1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:13,440 The views and opinions expressed in Cold and Missing are exclusively those of the hosts. 2 00:00:13,440 --> 00:00:18,120 All parties mentioned are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. 3 00:00:18,120 --> 00:00:22,420 Cold and Missing also contains adult themes and languages and is intended for a mature 4 00:00:22,420 --> 00:00:23,620 audience. 5 00:00:23,620 --> 00:00:34,600 Listener discretion is advised. 6 00:00:34,600 --> 00:00:37,360 Hello everyone and welcome back to Cold and Missing. 7 00:00:37,360 --> 00:00:41,800 I'm your host, Ali McLaughlin-Sulkowski, and this is Cold and Missing, where we cover 8 00:00:41,800 --> 00:00:45,960 cold cases and unresolved missing person cases. 9 00:00:45,960 --> 00:00:47,520 I'm flying solo this week. 10 00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:53,880 My co-host, my husband, Eli Sulkowski, is busy with some work projects, so it's just 11 00:00:53,880 --> 00:00:58,160 me, but without further ado, let's get into this week's episode. 12 00:00:58,160 --> 00:01:00,400 Today I have for you a cold case. 13 00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:06,740 Now just as a content warning at the top, this case does involve a young person. 14 00:01:06,740 --> 00:01:14,080 Today I have the case of April Marie Sanchez in San Jose, California, and this case takes 15 00:01:14,080 --> 00:01:18,360 place in the month of April of 2003. 16 00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:22,000 But first, a little bit about April Marie Sanchez. 17 00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:25,160 April was 16 years old in 2003. 18 00:01:25,160 --> 00:01:30,880 She was born November 29, 1986, and she would be 36 years old today. 19 00:01:30,880 --> 00:01:36,680 Her family and friends describe her as a happy teen who worried about others more than herself. 20 00:01:36,680 --> 00:01:43,380 Her mother, Diana Ruiz, says, quote, she was so full of life, she wanted to live. 21 00:01:43,380 --> 00:01:45,280 She was spunky, vivacious. 22 00:01:45,280 --> 00:01:49,840 She was tough, but deep down inside, she had a good heart, end quote. 23 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:54,120 April was a part of a gang, but she had begun to turn her life around. 24 00:01:54,120 --> 00:01:59,440 Her mother was in the hospital in early 2003, and once her mother is discharged, everybody 25 00:01:59,440 --> 00:02:01,220 notices a change in April. 26 00:02:01,220 --> 00:02:03,720 She was focused on her mother's healing. 27 00:02:03,720 --> 00:02:08,120 Her mother says, quote, she just realized if I give my mom a hard time, she's not 28 00:02:08,120 --> 00:02:10,040 going to be around much longer. 29 00:02:10,040 --> 00:02:13,960 She'd say, don't worry, mom, things are going to be different, end quote. 30 00:02:13,960 --> 00:02:19,080 She had just entered 10th grade at Foothill Continuation High School in San Jose, and 31 00:02:19,080 --> 00:02:23,160 she wanted to study cosmetology after high school. 32 00:02:23,160 --> 00:02:25,880 And now, a timeline of events. 33 00:02:25,880 --> 00:02:32,920 On Friday, April 18, 2003, April is hanging out at her boyfriend's house with friends. 34 00:02:32,920 --> 00:02:37,040 She calls her mom from her boyfriend's cell phone to let her know she's safe and she 35 00:02:37,040 --> 00:02:38,280 would be back later. 36 00:02:38,280 --> 00:02:45,440 Now, April hangs out at her boyfriend's house late Friday night into early Saturday morning. 37 00:02:45,440 --> 00:02:52,400 So Saturday, April 19, April leaves her boyfriend's house around 1230 a.m. 38 00:02:52,400 --> 00:02:57,560 The house was located near Keys Avenue and 6th Street, and she was headed to her mother's 39 00:02:57,560 --> 00:03:02,120 house, which was near McLaughlin Avenue and Story Road. 40 00:03:02,120 --> 00:03:07,480 It would take about 25 minutes to walk the 1.3 miles. 41 00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:12,140 To get home, April would have had to pass Roberts Avenue, where another large party 42 00:03:12,140 --> 00:03:14,200 was happening that evening. 43 00:03:14,200 --> 00:03:19,080 According to police, April was not seen at the party, but she never makes it home. 44 00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:24,760 Diana, her mother, starts to worry when April doesn't show up, and she calls the boyfriend's 45 00:03:24,760 --> 00:03:26,280 cell phone back. 46 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:29,720 She says, quote, he told me she had left walking. 47 00:03:29,720 --> 00:03:31,120 I don't believe that. 48 00:03:31,120 --> 00:03:35,500 My daughter, if she was walking, she would have stopped at a payphone and told me. 49 00:03:35,500 --> 00:03:36,620 That didn't happen. 50 00:03:36,620 --> 00:03:38,080 My daughter hadn't called. 51 00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:39,840 I knew something was wrong. 52 00:03:39,840 --> 00:03:40,840 End quote. 53 00:03:40,840 --> 00:03:45,760 Diana calls April's friends to try to find her, and she'll eventually call Juvenile 54 00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:53,600 Hall, where an official there advises Diana to wait 24 hours before reporting April missing. 55 00:03:53,600 --> 00:03:56,080 So Diana takes that official's advice. 56 00:03:56,080 --> 00:04:03,240 But at around 830 a.m., a man was walking his dog near Phelan Avenue and Roberts Avenue 57 00:04:03,240 --> 00:04:07,560 when he finds April's partially clothed body on a creek bank. 58 00:04:07,560 --> 00:04:11,800 Her body is about halfway between her boyfriend's home and her mother's. 59 00:04:11,800 --> 00:04:17,400 Diana, after not hearing from April all day, calls police at 10 p.m. to report her missing. 60 00:04:17,400 --> 00:04:21,820 Within 10 minutes, police are at her door asking her to come downtown. 61 00:04:21,820 --> 00:04:26,840 On Monday, April 21st, family and friends gather at the spot where April's body was 62 00:04:26,840 --> 00:04:31,360 found and place a white cross and hold a memorial service. 63 00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:36,560 Her mother is there and says, quote, I'm trying to figure this out. 64 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:40,080 To lose my daughter like this, I feel so empty. 65 00:04:40,080 --> 00:04:41,260 End quote. 66 00:04:41,260 --> 00:04:46,720 On Tuesday, April 22nd, police announced that they are investigating April's death as a 67 00:04:46,720 --> 00:04:48,120 homicide. 68 00:04:48,120 --> 00:04:52,600 And while there were no obvious wounds on the body, such as a bullet hole or a stab 69 00:04:52,600 --> 00:04:57,920 wound, other marks left on her body indicated a homicide, but they didn't go into detail 70 00:04:57,920 --> 00:05:00,040 about what those marks were. 71 00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:05,800 Sergeant Steve Dixon says, quote, it might be an acquaintance homicide or it might have 72 00:05:05,800 --> 00:05:06,880 been a stranger. 73 00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:08,280 We really don't know. 74 00:05:08,280 --> 00:05:09,960 End quote. 75 00:05:09,960 --> 00:05:12,560 Police do look at possible gang ties. 76 00:05:12,560 --> 00:05:17,880 The area that April was found in was in a rival gang's territory, and there was graffiti 77 00:05:17,880 --> 00:05:22,400 on trees of the rival gangs not far from where her body was found. 78 00:05:22,400 --> 00:05:26,040 But police do believe it was a crime of opportunity. 79 00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:31,320 On Wednesday, April 30th, April's funeral was held at the Cathedral of Faith in San 80 00:05:31,320 --> 00:05:32,540 Jose. 81 00:05:32,540 --> 00:05:35,160 And then this case goes really cold. 82 00:05:35,160 --> 00:05:42,200 I couldn't find really any updates, not even a lot of the cases we cover. 83 00:05:42,200 --> 00:05:47,240 They're usually, you know, yearly updates, especially when these things go unsolved, 84 00:05:47,240 --> 00:05:49,160 maybe at the five, the 10 mark. 85 00:05:49,160 --> 00:05:54,660 But really, you don't hear anything again until April 19th, 2022. 86 00:05:54,660 --> 00:06:00,600 So last year, local media run April story on the 19 year anniversary of her murder. 87 00:06:00,600 --> 00:06:05,400 The San Jose police said at that time, there were no significant updates on her case and 88 00:06:05,400 --> 00:06:07,380 it remains unsolved. 89 00:06:07,380 --> 00:06:14,960 So if you know anything about what happened to April Marie Sanchez on Saturday, April 90 00:06:14,960 --> 00:06:22,400 19th in 2003 in San Jose, California, you are encouraged to call the San Jose police 91 00:06:22,400 --> 00:06:27,680 at 408-277-8900. 92 00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:35,720 And her case number is 03-109-0320. 93 00:06:35,720 --> 00:06:41,880 And the sources for today's podcast come from the Oakland Tribune, the Enterprise Record, 94 00:06:41,880 --> 00:06:48,440 the SF gate, KRON4, and Mercury News. 95 00:06:48,440 --> 00:06:52,280 But that is the case of April Marie Sanchez. 96 00:06:52,280 --> 00:06:55,960 And I felt really sad about this. 97 00:06:55,960 --> 00:07:01,280 And I, you know, I feel like I do say that after a lot of the cases that I cover and 98 00:07:01,280 --> 00:07:08,760 research that I do feel bad that there isn't more coverage or more known on this case. 99 00:07:08,760 --> 00:07:15,560 I obviously have a lot of questions regarding this case, as I'm sure listeners do too. 100 00:07:15,560 --> 00:07:20,040 I wonder about the friends and the boyfriend. 101 00:07:20,040 --> 00:07:24,440 You know, she called her mom to let her know she was safe there, but she never called to 102 00:07:24,440 --> 00:07:29,080 say she was leaving, which, you know, based off of the quote from her mother, Diana, that 103 00:07:29,080 --> 00:07:35,360 does seem to be April's normal mode of operation is to update her mother and to let her know. 104 00:07:35,360 --> 00:07:41,080 But if she did leave the boyfriend's house and was walking home, you know, there was 105 00:07:41,080 --> 00:07:46,240 a big party that she kind of would have had to pass by according to police. 106 00:07:46,240 --> 00:07:50,400 And as I mentioned, she was not seen at the party. 107 00:07:50,400 --> 00:07:57,000 But that doesn't mean that somebody from the party didn't see her. 108 00:07:57,000 --> 00:08:05,680 I just really feel for April and her family because it seems like because she was kind 109 00:08:05,680 --> 00:08:12,280 of labeled as like a tough girl and like a tough kid that the time and care wasn't 110 00:08:12,280 --> 00:08:14,320 really given to her case. 111 00:08:14,320 --> 00:08:21,880 You know, I see, you know, the vast difference in what was available surrounding her case 112 00:08:21,880 --> 00:08:28,680 versus, you know, what was available for some of the other cases that I've covered. 113 00:08:28,680 --> 00:08:32,040 It was very remarkable to me. 114 00:08:32,040 --> 00:08:35,520 And just as a reminder, April is 16. 115 00:08:35,520 --> 00:08:38,360 She is a child in this story. 116 00:08:38,360 --> 00:08:43,280 And I think that is something that was lost in a lot of the original reporting. 117 00:08:43,280 --> 00:08:49,480 She is sometimes referenced as a teen, which is true. 118 00:08:49,480 --> 00:08:54,480 But a lot of times they kind of just mention her age as a one off, but then kind of treat 119 00:08:54,480 --> 00:09:02,080 her as an adult, which doesn't feel fair because she you know, she was a child. 120 00:09:02,080 --> 00:09:04,680 And even if she had been in trouble, that doesn't matter. 121 00:09:04,680 --> 00:09:07,400 There was a child who was murdered. 122 00:09:07,400 --> 00:09:16,800 I just feel really bad for April's family and that they haven't been supported by the 123 00:09:16,800 --> 00:09:23,940 media and you know, the local community and trying to or I'm sure they have been supported 124 00:09:23,940 --> 00:09:28,480 by their local community, their family, their friends, but like the local news, the local 125 00:09:28,480 --> 00:09:39,080 news outlets, you know, they haven't been supported by the larger community in bringing 126 00:09:39,080 --> 00:09:47,200 this case to a resolve to some closure and her family really deserves that and she deserves 127 00:09:47,200 --> 00:09:49,200 justice. 128 00:09:49,200 --> 00:09:55,840 So again, if you know anything about what happened to April Marie Sanchez in April of 129 00:09:55,840 --> 00:10:05,680 2003, please call the San Jose Police Department at 408-277-8900. 130 00:10:05,680 --> 00:10:06,680 Thank you for listening. 131 00:10:06,680 --> 00:10:13,200 Again, I say this all the time, but while you're in your podcast app getting ready to go to 132 00:10:13,200 --> 00:10:17,960 your next show, if you could go ahead and leave us a review if you're an Apple podcast 133 00:10:17,960 --> 00:10:23,080 or rate us five stars, thumbs up, whatever the metric is in your favorite podcast app, 134 00:10:23,080 --> 00:10:25,540 we would greatly appreciate it. 135 00:10:25,540 --> 00:10:32,000 If you want to follow us, I'll have some photos of April Marie Sanchez up on our Instagram 136 00:10:32,000 --> 00:10:37,600 that's at cold and missing and just search that in your Instagram and we'll pop right 137 00:10:37,600 --> 00:10:38,920 on up. 138 00:10:38,920 --> 00:10:43,660 And if you're enjoying this podcast, please tell your friends, your family, your coworkers 139 00:10:43,660 --> 00:10:48,200 about this podcast so we can get these names back out there and people can just be aware 140 00:10:48,200 --> 00:10:50,760 of these cases all around the world. 141 00:10:50,760 --> 00:10:56,800 So that's the goal of this podcast is just to keep these names active, keep these cases 142 00:10:56,800 --> 00:11:00,920 active and keep them active in the minds of as many people as possible. 143 00:11:00,920 --> 00:11:03,140 So thank you for being a part of that. 144 00:11:03,140 --> 00:11:05,040 It really means the world to me. 145 00:11:05,040 --> 00:11:06,200 Thank you for being here. 146 00:11:06,200 --> 00:11:08,480 I appreciate you. 147 00:11:08,480 --> 00:11:21,360 And I hope you have a good week and stay safe y'all.