to release
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her to him. Based on the condition of both Maria
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and her daughter, investigators believe that
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they had been in the field for several hours
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overnight. But they never give a specific time
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of death or window when they believe that the
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murder had actually happened. They just say several
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hours overnight. The next day, Thursday, March
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5th, police continue to question Raul in connection
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with Maria's murder. He is ultimately released
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from custody and he's never called a suspect
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in this crime. Investigators stated they did
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not have a clear motive in the crime. While there
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had been two other stabbing murders in the week
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prior to Maria's death, police did not think
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that they were related at that time. The next
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day, so this is two days after the murder, Friday,
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March 6th, police released photos of Maria Bianca
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Cortes to the public, hoping someone would recognize
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her or recall seeing her the night that she was
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killed. Investigators urged anyone who may have
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seen Maria traveling that evening to come forward
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with the information. There was no tip too small.
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But sadly, after this, Maria's case really goes
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cold. I tried to dig and dig for updates, but
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I really couldn't find any until 2022, so that's
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nearly 30 years since the murder. And in 2022,
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Maria's case is being revisited by the media
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and by the police, bringing renewed attention
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to her murder and the unanswered questions surrounding
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it. Police do share a little bit more about the
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timeline. Investigators believe that Maria may
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have taken the bus as far as Mission Valley and
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then accepted a ride. Tony Johnson, a senior
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investigator with the district attorney's office,
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says, quote, The only thing that hurt Maria was
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that she didn't have a car. It seems certain
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that she was picked up in some vehicle and driven
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to that location. It's revealed that there were
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tire tracks in the mud that night, suggesting
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that Maria and her daughter had been driven into
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the field where Maria was found. Investigators
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still don't know whether Maria knew the person
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that she got in the car with or if it was a stranger.
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At the time of the murder in 1992, no real DNA
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evidence was collected from the scene as, you
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know, it was still in its infancy and kind of
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getting started in criminal investigation. However,
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police are hopeful that advances in forensic
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technology could finally bring answers to her
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case. Tony Johnson says, quote, one of the big
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developments is the ability to get DNA from rootless
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hairs. Investigators did collect several hairs
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at the scene. They were found on Maria's body
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and did not match her own hair. So investigators
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are hoping that this new forensic technology
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will be able to pull a DNA sample out of the
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hair and then ultimately lead to a hit in the
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system. Again, Tony Johnson says, Now that update
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was in 2022. I looked to see if there were any
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results or updates in the story from those hairless
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or those hairs without roots. But there doesn't
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seem to be any update. I'm hopeful that maybe
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the tests are just very backlogged in California
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and maybe they haven't gotten to them yet. But
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there are no more updates around that if they
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did get a match or if they were able to extract
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DNA from that at all. But with that, if you have
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any information about the murder of Maria Bianca
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Cortes, please contact the San Diego Police Department.
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So that is the cold case of Maria Bianca Cortes.
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Just to speak on Maria quickly here at the top,
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I love that she was such a caring and present
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person, especially in her commitment to motherhood
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and parenthood. It speaks volumes about how she
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was navigating her entire life about how she
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was just kind of committed to those roles as
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a person and as a mom. And she was building something
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beautiful for herself and for her daughter, for
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her family. I think she sounded awesome and unstoppable.
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Yeah. I really think so many of the same things
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you just said, like I really got the impression
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that she was just like building this amazing
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life for herself, for her daughter, building
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this home and like such an incredibly hard worker
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and just like dedicated to what she was doing.
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Like it takes a lot of dedication to work multiple
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jobs, but that's like dedication to a goal you're
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trying to meet, you know, so. I just really admire
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her. I think she was an excellent person. Yeah,
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moving right into that, you know, she was someone
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who was, yes, using but relying on public transit.
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You and I are no strangers to that. We both have
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put in, I think, over 10 years of being public
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transit people with where we live, and it is
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a whole skill set on its own. navigating your
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life, your jobs, your career through using and
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relying public transit. So while, you know, now
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we have access to Lyfts and Ubers and ride shares
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and taxis, it wasn't the same back then. So I
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understand her, you know, if it was kind of a
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last resort, but, you know, shit needed to be
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done. She needed to get to work. So she hopped
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in a car. And I would probably have done the
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same back, you know, during the early 90s if
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I was trying to get to work. Because if you miss
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that connecting bus, you're walking. Yeah. I
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mean, I think of just tonight where, you know,
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I was taking the train home from work and it
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was delayed. And I'm like refreshing my phone
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again and again to try to figure out, you know,
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if it's delayed and what I'm taking home to get
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around this and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
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You know, just thinking about in 1992, it's like,
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OK, if the train's delayed, like you won't know.
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You'll just have to sit there and either wait
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it out and hope it comes eventually or start
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walking, figure something else out. And yeah,
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like, you know, there were taxis back then, but
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you really had to actually see one and hail it.
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You couldn't really call it unless you got to
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a phone. So, yeah, just. incredibly tough to
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get around on public transit, you know, just
00:14:45.450 --> 00:14:47.950
today. But, you know, without technology and
00:14:47.950 --> 00:14:51.409
convenience of rideshares, it would have been
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so much more difficult in 1992. It was. It was
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more difficult. Yeah. So I guess mentioning,
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you know, how she was navigating transit to get
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to her job takes us right into the timeline.
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And I know it's a pretty short one, but Something
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I just want to say as we start unpacking the
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timeline and her murder is that it feels odd
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to say that I'm thankful, but in this case, one
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of the only things I'm thankful for is how young
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her daughter was. And the only thing I can hope
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for is that her daughter doesn't carry any memories
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of what her mother's last moments were like.
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Yeah, my heart breaks thinking about this two
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-year -old little girl in these terrifying moments.
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And I hope she has no memories of it either.
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But, you know, we hear that phrase, like, the
00:15:54.210 --> 00:15:57.009
body keeps the score. So, like, I can't imagine
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the impression that this made on that little
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two -year -old's life and the ripple effects
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of that. I can't imagine. But I am so thankful
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that she wasn't physically harmed during this.
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I will say in listening to this, it immediately
00:16:18.710 --> 00:16:21.389
reminded me of a case we covered, I think two
00:16:21.389 --> 00:16:28.330
cases ago, Lori Bolger. And I know their timelines
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are different, obviously, but the shocking reveal
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of A young woman's body being found in the middle
00:16:38.350 --> 00:16:43.210
of the day in the middle of a field. Again, even
00:16:43.210 --> 00:16:46.210
more shocking that this is a case that there's
00:16:46.210 --> 00:16:49.169
very little information on. Again, I think it's
00:16:49.169 --> 00:16:52.169
awesome that there are new eyes on it and that
00:16:52.169 --> 00:16:56.350
people are looking for answers and the case has
00:16:56.350 --> 00:16:59.629
been reopened. But the two cases had striking
00:16:59.629 --> 00:17:04.170
similarities. Just shocks me that more people
00:17:04.170 --> 00:17:08.109
don't know about them because of what happened
00:17:08.109 --> 00:17:12.849
and how they were found. Yeah, Lori's case, we
00:17:12.849 --> 00:17:15.369
did cover it a couple episodes ago. And yeah,
00:17:15.470 --> 00:17:19.529
similar in the field, causes of death are different
00:17:19.529 --> 00:17:23.029
here. And timelines, like you mentioned, are
00:17:23.029 --> 00:17:25.910
different. But yeah, like you said, the description
00:17:25.910 --> 00:17:29.450
and like kind of that visual of like a body.
00:17:30.190 --> 00:17:32.289
In the middle of a field and in this case, you
00:17:32.289 --> 00:17:35.650
know, a child sitting on a body in the middle
00:17:35.650 --> 00:17:39.470
of the field, like it's very shocking to just
00:17:39.470 --> 00:17:42.809
like pull that image up. Now, I do have some
00:17:42.809 --> 00:17:45.529
questions about the timeline, more specifically
00:17:45.529 --> 00:17:49.230
around the information about her last sighting
00:17:49.230 --> 00:17:54.230
and that there are two accounts. One is law enforcement.
00:17:54.269 --> 00:17:58.279
And I just wanted to clarify. Whose is the others?
00:17:58.380 --> 00:18:02.099
Or if there are, I guess I just wanted to circle
00:18:02.099 --> 00:18:06.160
back to that part of the timeline and the information
00:18:06.160 --> 00:18:10.160
you had. Okay, yes. So there are some questions
00:18:10.160 --> 00:18:13.980
around this. But back in 1992, police say at
00:18:13.980 --> 00:18:16.799
that time that the last confirmed sighting of
00:18:16.799 --> 00:18:20.059
Maria, she was seen walking toward Marina Boulevard
00:18:20.059 --> 00:18:24.440
with her two -year -old. And then the next time...
00:18:25.059 --> 00:18:29.599
Maria's found, she's near the 7500 block of Mission
00:18:29.599 --> 00:18:34.700
Valley Drive or road. So that's about an 18 minute
00:18:34.700 --> 00:18:37.720
drive, but it's an hour bus trip, just like kind
00:18:37.720 --> 00:18:39.559
of pulling up Google Maps, at least today. I
00:18:39.559 --> 00:18:41.740
don't know how long it was back in the day, but
00:18:41.740 --> 00:18:44.720
today it's about an hour bus trip. So where she
00:18:44.720 --> 00:18:46.660
was last seen walking, where it was reported
00:18:46.660 --> 00:18:50.940
in 1992, that would suggest that she was going
00:18:50.940 --> 00:18:55.049
to get on the bus. And then in 2022, police say
00:18:55.049 --> 00:18:58.710
that they believe that Maria had taken the bus
00:18:58.710 --> 00:19:02.029
as far as Mission Valley and then accepted a
00:19:02.029 --> 00:19:04.849
ride. So it's somewhere along Mission Valley
00:19:04.849 --> 00:19:08.410
that she likely got off the bus and then into
00:19:08.410 --> 00:19:12.230
a car. But I'm not sure if police have ever found
00:19:12.230 --> 00:19:16.809
any other witnesses to place her either on the
00:19:16.809 --> 00:19:19.470
bus or near that area outside of her getting
00:19:19.470 --> 00:19:22.720
in the car. Does that answer your question? Yeah,
00:19:22.759 --> 00:19:25.660
that clarifies a bunch of things for me, and
00:19:25.660 --> 00:19:32.140
it also takes me right into, you know, almost
00:19:32.140 --> 00:19:34.559
right now, you know, the fact that there are
00:19:34.559 --> 00:19:37.779
eyes on the case again, something that I immediately
00:19:37.779 --> 00:19:42.119
thought of after, you know, you telling us that
00:19:42.119 --> 00:19:46.450
there were tire tracks seen. As far as 2026 goes
00:19:46.450 --> 00:19:51.130
and technological advancements in evidence, I'd
00:19:51.130 --> 00:19:54.369
just be really interested to see what's the make,
00:19:54.509 --> 00:19:57.170
model, year of the tires, what are the tracks,
00:19:57.410 --> 00:19:58.990
what are the dimensions, what are the measurements,
00:19:59.230 --> 00:20:02.430
because that can tell you a lot and might lead
00:20:02.430 --> 00:20:07.269
to who was driving that car and was it the car
00:20:07.269 --> 00:20:09.890
that had her in it? Yeah, I'd be so curious to
00:20:09.890 --> 00:20:12.029
know. You know, if they've been able to glean
00:20:12.029 --> 00:20:14.490
any of that information from the tire tracks
00:20:14.490 --> 00:20:17.549
that they were able to collect from the scene.
00:20:18.069 --> 00:20:20.549
Because, yeah, like you said, it can get really
00:20:20.549 --> 00:20:23.089
specific to the point where you can get some
00:20:23.089 --> 00:20:25.210
information or maybe maybe it's not. Maybe it's
00:20:25.210 --> 00:20:26.869
really general, but that's still more information.
00:20:26.990 --> 00:20:30.569
So I think in a case like this where information
00:20:30.569 --> 00:20:33.970
seems to be lacking, any and all details are
00:20:33.970 --> 00:20:37.109
welcome. Yeah. And including with the DNA, I
00:20:37.109 --> 00:20:39.410
know you mentioned that there were hairs that
00:20:39.410 --> 00:20:43.309
didn't match her that were found on her. So I
00:20:43.309 --> 00:20:47.049
am I mean, I know evidence in DNA can degrade
00:20:47.049 --> 00:20:50.269
over time, but I'm hopeful that that those were
00:20:50.269 --> 00:20:52.450
even thought of to be collected at the time,
00:20:52.509 --> 00:20:56.589
because that means that to me, it says that those
00:20:56.589 --> 00:21:00.769
officers at the time were really working the
00:21:00.769 --> 00:21:06.980
case and trying. So I'm hopeful of those discoveries
00:21:06.980 --> 00:21:11.059
and the tests done on them. I hope that they
00:21:11.059 --> 00:21:15.599
reveal the information that all of us want, but
00:21:15.599 --> 00:21:18.940
more than anything, I hope that it brings justice
00:21:18.940 --> 00:21:23.359
and peace to her daughter because her daughter
00:21:23.359 --> 00:21:27.599
sounds like, well, she sounds exactly like her.
00:21:27.920 --> 00:21:33.460
Very committed and dedicated to... And, you know,
00:21:33.460 --> 00:21:36.839
unfortunately, a big part of her life is finding
00:21:36.839 --> 00:21:40.160
justice for who did this to her mom. But it's
00:21:40.160 --> 00:21:42.319
incredible that she has stayed committed to it,
00:21:42.339 --> 00:21:45.759
just like her mom was committed to her. While
00:21:45.759 --> 00:21:50.140
this case is very heartbreaking, I'm eager to
00:21:50.140 --> 00:21:55.200
spread the word about who Maria was and dig into
00:21:55.200 --> 00:21:58.480
more information that I can find on my own, honestly.
00:21:58.920 --> 00:22:01.759
I think it could have been really easy for Maria's
00:22:01.759 --> 00:22:06.339
case to really just be cold from the very jump.
00:22:06.380 --> 00:22:10.000
And of course, it kind of is, right? But we do
00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:13.240
have, you know, reporting on it. And there is
00:22:13.240 --> 00:22:16.279
an investigation now or, you know, reinvestigation
00:22:16.279 --> 00:22:19.720
of it. But I think Maria's daughter really impacted
00:22:19.720 --> 00:22:24.119
a lot of investigators in this case. I think,
00:22:24.119 --> 00:22:26.839
you know, coming to a crime scene and finding
00:22:26.839 --> 00:22:31.220
this two year old who was so brave and, you know,
00:22:31.220 --> 00:22:35.119
stayed with her mom until until the end, you
00:22:35.119 --> 00:22:38.859
know, like that is that's so brave. And it's
00:22:38.859 --> 00:22:40.519
something that a two year old should never have
00:22:40.519 --> 00:22:44.640
to do. So I think a lot of investigators really
00:22:44.640 --> 00:22:47.339
feel like they owe Maria's daughter an answer
00:22:47.339 --> 00:22:51.980
in this because she was so brave. I think that's
00:22:51.980 --> 00:22:53.819
I think it's personal for a lot of investigators
00:22:53.819 --> 00:22:58.460
in this case. And frankly, like it feels personal
00:22:58.460 --> 00:23:01.799
for me. Like, you know, I think we should get
00:23:01.799 --> 00:23:03.619
some energy behind this case, like you said.
00:23:03.720 --> 00:23:07.339
And I really hope that, you know, with this reinterview
00:23:07.339 --> 00:23:09.599
or reinvestigation that was happening in 2022,
00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:12.920
you know, this hope that maybe we can pull some
00:23:12.920 --> 00:23:16.170
DNA that there's. Even more evidence that we're
00:23:16.170 --> 00:23:18.009
unaware of that, you know, police are keeping
00:23:18.009 --> 00:23:21.069
close to them. So I'm really hopeful that somewhere
00:23:21.069 --> 00:23:24.349
in there is DNA and that DNA is somewhere in
00:23:24.349 --> 00:23:27.930
a database that will get us answers for Maria's
00:23:27.930 --> 00:23:32.650
daughter and for Maria. Nobody should be allowed
00:23:32.650 --> 00:23:35.309
to walk around and not answer for what they did
00:23:35.309 --> 00:23:39.009
here because this this is awful. This I mean.
00:23:40.299 --> 00:23:43.980
You took one wonderful person out of this world,
00:23:44.420 --> 00:23:47.619
and then you really threatened the life of a
00:23:47.619 --> 00:23:51.200
very innocent two -year -old. Because while she
00:23:51.200 --> 00:23:53.019
was unharmed, you know, she was starting to hit
00:23:53.019 --> 00:23:56.240
hyperthermia out there. So, like, bad things
00:23:56.240 --> 00:23:59.180
could have happened anyway. But ultimately, this
00:23:59.180 --> 00:24:01.839
case, it makes me really angry on a lot of levels.
00:24:01.980 --> 00:24:06.400
And so I want to turn that anger into energy,
00:24:06.619 --> 00:24:12.920
energy behind Maria's case. just in getting answers
00:24:12.920 --> 00:24:16.759
and demanding answers and that resources continue
00:24:16.759 --> 00:24:19.759
to be used for Maria's case and getting those
00:24:19.759 --> 00:24:23.079
answers. So again, if you have any information
00:24:23.079 --> 00:24:26.480
about the murder of Maria Bianca Cortes, please
00:24:26.480 --> 00:24:29.619
contact the San Diego Police Department at 619
00:24:29.619 --> 00:24:35.529
-531 -2293. And we will have a picture of Maria
00:24:35.529 --> 00:24:38.710
on our Instagram, at coldandmissing. Eli makes
00:24:38.710 --> 00:24:41.289
those graphics every week. So please share that
00:24:41.289 --> 00:24:45.069
picture. Let's get her case out there. Let's
00:24:45.069 --> 00:24:46.609
get more people talking about it. Let's get other
00:24:46.609 --> 00:24:49.329
podcasts covering it. Let's just get her case
00:24:49.329 --> 00:24:53.309
out there. And let the police know. We haven't
00:24:53.309 --> 00:24:55.109
forgot about her, and we still want to see answers
00:24:55.109 --> 00:24:57.609
here. So at coldandmissing, you can follow us
00:24:57.609 --> 00:25:00.049
there. And again, if we ever have to take a week
00:25:00.049 --> 00:25:02.960
off the podcast, we'll always update it. Thank
00:25:02.960 --> 00:25:33.819
you so much. If you could leave us five stars,
00:25:33.940 --> 00:25:36.700
it really goes a long way. And ultimately, it
00:25:36.700 --> 00:25:38.839
gets people listening to this case. So I see
00:25:38.839 --> 00:25:40.740
it as advocacy work. I think you should too.
00:25:40.940 --> 00:25:43.319
So go ahead, leave five stars. Leave a written
00:25:43.319 --> 00:25:45.019
review if you're an Apple podcast. It would mean
00:25:45.019 --> 00:25:47.380
the world to us. It always does. We celebrate
00:25:47.380 --> 00:25:49.940
each one that comes in. But that is all I have
00:25:49.940 --> 00:25:52.099
for you this week. Thank you so much for listening
00:25:52.099 --> 00:25:54.740
to Cold and Missing. I'm your host, Ali . And
00:25:54.740 --> 00:25:57.180
I'm your co -host, Eli. Have a good week and
00:25:57.180 --> 00:26:03.730
stay safe, y 'all. Stay safe, y 'all. Thank you.
00:00:08.269 --> 00:00:10.789
The views and opinions expressed in Cold and
00:00:10.789 --> 00:00:13.710
Missing are exclusively those of the hosts. All
00:00:13.710 --> 00:00:16.129
parties mentioned are considered innocent until
00:00:16.129 --> 00:00:18.949
proven guilty in a court of law. Cold and Missing
00:00:18.949 --> 00:00:22.410
also contains adult themes and languages. Listener
00:00:22.410 --> 00:00:26.230
discretion is advised. I'm your host, Ali McLaughlin
00:00:26.230 --> 00:00:29.010
-Sulkowski. And I'm your co -host, Eli Sulkowski.
00:00:29.210 --> 00:00:31.289
And this is Cold and Missing, where we cover
00:00:31.289 --> 00:00:35.009
cold cases and missing person cases. Hello, everyone,
00:00:35.049 --> 00:00:37.340
and welcome back to Cold and Missing. I'm your
00:00:37.340 --> 00:00:40.659
host, Ali. And I'm your co -host, Eli. Welcome
00:00:40.659 --> 00:00:43.820
back, everyone. Yes, Eli's work schedule has
00:00:43.820 --> 00:00:46.240
calmed down this week, so we were able to get
00:00:46.240 --> 00:00:49.359
together and record, and we just thought we should
00:00:49.359 --> 00:00:51.479
just go ahead and get into this week's episode.
00:00:51.520 --> 00:00:53.299
We're both here. We should just get into it.
00:00:53.859 --> 00:00:58.079
Yeah, we are on episode 154, and this week's
00:00:58.079 --> 00:01:01.560
case is a... A cold case. All right, let's do
00:01:01.560 --> 00:01:06.480
it. Let's do it. Today... We are talking about
00:01:06.480 --> 00:01:10.840
the cold case of Maria Bianca Cortes, and this
00:01:10.840 --> 00:01:14.719
takes place in March of 1992 in the Mission Valley
00:01:14.719 --> 00:01:18.840
neighborhood in San Diego, California. But first,
00:01:19.000 --> 00:01:22.560
a little bit about Maria. Maria Bianca Cortes
00:01:22.560 --> 00:01:27.310
is just 23 years old in 1992. It does seem like
00:01:27.310 --> 00:01:30.390
she goes between the name Maria and Bianca, so
00:01:30.390 --> 00:01:33.010
you might hear me refer to her as both throughout
00:01:33.010 --> 00:01:35.069
the podcast or people refer to her as Bianca
00:01:35.069 --> 00:01:38.450
as well. She was a young mother devoted to raising
00:01:38.450 --> 00:01:40.430
a two -year -old daughter who was the center
00:01:40.430 --> 00:01:44.870
of her world. Maria's daughter is also very important
00:01:44.870 --> 00:01:48.349
to this timeline. However, it does seem that
00:01:48.349 --> 00:01:51.750
Maria's daughter is seeking privacy in her adult
00:01:51.750 --> 00:01:54.420
life, so For that reason, I'm just going to refer
00:01:54.420 --> 00:01:56.640
to her as her daughter throughout the podcast.
00:01:57.439 --> 00:02:00.299
I don't think it will be too confusing, but I
00:02:00.299 --> 00:02:03.319
just want to respect her privacy. Maria was born
00:02:03.319 --> 00:02:06.760
and raised in Mexico, but in 1987, she made the
00:02:06.760 --> 00:02:09.060
decision to move to the United States, settling
00:02:09.060 --> 00:02:12.319
in San Diego. She was in the process of becoming
00:02:12.319 --> 00:02:15.639
a U .S. citizen and worked very hard to build
00:02:15.639 --> 00:02:18.819
a stable life for herself and her daughter. Maria
00:02:18.819 --> 00:02:21.620
lived with her boyfriend, Raul, who was also
00:02:21.620 --> 00:02:25.000
the father of her daughter. Maria didn't have
00:02:25.000 --> 00:02:27.919
a car, which meant navigating San Diego almost
00:02:27.919 --> 00:02:32.099
entirely by bus. Many days required two or more
00:02:32.099 --> 00:02:34.460
buses to get where she needed to go, and when
00:02:34.460 --> 00:02:36.960
transfers ran late, Maria often found herself
00:02:36.960 --> 00:02:41.419
walking alone at night for long stretches. Occasionally,
00:02:41.419 --> 00:02:44.159
to avoid these long and exhausting trips, she
00:02:44.159 --> 00:02:46.159
would sometimes accept rides from strangers.
00:02:53.680 --> 00:02:57.060
Despite these challenges, Maria never let transportation
00:02:57.060 --> 00:02:59.620
stop her from giving her daughter a full life.
00:03:00.400 --> 00:03:11.960
As her sister said, quote, Whatever that little
00:03:11.960 --> 00:03:15.689
girl wanted, she would take her. Maria worked
00:03:15.689 --> 00:03:19.729
long hours as a babysitter and housekeeper. When
00:03:19.729 --> 00:03:22.129
she was working, her daughter was often cared
00:03:22.129 --> 00:03:25.889
for by family and close friends. Those close
00:03:25.889 --> 00:03:28.770
to her described her as a loving, attentive mother
00:03:28.770 --> 00:03:32.909
who lived a quiet, honest life. Her brother -in
00:03:32.909 --> 00:03:43.030
-law says, quote, It's a tragedy, a total tragedy.
00:03:43.979 --> 00:03:47.000
And with that, we'll get into a timeline of events.
00:03:48.300 --> 00:03:53.939
Tuesday, March 3rd, 1992. So Maria was last seen
00:03:53.939 --> 00:03:58.080
around 6 .30 p .m. on that Tuesday evening. She
00:03:58.080 --> 00:04:00.800
was picking up her daughter, I believe from a
00:04:00.800 --> 00:04:03.060
relative's house. It's reported that it was her
00:04:03.060 --> 00:04:06.080
sister. It's believed Maria could have been heading
00:04:06.080 --> 00:04:09.460
to a sewing class in Linda Vista at the Bayside
00:04:09.460 --> 00:04:12.979
Settlement House later that evening. Some reports
00:04:12.979 --> 00:04:15.719
say that her sister drove Maria and her daughter
00:04:15.719 --> 00:04:18.759
to a bus stop and dropped them off around 6 .30
00:04:18.759 --> 00:04:22.339
p .m. So 6 .30 p .m. is the last known sighting
00:04:22.339 --> 00:04:26.699
of Maria. Police, however, will continue to report
00:04:26.699 --> 00:04:30.060
that the last confirmed sighting of Maria Bianca
00:04:30.060 --> 00:04:34.079
Cortes was her walking toward Marina Boulevard
00:04:34.079 --> 00:04:37.379
with her two -year -old daughter. Maria's boyfriend
00:04:37.379 --> 00:04:40.259
was working that evening, but when he returned
00:04:40.259 --> 00:04:43.459
home later that night, He found neither Maria
00:04:43.459 --> 00:04:46.740
or his daughter were home. He immediately knew
00:04:46.740 --> 00:04:49.139
something was wrong as this was extremely unusual.
00:04:50.480 --> 00:04:53.939
He waited anxiously through the night. But finally,
00:04:54.060 --> 00:04:56.819
on the morning of Wednesday, March 4th, when
00:04:56.819 --> 00:04:58.980
the sun started to rise and they still were not
00:04:58.980 --> 00:05:01.439
home, he called police to report them missing.
00:05:02.319 --> 00:05:04.819
Early that morning, a man was reading a newspaper
00:05:04.819 --> 00:05:08.980
near a shopping center in Mission Valley. Behind
00:05:08.980 --> 00:05:12.139
the shopping center was an open field. From a
00:05:12.139 --> 00:05:14.259
distance, he noticed something that didn't make
00:05:14.259 --> 00:05:17.480
a lot of sense. Unsure of exactly what he was
00:05:17.480 --> 00:05:20.100
seeing, the man flagged down a woman riding her
00:05:20.100 --> 00:05:23.639
bike. She decided to ride into the field to investigate,
00:05:23.839 --> 00:05:26.439
expecting to find a person facing homelessness
00:05:26.439 --> 00:05:30.920
who maybe needed help. Instead, she made a horrifying
00:05:30.920 --> 00:05:42.089
discovery. She says, quote, I saw it was a little
00:05:42.089 --> 00:05:45.069
girl, who was bloody, who was sitting on a body,
00:05:45.209 --> 00:05:49.670
and she just turned and looked at me. Quickly,
00:05:49.790 --> 00:05:52.170
the biker rode off to find a phone to call police.
00:05:52.750 --> 00:05:56.829
At approximately 7 .15 a .m., police were dispatched
00:05:56.829 --> 00:06:00.189
to 7500 Mission Valley Road after receiving a
00:06:00.189 --> 00:06:03.089
call that a child was sitting on top of a body
00:06:03.089 --> 00:06:07.540
in an open field. Today, this area is very busy
00:06:07.540 --> 00:06:10.500
and built up, but back in 1992, there was far
00:06:10.500 --> 00:06:14.639
less there. When officers arrived, Maria's daughter
00:06:14.639 --> 00:06:17.600
ran into the arms of a female officer that came
00:06:17.600 --> 00:06:21.279
to the scene. Reports say that she didn't start
00:06:21.279 --> 00:06:24.220
crying until police arrived, and that's when
00:06:24.220 --> 00:06:27.660
she began to cry. Maria's daughter had been sitting
00:06:27.660 --> 00:06:30.779
with the body of her mother in a muddy field
00:06:30.779 --> 00:06:35.040
behind a shopping center. Ultimately, the autopsy
00:06:35.040 --> 00:06:37.699
will show that Maria had been strangled and stabbed
00:06:37.699 --> 00:06:41.300
in the groin. Investigators believe the stab
00:06:41.300 --> 00:06:45.579
wound was ultimately what killed her. The autopsy
00:06:45.579 --> 00:06:48.079
will also confirm that she had not been sexually
00:06:48.079 --> 00:06:51.319
assaulted. Maria's daughter had been sitting
00:06:51.319 --> 00:06:54.279
with her mother's body for hours. She was covered
00:06:54.279 --> 00:06:59.069
in blood. None of it was her own. Hypothermia
00:06:59.069 --> 00:07:01.870
was beginning to set in, but otherwise, the two
00:07:01.870 --> 00:07:04.810
-year -old was unharmed, physically unharmed.
00:07:06.389 --> 00:07:08.529
Maria's daughter was taken to a hospital and
00:07:08.529 --> 00:07:11.550
treated for the exposure. Police immediately
00:07:11.550 --> 00:07:14.509
start searching for her father, Raul, as they
00:07:14.509 --> 00:07:16.730
need to question him before they're able to release
00:07:16.730 --> 00:07:21.189
her to him. Based on the condition of both Maria
00:07:21.189 --> 00:07:23.810
and her daughter, investigators believe that
00:07:23.810 --> 00:07:25.750
they had been in the field for several hours
00:07:25.750 --> 00:07:29.420
overnight. But they never give a specific time
00:07:29.420 --> 00:07:31.740
of death or window when they believe that the
00:07:31.740 --> 00:07:34.360
murder had actually happened. They just say several
00:07:34.360 --> 00:07:38.279
hours overnight. The next day, Thursday, March
00:07:38.279 --> 00:07:42.199
5th, police continue to question Raul in connection
00:07:42.199 --> 00:07:45.300
with Maria's murder. He is ultimately released
00:07:45.300 --> 00:07:47.720
from custody and he's never called a suspect
00:07:47.720 --> 00:07:51.279
in this crime. Investigators stated they did
00:07:51.279 --> 00:07:54.949
not have a clear motive in the crime. While there
00:07:54.949 --> 00:07:57.490
had been two other stabbing murders in the week
00:07:57.490 --> 00:08:00.370
prior to Maria's death, police did not think
00:08:00.370 --> 00:08:03.870
that they were related at that time. The next
00:08:03.870 --> 00:08:06.290
day, so this is two days after the murder, Friday,
00:08:06.410 --> 00:08:10.490
March 6th, police released photos of Maria Bianca
00:08:10.490 --> 00:08:13.529
Cortes to the public, hoping someone would recognize
00:08:13.529 --> 00:08:16.209
her or recall seeing her the night that she was
00:08:16.209 --> 00:08:19.740
killed. Investigators urged anyone who may have
00:08:19.740 --> 00:08:22.079
seen Maria traveling that evening to come forward
00:08:22.079 --> 00:08:25.180
with the information. There was no tip too small.
00:08:26.120 --> 00:08:29.540
But sadly, after this, Maria's case really goes
00:08:29.540 --> 00:08:33.659
cold. I tried to dig and dig for updates, but
00:08:33.659 --> 00:08:38.159
I really couldn't find any until 2022, so that's
00:08:38.159 --> 00:08:41.899
nearly 30 years since the murder. And in 2022,
00:08:42.919 --> 00:08:45.620
Maria's case is being revisited by the media
00:08:45.620 --> 00:08:48.700
and by the police, bringing renewed attention
00:08:48.700 --> 00:08:51.539
to her murder and the unanswered questions surrounding
00:08:51.539 --> 00:08:55.700
it. Police do share a little bit more about the
00:08:55.700 --> 00:08:59.000
timeline. Investigators believe that Maria may
00:08:59.000 --> 00:09:02.299
have taken the bus as far as Mission Valley and
00:09:02.299 --> 00:09:06.179
then accepted a ride. Tony Johnson, a senior
00:09:06.179 --> 00:09:08.700
investigator with the district attorney's office,
00:09:09.000 --> 00:09:12.169
says, quote, The only thing that hurt Maria was
00:09:12.169 --> 00:09:15.289
that she didn't have a car. It seems certain
00:09:15.289 --> 00:09:18.129
that she was picked up in some vehicle and driven
00:09:18.129 --> 00:09:21.610
to that location. It's revealed that there were
00:09:21.610 --> 00:09:24.610
tire tracks in the mud that night, suggesting
00:09:24.610 --> 00:09:27.210
that Maria and her daughter had been driven into
00:09:27.210 --> 00:09:31.090
the field where Maria was found. Investigators
00:09:31.090 --> 00:09:33.450
still don't know whether Maria knew the person
00:09:33.450 --> 00:09:36.009
that she got in the car with or if it was a stranger.
00:09:36.909 --> 00:09:41.389
At the time of the murder in 1992, no real DNA
00:09:41.389 --> 00:09:44.529
evidence was collected from the scene as, you
00:09:44.529 --> 00:09:47.909
know, it was still in its infancy and kind of
00:09:47.909 --> 00:09:51.610
getting started in criminal investigation. However,
00:09:51.769 --> 00:09:54.690
police are hopeful that advances in forensic
00:09:54.690 --> 00:09:57.509
technology could finally bring answers to her
00:09:57.509 --> 00:10:01.490
case. Tony Johnson says, quote, one of the big
00:10:01.490 --> 00:10:04.629
developments is the ability to get DNA from rootless
00:10:04.629 --> 00:10:08.860
hairs. Investigators did collect several hairs
00:10:08.860 --> 00:10:12.220
at the scene. They were found on Maria's body
00:10:12.220 --> 00:10:15.559
and did not match her own hair. So investigators
00:10:15.559 --> 00:10:18.759
are hoping that this new forensic technology
00:10:18.759 --> 00:10:21.980
will be able to pull a DNA sample out of the
00:10:21.980 --> 00:10:25.519
hair and then ultimately lead to a hit in the
00:10:25.519 --> 00:10:48.690
system. Again, Tony Johnson says, Now that update
00:10:48.690 --> 00:10:52.690
was in 2022. I looked to see if there were any
00:10:52.690 --> 00:10:57.950
results or updates in the story from those hairless
00:10:57.950 --> 00:11:02.720
or those hairs without roots. But there doesn't
00:11:02.720 --> 00:11:05.820
seem to be any update. I'm hopeful that maybe
00:11:05.820 --> 00:11:09.240
the tests are just very backlogged in California
00:11:09.240 --> 00:11:11.919
and maybe they haven't gotten to them yet. But
00:11:11.919 --> 00:11:16.240
there are no more updates around that if they
00:11:16.240 --> 00:11:18.960
did get a match or if they were able to extract
00:11:18.960 --> 00:11:23.639
DNA from that at all. But with that, if you have
00:11:23.639 --> 00:11:26.759
any information about the murder of Maria Bianca
00:11:26.759 --> 00:11:30.100
Cortes, please contact the San Diego Police Department.
00:11:35.309 --> 00:11:40.129
So that is the cold case of Maria Bianca Cortes.
00:11:40.690 --> 00:11:44.870
Just to speak on Maria quickly here at the top,
00:11:44.950 --> 00:11:49.429
I love that she was such a caring and present
00:11:49.429 --> 00:11:54.629
person, especially in her commitment to motherhood
00:11:54.629 --> 00:11:58.389
and parenthood. It speaks volumes about how she
00:11:58.389 --> 00:12:01.710
was navigating her entire life about how she
00:12:01.710 --> 00:12:05.529
was just kind of committed to those roles as
00:12:05.529 --> 00:12:10.590
a person and as a mom. And she was building something
00:12:10.590 --> 00:12:16.950
beautiful for herself and for her daughter, for
00:12:16.950 --> 00:12:23.230
her family. I think she sounded awesome and unstoppable.
00:12:23.690 --> 00:12:27.139
Yeah. I really think so many of the same things
00:12:27.139 --> 00:12:29.320
you just said, like I really got the impression
00:12:29.320 --> 00:12:33.259
that she was just like building this amazing
00:12:33.259 --> 00:12:36.120
life for herself, for her daughter, building
00:12:36.120 --> 00:12:40.620
this home and like such an incredibly hard worker
00:12:40.620 --> 00:12:43.360
and just like dedicated to what she was doing.
00:12:43.399 --> 00:12:46.659
Like it takes a lot of dedication to work multiple
00:12:46.659 --> 00:12:50.220
jobs, but that's like dedication to a goal you're
00:12:50.220 --> 00:12:53.799
trying to meet, you know, so. I just really admire
00:12:53.799 --> 00:12:58.419
her. I think she was an excellent person. Yeah,
00:12:58.460 --> 00:13:01.340
moving right into that, you know, she was someone
00:13:01.340 --> 00:13:05.700
who was, yes, using but relying on public transit.
00:13:06.139 --> 00:13:11.000
You and I are no strangers to that. We both have
00:13:11.000 --> 00:13:13.820
put in, I think, over 10 years of being public
00:13:13.820 --> 00:13:17.039
transit people with where we live, and it is
00:13:17.039 --> 00:13:20.730
a whole skill set on its own. navigating your
00:13:20.730 --> 00:13:24.330
life, your jobs, your career through using and
00:13:24.330 --> 00:13:28.870
relying public transit. So while, you know, now
00:13:28.870 --> 00:13:32.909
we have access to Lyfts and Ubers and ride shares
00:13:32.909 --> 00:13:36.950
and taxis, it wasn't the same back then. So I
00:13:36.950 --> 00:13:40.649
understand her, you know, if it was kind of a
00:13:40.649 --> 00:13:43.429
last resort, but, you know, shit needed to be
00:13:43.429 --> 00:13:46.129
done. She needed to get to work. So she hopped
00:13:46.129 --> 00:13:51.080
in a car. And I would probably have done the
00:13:51.080 --> 00:13:53.899
same back, you know, during the early 90s if
00:13:53.899 --> 00:13:58.639
I was trying to get to work. Because if you miss
00:13:58.639 --> 00:14:01.919
that connecting bus, you're walking. Yeah. I
00:14:01.919 --> 00:14:04.740
mean, I think of just tonight where, you know,
00:14:04.740 --> 00:14:06.519
I was taking the train home from work and it
00:14:06.519 --> 00:14:08.440
was delayed. And I'm like refreshing my phone
00:14:08.440 --> 00:14:11.139
again and again to try to figure out, you know,
00:14:11.139 --> 00:14:13.519
if it's delayed and what I'm taking home to get
00:14:13.519 --> 00:14:15.299
around this and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
00:14:16.200 --> 00:14:18.200
You know, just thinking about in 1992, it's like,
00:14:18.299 --> 00:14:22.039
OK, if the train's delayed, like you won't know.
00:14:23.019 --> 00:14:25.779
You'll just have to sit there and either wait
00:14:25.779 --> 00:14:29.299
it out and hope it comes eventually or start
00:14:29.299 --> 00:14:31.840
walking, figure something else out. And yeah,
00:14:31.899 --> 00:14:33.799
like, you know, there were taxis back then, but
00:14:33.799 --> 00:14:35.879
you really had to actually see one and hail it.
00:14:35.940 --> 00:14:38.360
You couldn't really call it unless you got to
00:14:38.360 --> 00:14:41.889
a phone. So, yeah, just. incredibly tough to
00:14:41.889 --> 00:14:45.450
get around on public transit, you know, just
00:14:45.450 --> 00:14:47.950
today. But, you know, without technology and
00:14:47.950 --> 00:14:51.409
convenience of rideshares, it would have been
00:14:51.409 --> 00:14:55.330
so much more difficult in 1992. It was. It was
00:14:55.330 --> 00:15:00.049
more difficult. Yeah. So I guess mentioning,
00:15:00.070 --> 00:15:04.669
you know, how she was navigating transit to get
00:15:04.669 --> 00:15:07.049
to her job takes us right into the timeline.
00:15:07.190 --> 00:15:10.580
And I know it's a pretty short one, but Something
00:15:10.580 --> 00:15:15.159
I just want to say as we start unpacking the
00:15:15.159 --> 00:15:18.899
timeline and her murder is that it feels odd
00:15:18.899 --> 00:15:23.179
to say that I'm thankful, but in this case, one
00:15:23.179 --> 00:15:27.100
of the only things I'm thankful for is how young
00:15:27.100 --> 00:15:29.840
her daughter was. And the only thing I can hope
00:15:29.840 --> 00:15:33.860
for is that her daughter doesn't carry any memories
00:15:33.860 --> 00:15:37.580
of what her mother's last moments were like.
00:15:38.990 --> 00:15:42.370
Yeah, my heart breaks thinking about this two
00:15:42.370 --> 00:15:46.049
-year -old little girl in these terrifying moments.
00:15:47.850 --> 00:15:51.830
And I hope she has no memories of it either.
00:15:51.909 --> 00:15:54.210
But, you know, we hear that phrase, like, the
00:15:54.210 --> 00:15:57.009
body keeps the score. So, like, I can't imagine
00:15:57.009 --> 00:16:01.809
the impression that this made on that little
00:16:01.809 --> 00:16:04.710
two -year -old's life and the ripple effects
00:16:04.710 --> 00:16:09.490
of that. I can't imagine. But I am so thankful
00:16:09.490 --> 00:16:14.570
that she wasn't physically harmed during this.
00:16:15.409 --> 00:16:18.710
I will say in listening to this, it immediately
00:16:18.710 --> 00:16:21.389
reminded me of a case we covered, I think two
00:16:21.389 --> 00:16:28.330
cases ago, Lori Bolger. And I know their timelines
00:16:28.330 --> 00:16:34.330
are different, obviously, but the shocking reveal
00:16:34.330 --> 00:16:38.350
of A young woman's body being found in the middle
00:16:38.350 --> 00:16:43.210
of the day in the middle of a field. Again, even
00:16:43.210 --> 00:16:46.210
more shocking that this is a case that there's
00:16:46.210 --> 00:16:49.169
very little information on. Again, I think it's
00:16:49.169 --> 00:16:52.169
awesome that there are new eyes on it and that
00:16:52.169 --> 00:16:56.350
people are looking for answers and the case has
00:16:56.350 --> 00:16:59.629
been reopened. But the two cases had striking
00:16:59.629 --> 00:17:04.170
similarities. Just shocks me that more people
00:17:04.170 --> 00:17:08.109
don't know about them because of what happened
00:17:08.109 --> 00:17:12.849
and how they were found. Yeah, Lori's case, we
00:17:12.849 --> 00:17:15.369
did cover it a couple episodes ago. And yeah,
00:17:15.470 --> 00:17:19.529
similar in the field, causes of death are different
00:17:19.529 --> 00:17:23.029
here. And timelines, like you mentioned, are
00:17:23.029 --> 00:17:25.910
different. But yeah, like you said, the description
00:17:25.910 --> 00:17:29.450
and like kind of that visual of like a body.
00:17:30.190 --> 00:17:32.289
In the middle of a field and in this case, you
00:17:32.289 --> 00:17:35.650
know, a child sitting on a body in the middle
00:17:35.650 --> 00:17:39.470
of the field, like it's very shocking to just
00:17:39.470 --> 00:17:42.809
like pull that image up. Now, I do have some
00:17:42.809 --> 00:17:45.529
questions about the timeline, more specifically
00:17:45.529 --> 00:17:49.230
around the information about her last sighting
00:17:49.230 --> 00:17:54.230
and that there are two accounts. One is law enforcement.
00:17:54.269 --> 00:17:58.279
And I just wanted to clarify. Whose is the others?
00:17:58.380 --> 00:18:02.099
Or if there are, I guess I just wanted to circle
00:18:02.099 --> 00:18:06.160
back to that part of the timeline and the information
00:18:06.160 --> 00:18:10.160
you had. Okay, yes. So there are some questions
00:18:10.160 --> 00:18:13.980
around this. But back in 1992, police say at
00:18:13.980 --> 00:18:16.799
that time that the last confirmed sighting of
00:18:16.799 --> 00:18:20.059
Maria, she was seen walking toward Marina Boulevard
00:18:20.059 --> 00:18:24.440
with her two -year -old. And then the next time...
00:18:25.059 --> 00:18:29.599
Maria's found, she's near the 7500 block of Mission
00:18:29.599 --> 00:18:34.700
Valley Drive or road. So that's about an 18 minute
00:18:34.700 --> 00:18:37.720
drive, but it's an hour bus trip, just like kind
00:18:37.720 --> 00:18:39.559
of pulling up Google Maps, at least today. I
00:18:39.559 --> 00:18:41.740
don't know how long it was back in the day, but
00:18:41.740 --> 00:18:44.720
today it's about an hour bus trip. So where she
00:18:44.720 --> 00:18:46.660
was last seen walking, where it was reported
00:18:46.660 --> 00:18:50.940
in 1992, that would suggest that she was going
00:18:50.940 --> 00:18:55.049
to get on the bus. And then in 2022, police say
00:18:55.049 --> 00:18:58.710
that they believe that Maria had taken the bus
00:18:58.710 --> 00:19:02.029
as far as Mission Valley and then accepted a
00:19:02.029 --> 00:19:04.849
ride. So it's somewhere along Mission Valley
00:19:04.849 --> 00:19:08.410
that she likely got off the bus and then into
00:19:08.410 --> 00:19:12.230
a car. But I'm not sure if police have ever found
00:19:12.230 --> 00:19:16.809
any other witnesses to place her either on the
00:19:16.809 --> 00:19:19.470
bus or near that area outside of her getting
00:19:19.470 --> 00:19:22.720
in the car. Does that answer your question? Yeah,
00:19:22.759 --> 00:19:25.660
that clarifies a bunch of things for me, and
00:19:25.660 --> 00:19:32.140
it also takes me right into, you know, almost
00:19:32.140 --> 00:19:34.559
right now, you know, the fact that there are
00:19:34.559 --> 00:19:37.779
eyes on the case again, something that I immediately
00:19:37.779 --> 00:19:42.119
thought of after, you know, you telling us that
00:19:42.119 --> 00:19:46.450
there were tire tracks seen. As far as 2026 goes
00:19:46.450 --> 00:19:51.130
and technological advancements in evidence, I'd
00:19:51.130 --> 00:19:54.369
just be really interested to see what's the make,
00:19:54.509 --> 00:19:57.170
model, year of the tires, what are the tracks,
00:19:57.410 --> 00:19:58.990
what are the dimensions, what are the measurements,
00:19:59.230 --> 00:20:02.430
because that can tell you a lot and might lead
00:20:02.430 --> 00:20:07.269
to who was driving that car and was it the car
00:20:07.269 --> 00:20:09.890
that had her in it? Yeah, I'd be so curious to
00:20:09.890 --> 00:20:12.029
know. You know, if they've been able to glean
00:20:12.029 --> 00:20:14.490
any of that information from the tire tracks
00:20:14.490 --> 00:20:17.549
that they were able to collect from the scene.
00:20:18.069 --> 00:20:20.549
Because, yeah, like you said, it can get really
00:20:20.549 --> 00:20:23.089
specific to the point where you can get some
00:20:23.089 --> 00:20:25.210
information or maybe maybe it's not. Maybe it's
00:20:25.210 --> 00:20:26.869
really general, but that's still more information.
00:20:26.990 --> 00:20:30.569
So I think in a case like this where information
00:20:30.569 --> 00:20:33.970
seems to be lacking, any and all details are
00:20:33.970 --> 00:20:37.109
welcome. Yeah. And including with the DNA, I
00:20:37.109 --> 00:20:39.410
know you mentioned that there were hairs that
00:20:39.410 --> 00:20:43.309
didn't match her that were found on her. So I
00:20:43.309 --> 00:20:47.049
am I mean, I know evidence in DNA can degrade
00:20:47.049 --> 00:20:50.269
over time, but I'm hopeful that that those were
00:20:50.269 --> 00:20:52.450
even thought of to be collected at the time,
00:20:52.509 --> 00:20:56.589
because that means that to me, it says that those
00:20:56.589 --> 00:21:00.769
officers at the time were really working the
00:21:00.769 --> 00:21:06.980
case and trying. So I'm hopeful of those discoveries
00:21:06.980 --> 00:21:11.059
and the tests done on them. I hope that they
00:21:11.059 --> 00:21:15.599
reveal the information that all of us want, but
00:21:15.599 --> 00:21:18.940
more than anything, I hope that it brings justice
00:21:18.940 --> 00:21:23.359
and peace to her daughter because her daughter
00:21:23.359 --> 00:21:27.599
sounds like, well, she sounds exactly like her.
00:21:27.920 --> 00:21:33.460
Very committed and dedicated to... And, you know,
00:21:33.460 --> 00:21:36.839
unfortunately, a big part of her life is finding
00:21:36.839 --> 00:21:40.160
justice for who did this to her mom. But it's
00:21:40.160 --> 00:21:42.319
incredible that she has stayed committed to it,
00:21:42.339 --> 00:21:45.759
just like her mom was committed to her. While
00:21:45.759 --> 00:21:50.140
this case is very heartbreaking, I'm eager to
00:21:50.140 --> 00:21:55.200
spread the word about who Maria was and dig into
00:21:55.200 --> 00:21:58.480
more information that I can find on my own, honestly.
00:21:58.920 --> 00:22:01.759
I think it could have been really easy for Maria's
00:22:01.759 --> 00:22:06.339
case to really just be cold from the very jump.
00:22:06.380 --> 00:22:10.000
And of course, it kind of is, right? But we do
00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:13.240
have, you know, reporting on it. And there is
00:22:13.240 --> 00:22:16.279
an investigation now or, you know, reinvestigation
00:22:16.279 --> 00:22:19.720
of it. But I think Maria's daughter really impacted
00:22:19.720 --> 00:22:24.119
a lot of investigators in this case. I think,
00:22:24.119 --> 00:22:26.839
you know, coming to a crime scene and finding
00:22:26.839 --> 00:22:31.220
this two year old who was so brave and, you know,
00:22:31.220 --> 00:22:35.119
stayed with her mom until until the end, you
00:22:35.119 --> 00:22:38.859
know, like that is that's so brave. And it's
00:22:38.859 --> 00:22:40.519
something that a two year old should never have
00:22:40.519 --> 00:22:44.640
to do. So I think a lot of investigators really
00:22:44.640 --> 00:22:47.339
feel like they owe Maria's daughter an answer
00:22:47.339 --> 00:22:51.980
in this because she was so brave. I think that's
00:22:51.980 --> 00:22:53.819
I think it's personal for a lot of investigators
00:22:53.819 --> 00:22:58.460
in this case. And frankly, like it feels personal
00:22:58.460 --> 00:23:01.799
for me. Like, you know, I think we should get
00:23:01.799 --> 00:23:03.619
some energy behind this case, like you said.
00:23:03.720 --> 00:23:07.339
And I really hope that, you know, with this reinterview
00:23:07.339 --> 00:23:09.599
or reinvestigation that was happening in 2022,
00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:12.920
you know, this hope that maybe we can pull some
00:23:12.920 --> 00:23:16.170
DNA that there's. Even more evidence that we're
00:23:16.170 --> 00:23:18.009
unaware of that, you know, police are keeping
00:23:18.009 --> 00:23:21.069
close to them. So I'm really hopeful that somewhere
00:23:21.069 --> 00:23:24.349
in there is DNA and that DNA is somewhere in
00:23:24.349 --> 00:23:27.930
a database that will get us answers for Maria's
00:23:27.930 --> 00:23:32.650
daughter and for Maria. Nobody should be allowed
00:23:32.650 --> 00:23:35.309
to walk around and not answer for what they did
00:23:35.309 --> 00:23:39.009
here because this this is awful. This I mean.
00:23:40.299 --> 00:23:43.980
You took one wonderful person out of this world,
00:23:44.420 --> 00:23:47.619
and then you really threatened the life of a
00:23:47.619 --> 00:23:51.200
very innocent two -year -old. Because while she
00:23:51.200 --> 00:23:53.019
was unharmed, you know, she was starting to hit
00:23:53.019 --> 00:23:56.240
hyperthermia out there. So, like, bad things
00:23:56.240 --> 00:23:59.180
could have happened anyway. But ultimately, this
00:23:59.180 --> 00:24:01.839
case, it makes me really angry on a lot of levels.
00:24:01.980 --> 00:24:06.400
And so I want to turn that anger into energy,
00:24:06.619 --> 00:24:12.920
energy behind Maria's case. just in getting answers
00:24:12.920 --> 00:24:16.759
and demanding answers and that resources continue
00:24:16.759 --> 00:24:19.759
to be used for Maria's case and getting those
00:24:19.759 --> 00:24:23.079
answers. So again, if you have any information
00:24:23.079 --> 00:24:26.480
about the murder of Maria Bianca Cortes, please
00:24:26.480 --> 00:24:29.619
contact the San Diego Police Department at 619
00:24:29.619 --> 00:24:35.529
-531 -2293. And we will have a picture of Maria
00:24:35.529 --> 00:24:38.710
on our Instagram, at coldandmissing. Eli makes
00:24:38.710 --> 00:24:41.289
those graphics every week. So please share that
00:24:41.289 --> 00:24:45.069
picture. Let's get her case out there. Let's
00:24:45.069 --> 00:24:46.609
get more people talking about it. Let's get other
00:24:46.609 --> 00:24:49.329
podcasts covering it. Let's just get her case
00:24:49.329 --> 00:24:53.309
out there. And let the police know. We haven't
00:24:53.309 --> 00:24:55.109
forgot about her, and we still want to see answers
00:24:55.109 --> 00:24:57.609
here. So at coldandmissing, you can follow us
00:24:57.609 --> 00:25:00.049
there. And again, if we ever have to take a week
00:25:00.049 --> 00:25:02.960
off the podcast, we'll always update it. Thank
00:25:02.960 --> 00:25:33.819
you so much. If you could leave us five stars,
00:25:33.940 --> 00:25:36.700
it really goes a long way. And ultimately, it
00:25:36.700 --> 00:25:38.839
gets people listening to this case. So I see
00:25:38.839 --> 00:25:40.740
it as advocacy work. I think you should too.
00:25:40.940 --> 00:25:43.319
So go ahead, leave five stars. Leave a written
00:25:43.319 --> 00:25:45.019
review if you're an Apple podcast. It would mean
00:25:45.019 --> 00:25:47.380
the world to us. It always does. We celebrate
00:25:47.380 --> 00:25:49.940
each one that comes in. But that is all I have
00:25:49.940 --> 00:25:52.099
for you this week. Thank you so much for listening
00:25:52.099 --> 00:25:54.740
to Cold and Missing. I'm your host, Ali . And
00:25:54.740 --> 00:25:57.180
I'm your co -host, Eli. Have a good week and
00:25:57.180 --> 00:26:03.730
stay safe, y 'all. Stay safe, y 'all. Thank you.
