Boston Girl Vanished While Walking to School in 1976: What Happened to Nelida De Jesus Del Valle?

Walking to elementary school should be a safe morning routine for all children.

Nelida, at age nine, left her house on the morning of December 20, 1976 to do just that- walk to school.

Nelida was a third grader at William Blackstone Elementary in Boston, Massachusetts, and was in a bilingual class. She was shy and wouldn’t talk to anyone she didn’t know, so a walk to school should have been uneventful.

But something, or someone, prevented Nelida from arriving at her class that morning.

Soon, it was clear that Nelida had actually vanished on the way to school

Things were different in 1976. There weren’t RING Doorbell Cams and there wasn’t surveillance or traffic cams on every corner like today. No one had any idea what happened to Nelida that morning.

Two weeks after she disappeared, in early January 1977, authorities received a tip. The caller said that a man by the name of Anthony Rudy Flores had some of Nelida’s clothing.

When law enforcement investigated Anthony’s home, they discovered Nelida’s hat and gloves she had worn that morning she vanished. Anthony told authorities that he had found them on the streets.