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When a pregnant woman and her six-year-old child mysteriously disappear, her husband becomes the prime suspect.
CASE DETAILS After a passionate two-year courtship, Alfredo Newball and Cecilia Amaya got married. Cecilia’s son from a previous marriage, Rene Perez, was the ring bearer at their wedding. The couple started their new life together in Chatsworth, California, and almost immediately, Cecilia became pregnant.  Cecelia’s car was outside of their parking lot On September 20, 1994, with her due date only two weeks away, Cecilia sat down to write thank you notes for gifts from her baby shower. That day, as Alfredo left for work, he says he hesitated at the door for just a moment:
Alfredo worked as a nurse’s assistant in a hospital and retirement home. Two-and-a-half-hours into his shift, he phoned Cecilia:
 He found Cecelia’s rings in her car Alfredo called several times throughout the evening. Concerned, he left work early. As he approached the apartment, he noticed that Cecilia’s car was parked on the street, instead of in the building’s secured lot. He rushed into their apartment in search of his wife and stepson. Inside, there were no signs of a break-in or struggle, but there were no signs of Cecilia and Rene either. In the Jeep, Alfredo says he found a generic store-bought good-bye card. It was signed simply, “Cecilia.” Cecilia’s wedding and engagement rings had been left on the passenger seat. Shocked, Alfredo thought his wife had left him:
Alfredo phoned the one person he thought might know where she was, her closest friend at work, Kevin Annabel. It was this phone call that first cast suspicion on Alfredo. When Kevin answered the call, Alfredo questioned whether Cecilia was there:
 She had received strange calls Alfredo said he remained calm because he thought his wife would return to him:
The day after Cecilia disappeared, the police called Alfredo. They had been contacted by one of Cecilia’s relatives. Det. Alex Valadez of the Los Angeles Police Department took on the missing person’s case and found Alfredo’s conduct on the phone strange:
Three days later, suspicion increased when Alfredo received a letter postmarked in nearby Van Nuys, California. Inside the envelope was a card identical to the one Alfredo had found in Cecilia’s car. There was also a typewritten note from Cecilia explaining that she had gone to Honduras with another man, a doctor named Arturo. The note said that she had fallen in love with Arturo nine months earlier, and it was possible he was the father of her unborn child. Alfredo’s first impression was that his wife had indeed left him:
Kevin Annabel also found the letter out of character:
 Was this letter from Cecilia? After examining the letter and speaking with her friends and family, Det. Valadez was convinced that the letter was not from Cecilia:
In fact, six months before she disappeared, Cecilia received an odd phone call from a still unidentified woman, who may have been that third party. Cecilia told her friend Cammy Giacomi about it:
The woman said she would phone again to arrange a meeting. But that call never came, and the matter was apparently forgotten. Then, just a few weeks before Cecilia disappeared, she got another mysterious call. This one was from a woman who claimed to work with Alfredo. Again, Cecilia confided in her friend, Cammy:
Police later learned that the call had not been made by Alfredo’s co-worker and that a baby shower had not been planned. But by then, it was too late. According to Cammy, Cecilia disappeared the same day she was supposed to meet with the lady who called about the baby shower. Det. Valadez is convinced that this is not a coincidence and still questions Alfredo’s behavior:
Watch this case now on Amazon Prime in season seven with Robert Stack and in season six with Dennis Farina. Also available on YouTube with Dennis Farina. Various seasons available now on Hulu. SUBMIT A TIP |
Steve
Alfredo was having an affair with 2 women during 94 because he didn’t like his wife’s new body. They also weren’t intimate because of her pregnancy complications so he had affairs. He killed his wife so he could date, one of his lovers killed her to have Alfredo all to herself or she found out about Alfredo’s affairs and left.
Jim Miller
Without a body no one will never know what happened to them unless they magically reappear somewhere but it would be pretty heartless to murder a pregnant woman and her small child in cold blood for whatever reason..
Anonymous
Very sinister. Women are the worst killers. Lisa Marie Montgomery. (Deadly women is a good documentary about female killers. They profiled her.) Those types of killings are very common. And I predict they will become even more common with the increasing amount of women getting sterilized because Roe verses Wade being overturned. Taylor Parker is already an example of those types of killers. I wish it was a short list of a rare crime. But unfortunately it is a very common crime. If you have seen one case you have seen them all. The other lady just wanted her alone and away from her husband. That is my theory unless I see something contradictory.
Anonymous
Her entire family believes Alfredo did it. One day, there will be justice. You won’t get away with this forever Alfredo. Marca mis palabras.
Anonymous
He is a father. Some other woman in all probability is showing off his kid to another guy that was not even the father.
Annoynomous
It sounds like another Scott Peterson or Chris Watts case
Anonymous
Gay men can be like women. But Scott Peterson is nothing like the killer in this case.
PJ
no need to look too far for the suspect. Yup u guessed it!
Charles
The detective was convinced that Alfredo knew more than he was telling but I am not so sure. The phone call about the fake baby shower adds an entirely different theory to the situation: I feel as if she was abducted because some individual wanted her baby. The note, the card that her husband found–all of this was planned to shift the focus elsewhere.
Anonymous
You’re good Charles.
Waiting for update
What are the updates on this case? It’s sad that this never got the attention Lacey Peterson got considering her 6 year old son was also missing . Why aren’t police doing anything for this “cold case” with all the technology of today? I don’t understand….
MATTHEW DAVENPORT
Unsolved. Investigators later determined that Alfredo was having an extra-marital affair around the time of Cecilia and Rene’s disappearance. He is considered a person of interest in the case.
Sandy
Sounds like another Scott Peterson case
Anonymous
Scott Peterson was on Viagra. Some men on that turn into monsters. I want to be careful. He could still be found not guilty and released. But when he said his wife moped the floor. He was just explaining evidence he thought was found. (Like a kid copying the back of a book for a book report.) The police never found any blood on the floor. Or tested any mops for blood. They missed golden evidence collecting.
harold
Have the police ever subpoenaed the phone records to find out where the phone calls were from. Or check letter for fingerprints? (not to mention finding a store around there that sold those greeting cards to see if the salesperson remembers anyone purchasing 2 of the same card.
My thought is that someone wanted her baby and lured her somewhere to kill her and take her baby. What happened to Rene…do not know….but I would think maybe he was killed also.
Anonymous
DNA could solve the case. The unborn child is now 19 years old. They should put Alfredos DNA in the national database. He may get lucky. There are many DNA ancestry websites. (All it takes is one match. It not only will reunite. It will even solve two possible homicides.)
Anonymous
07-01365 Unidentified Remains/Homicide
Female, Asian, Native American, or Hispanic
On January 27, 2007, human remains were discovered near the North Fork Bridge of the Skagit River on Fir Island, in the southern area of Skagit County.
An examination of the remains was completed and the deceased was determined to be: female, Asian, Native American, or Hispanic descent; 24-46 years old; 4’11”-5’4″; shoulder length dark hair; appearing very small in stature. Teeth were also located and examined so dental records are on file. It is believed the time of death was approximately August-September 2006.
Clothing recovered includes:
-Black “Faded Glory”, size 10, tall jeans, rolled up several times
-Chocolate colored “Faded Glory” sweater w/white stripes with attached
White collar
-“Nevado” boots, US child’s size 5 or women’s size 6.5
-“Playtex” 36B white bra
-white, nylon, control top women’s brief underwear
The woman was wearing the following necklace:
Julia
are you sure that this is Cecilia? it could be someone else
Therealpmiz
This is very strange, but I felt that she was thrown over a bridge, and child also, i git a strong sense from her photo in very beginning of video..then I see this
thinkingoutloud
I don’t think she ran off with another man. The letters weren’t even handwritten or signed by Cecilia aka she wasn’t alive to write them herself. Also all the letters had more knowledge on Al’s side of the family aka someone close to Al even Al himself wrote the letters since they had more knowledge. It’s hard to say if the phone calls from a mysterious caller very genuine to Ceclia, if a woman was really calling to tell about AL cheating or if it was setup by Al to get Cecilia alone to kill her. Weird he was so calm, that his pregnant wife with a due date of 2 weeks never reached out to him, evemn if he thought she was with friends or family it’s strange he didn’t follow up
Anonymous
Okay , I’ve seen a man that looks just like that here . In atl but he looks more older than 20 . I’ve just seen the tv on this . And the guy goes by Jorge V . I don’t know about the mother . I’ve seen him already it just popped up and I just recognized his face. I’m 14 . And I see him almost every day at the Aldis . The store right across from me . You probably found him or I just seen him before . And didn’t really know him . I just know I’ve seen his face before and I talked to him before
Anonymous
You must’ve seen an old episode or read an outdated resource. The son was born in 1988, he’s be 26/27 now.
Laura Allen
Could remains be found Cecila August 11,1999 Oceanside composite of remains sure look like her.
unsolved
Hi Laura – according to the NAMUS entry for that Jane Doe, she was between 15 and 25 years old, and Cecilia was 33 at the time of her disappearance.
Tammy Leopin
This was also on Ancestry.com
Cecilia Elizabeth Newball
in the U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current
Go to website
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Name: Cecilia Elizabeth Newball
Birth Date: 20 Nov 1961
Birth Place: El Salvador
Death Date: 20 Sep 1994
Death Place: Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, USA
Has Bio?: Y
Children: Rene Perez Jr
URL: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-…
Joy Robinson
call the police if you have same them are him
Joy Robinson
And try to think you want your wife
Joy Robinson
have you try to think of neighbor are anyone or your friend avril said that they want your are neighbor talk look at them so much that want them have you thought of it
Dave
Has anyone ever seen this woman before? She would have a son who is over 27.
I wonder how old Cecilia would be right now.
J. Taylor
This looks like my next door neighbor on cortez drive in Orlando. There are more younger children now but the older boy drives and appears to be in his 20’S.
Concerned
From a reliable source he was having an affair with a female named Farrah
LMC
That Source must be very reliable, because I just looked up his name, and that name and his name, Share an address together. Also, a female and she’s 25 years old that’s strange