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The Missing: 7-year-old Jennifer Marteliz vanished in 1982 on her way home from school

Her mother still believes she's out there. Just seven when she went missing, Jennifer would now be 46 years old.

TAMPA, Fla. — Jennifer Marteliz was just seven years old when she vanished on her way home from Shaw Elementary School in Tampa on Nov. 15, 1982.

Police searched the Sulphur Springs neighborhood on the ground and by air.

More than one thousand neighbors helped with the search. 

Despite that extensive effort, there was no sign of Jennifer.

“I feel like a failed mother because I couldn’t find her. This is going on 40 years. 40 years. It’s a long time,” said her mother Kathy Longo.

Jennifer would now be 46 years old. Age progression images have been released through the years. Tips have even led investigators as far as Pennsylvania to search for possible remains. But nothing was found.

“I believe she’s still out there. I just need her to come home. My arms are waiting for her. I imagine that’s she married and has children. And we’re going to have a whole extension to our beautiful family,” said Longo.

If you have any information about her whereabouts call 911 or 1-800-THE-LOST.

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