I found this old photograph. Our friend Kunga invited us to a potluck picnic at the park, but this time it wasn’t in Coconut Grove. I think it was at AD Doug Barnes On SW 72nd Avenue in Miami, back in 2005, I think. A nice group of people had gathered around, including Lily and her long term boyfriend at the time, David.
It’s not a great photo, it appears a bit fuzzy and unfocused but to me, it’s….
precious.
It takes me back to that day…reminding me of the good times.
Lily disappeared 5 years ago today… And yet it is still hard to believe Lily is gone. 5 years and still no answers, no arrests, only questions remain.
Is it possible that she’s still alive somewhere? She was a tiny, young person, 4ft barely 100 pounds. Her exboyfriend says she left his place angry, taking bungee cords with her and leaving behind her cellphone and belongings. How would she have managed to survive, with no money, no ID, no phone? These are the questions that linger in my mind as the years go by.
Today it is raining here in Miami. It seems appropriate. Lily loved the rain, just as I do.
A few days ago, my girls and I released monarch butterflys in Lily’s memory. The little caterpillars came home with us on some milkweed plants we bought at Home Depot. Lily loved butterflys.
Tomorrow Lily’s son graduates from Pre-K. She would have been so proud of her little boy. He is so much like her, looks just like her too. After his graduation ceremony, we are going to Coconut Grove to plant a tree for Lily. It will be our special spot to meditate and remember.
“This is 911 what is your emergency?” “My daughter Lily is missing and she left her purse, wallet, and phone at home!” Lily Aramburo, a close friend of the family went missing on June 1, 2007. Everyone misses her dearly, including me. Just imagine having a friend that comes to your house almost every day and then suddenly disappears.
Right before her disappearance she had a baby boy. His name is Palden. He has brown curly hair and big brown eyes. Right now he is 5 years old. He is so sweet and adorable, he is like a little brother to me. It is heartbreaking to think that now he has no mom and his dad is nowhere to be found! Because of this, he is being raised by his grandmother, Lily’s mother.
The next year we held the first candlelight vigil at Peacock Park in Coconut Grove for the first anniversary of the day she disappeared. My sister and my friend Havana and I released butterflies in Lily’s memory. A lot of people came along with Power 96 and some people from the church donated water. My mom and I cut out butterflies, then we decorated them. Everyone signed it and we placed them on a poster board. Some people donated money. Money was donated because no one in the news had picked up the story so we were raising money for a billboard. Everyone was furious with that result. It is four years later and Lily is still missing.
Friends, please remember to tune in to Investigation Discovery on Monday December 12, 2011 at 9pm (Eastern time), Lily’s case will be featured on the show “Disappeared“.
To follow Help Find Lily Aramburo on Facebook click the link below:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Help-Find-Lily-Aramburo/193954499815
Please help spread the word! And help bring Lily back home. Share and if you tweet, please tag tweets with #Justice4Lily
Thank you for caring and for your continued support to Help Find Lily.
Finally, some good news to announce! I am very happy to share that Lily’s story will be aired on Investigation Discovery “Disappeared” (my favorite show on ID!) The NBC production/filming crew came down to Miami in May and interviewed Lily’s mother Lucely, Detective Hoadley, Christen Pacheco, Private Investigator Joe Carrillo and myself. We’re so grateful to Kate, Dave and Investigation Discovery channel! The new season premieres on October 24, Lily’s episode will air in December.
Watch the sneak peaks below of Lily’s episode on “Disappeared”.
“Disappeared: Lily Aramburo”
Twenty-four-year-old Lily Aramburo left her fiancé’s Miami condo at 2 a.m., carrying only two bungee cords. Everyone knows that Lily would not have willingly left her 9-month old son behind, was there foul play involved in her disappearance?
“Disappeared: Lily Aramburo’s Drug Relapse”
In what friends describe as uncharacteristic behavior, Lily Aramburo left her fiancé’s Miami condo at 2 a.m. without her 9-month old son and she never returned.
We are still actively seeking justice for Lily and praying for resolution. You can help bring Lily home by spreading the word and sharing this video with friends, on Facebook and other social networks. Thank you for your continued prayers and support!
We thank all of those who continue to help spread awareness for Lily online by sharing her pictures, blog posts and updates. Please continue sharing this blog and the Help Find Lily page on Facebook. We hope it helps encourage people to come forward with information. Please help bring Justice for Lily.
Report anonymous tips to Crimestoppers 305-471-TIPS.
I’ve only known Detective Ray Hoadley since December of 2010 when he took over the investigation into the disappearance of my friend Lily Aramburo, but I feel as if I’ve known him for a lifetime. The Miami Dade Police Department has lost a dedicated detective and public servant, for us – we are losing our hero.
Where others failed, Dt. Hoadley succeeded. He did the impossible, he changed my view of the police department and police officers by selfessly doing his job.
He read about Lily’s disappearance in an article written by Francisco Alvarado in the Miami New Times. He took it upon himself to do what needed to be done. He had the case transferred from the Missing Persons Dept to Homicide. He began the investigation from square one. It was hard work but he did it, easy peasy.
Dt. Hoadley began his career in 1980, in the City of Opa Locka and retired in 2011 from the Miami Dade Police Department. Detective Hoadley is a good man, a highly skilled professional and our city will miss him dearly. Thank you, Sir.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Local Disappearance Spotlighted in National Book Release
The story of Lucely “Lily” Aramburo, a resident of Miami Dade County, Florida, is featured in the upcoming book, The Last Place You’d Look: True Stories of Missing Persons and the People Who Search for Them by Carole Moore. (Rowman & Littlefield, May 2011)
Lily Aramburo disappeared on June 1st, 2007 from Miami, Florida.
Moore interviewed the families of dozens of missing persons across the county and around the world to compile The Last Place You’d Look, which also focuses on the efforts of police, search and rescue, nonprofits and volunteer organizations.
According to the National Crime Information Center (NCIC), the Lily Aramburo case is one of about 100,000 active, open and unresolved missing persons cases that sit on the books in the U.S. each day. The numbers are similar in Canada, where annually more than 60,000 children are reported missing. Although many who disappear return home or are found, here’s what the numbers don’t say: They’re deceptive in that there are many they don’t count, such as those who disappear in foreign countries or the unreported thousands who fall through bureaucratic cracks, like the homeless and their children. Additionally, in the U.S. alone there are more than 40,000 John and Jane Does in cemeteries and morgues across the country, still waiting to be identified.
“Except for very high profile cases, many missing persons slip from the public memory, leaving their families alone in their grief. Can you imagine not ever knowing what happened to our mother, your brother, your child, your spouse?” asks Moore, a former police investigator and contributing editor at Law Enforcement Technology Magazine. “I wrote this book to help families bring attention to their cases.”
Often families are on their own when it comes to looking for their missing loved ones. Police may have neither the resources nor inclination to pursue an investigation involving multiple jurisdictions and hundreds of man-hours. Smaller departments often lack specialized units dedicated to searching for the missing, and many times officers are ill prepared to track missing persons.
Families are also confronted with a double-edged sword: As long as the case is open, police won’t share with them the critical information gathered in the course of the investigation. They are only allowed access when the case is closed, which means the police are no longer actively looking for the missing person.
Pursuing a missing persons investigation is both expensive and emotionally draining. Families often must travel, hire private investigators, operate media campaigns and engage in search and rescue operations. Although volunteer organizations dedicated to helping families find the resources they need provide help, a proper search is expensive and takes time.
Families are also asked to do the unthinkable: Provide DNA, dental records and fingerprints, the significance of which is not lost on those left behind. Worry and stress also take their toll. As one official at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children told Moore, he is forever haunted by a mother who poignantly shared her wish to cover her missing child with a blanket because she had nightmares about the child being cold.
The anguish of having a loved one vanish is unthinkable, yet thousands of families face this heartbreak every day. The Last Place You’d Look provides searchers a starting point and gives readers an overview of “the club no one wants to belong to.”
For more information, or to schedule an interview, contact:
Carole Moore
Moore can be reached by email at: carolemoore_biz(@)yahoo.com
Phone: 910.388.0714
For more information, you can go to her website: www.carolemoore.com
Local Contact : Janet Forte
janet.forte (@) gmail.com
“The Last Place You’d Look: True Stories of Missing Persons and the People who Search for Them” is available for purchase at Amazon.com. You can get a preview and search the book:
http://www.amazon.com/Last-Place-Youd-Look-Stories/dp/1442203684
On Sunday, we learned that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement put up another highway billboard featuring Lily. This time the entire billboard is devoted to her! It’s on the Palmetto Expressway South bound by Okeechobee Road, a very busy highway that gets mad amounts of steady traffic. I was able to see it for myself this morning. Wow, it was really impressive! Check out the photos I took:
On Monday January 10, 2011, CBS4 Miami highlighted Lily Aramburo’s cold case. It felt phenomenal to finally see Lily on the news!! We’re ecstatic and very grateful to CBS4.
On Tuesday January 11, 2011, a follow up article was written by Frank Alvarado from the Miami New Times. Thank you Frank! The article is posted below. Read it for yourself and please take a minute to comment if you feel inclined! Your thoughts are important to us.
If you’d like to assist in the search for Lily, you can do so easily by sharing these articles and recent news with friends and social networks. You can also join and invite others to the Help Find Lily Facebook Page. THANK YOU so very much for caring about Lily!!!
Assist in the search for Lily by sharing this post with all your friends across the internet. Follow @HelpFindLily on Twitter and connect with us on Facebook. And please be sure to stay tuned to America’s Most Wanted.
Thank you so much for your help and continued support. Many heartfelt thanks for all your prayers for Lily and her family. We are especially grateful to those special individuals who have donated so much of their time and effort into the search for Lily; thank you Joe Carrillo and team. Thank you kindly for your dedication and hard work. And last but not least, sincere thanks to Miami Dade Police Detective Hoadley.
Monday September 13th, 2010 Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s Missing Endangered Persons Information Clearinghouse hosted the twelfth annual Florida Missing Children’s Day in Tallahassee.
During the weekend leading up to the event, advertisers with the Florida Outdoor Advertising Association (FOAA) will be donating digital billboard space throughout the state to feature children and adults from Florida that are still missing. Lamar, Clear Channel Outdoor and CBS outdoor are participating. The artwork will feature 25 missing children and adults. The billboards will run beginning today through Monday.
“The Florida Department of Law Enforcement appreciates our outdoor advertisers for partnering with us once again to broadcast the photos of missing children and adults,” said Commissioner Gerald Bailey. “It is our hope that someone, somewhere in our state will recognize one of these faces and provide us with information that will reunite them with their families.”
The following children and adults will be featured on billboards:
Danielle Bell, missing from Pensacola since Sept. 28, 2001
Tavia Bailey, missing from Pensacola since Jan. 24, 1986
Preston Mills, missing from Pensacola since June 25, 2010
Ali Gilmore, missing from Tallahassee since Feb. 2, 2006
David Jackson, missing from Tallahassee since Oct. 28, 2008
Portesha Morris, missing from Monticello since April 16, 2001
Tiffany Sessions, missing from Gainesville since Feb. 9, 1989
Shirlene Roberts, missing from Jacksonville since Sept. 9, 2009
Mark Gibson, missing from Jacksonville since March 12, 2008
Mark Degner, missing from Jacksonville since Feb. 10, 2005
Bryan Hayes, missing from Jacksonville since Feb. 10, 2005
Zachary Bernhardt, missing from Clearwater since Sept. 11, 2000
Ronkeya Holes and Masaraha Ross, missing from Haines City since Oct. 18, 2009
Jennifer Kesse, missing from Orlando since Jan. 24, 2006
Phillip Desir, missing from Palm Bay since Feb. 7, 2009
Desiree Wilson, missing from Orlando since Jan. 16, 2010
Navisha Maddox, missing from Orlando since April 15, 2008
Jacqueline Hernandez, missing from Clermont since Dec. 22, 2007
Teresa Alfonso, missing from Marathon since Sept. 3, 1974
Lucely Aramburo, missing from Kendall since June 1, 2007
(billboard featuring Lily is off I-95 & 8 St Miami)
Deelee Bohler, missing from Miami since Nov. 2, 2005
Gayle Moran, missing from Lake Palcid since July 30, 2009
Danny Mordenti, missing from Punta Gorda since May 22, 2008
Alexander Erb-Sanchez, missing from Ellenton since Nov. 4, 2008
Florida Missing Children’s Day is held each year to recognize past and present missing children and their families, to educate citizens on safety awareness, and to honor individuals in our state who have made a difference in the life of a child. Families of missing persons will travel to Tallahassee to attend the ceremony and honor the memory of their loved one.
Links
Sun Sentinel post
Capital News Service
South Florida friends and family, if you’re in the area please take a look at the billboard featuring Lily. It is on the West side of I-95, 100 feet South of 8th Street. According to the FDLE, the billboard will be up until October 19th. If you see it and have your phone handy, snap a picture and send it to me via (HelpFindLily(@)gmail.com). If you capture it on film or video, please share it on Facebook and Twitter – add #Justice4Lily. Please contact me if you need any assistance! Thank you for all your support. Thank you Florida Department of Law Enforcement! And a great big thank you to the advertisers for donating to this awareness campaign for Florida Missing Children’s Day.
It has been 3 years since Lily Aramburo, a 23 year old South Florida mother, went missing. And the question remains, where is Lily? There is no doubt that someone holds the key to this puzzle.
Lily was last seen at her boyfriend’s apartment on June 1st, 2007. The Dadeland Village Apartments in Kendall near Dadeland Mall. We know that Lily was having relationship problems. She’d been diagnosed with depression and schizophrenia. She was self medicating and suffering from substance abuse. Those last days before her disappearance, Lily and her boyfriend Christen Pacheco had been fighting a lot.
He claims she just left. Walked out. The time was 2am. According to him, she left her cellphone and purse behind. He said she left in a nightgown and barefoot. He didn’t actually see her walking out -he had gone to the bedroom to speak with Kelly who was in bed. (But somehow) he claims she took bungee cords with her. And yet he said he thought she was just going for a walk to pick flowers.
EJ, the last person in the apartment, was sitting in the livingroom. His statements contradict Christen’s. He said he never saw Lily wearing a nightgown or pajamas and he did not see her take bungee cords.
Christen waited 24 hours to contact police and report his girlfriend missing to Miami Dade Police Department. He made the police report before calling her mom or calling friends or anyone to inquire about if they had seen her. Isn’t that odd? Wouln’t you make a few phone calls, ask around if anyone has seen or heard from her first, before calling police? He told police that story, that Lily had walked out of his apartment barefoot, in a nightgown with bungee cords.
A police officer took the report. Despite there being a history of police being called to that address for domestic violence, the officer failed to see any red flags. The start of our long and painful nightmare began.
If you have any information about Lily’s disappearance, we urge you to make an anonymous call to Miami Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477 or 1-866-471-8477. You can also submit TIPS via their website www.crimestoppersmiami.com.
Early Monday morning, Lucely went on the Enrique Santos radio show. They’ve been an enormous help in our search for answers. We love their show and appreciate all their support. Take a listen here:
Univision’s Primer Impacto came over after hearing Lucely on the radio. Watch the video below:
.Here’s Part 1 of P.I Joe Carrillo on Enrique Santos Show:
Friends and supporters, I am so very excited to announce that Lily Aramburo is being featured TONIGHT (Saturday September 12th) on the 23rd Season Premiere of America’s Most Wanted at 9pm (Eastern time).
Lily’s case will be on AMW’s “My Story” segment. “My Story” producer says it allows the loved ones of missing persons to submit video to America’s Most Wanted about their case, told in their own words. As the show is configured it will air 46 minutes into the show. For people that miss it, the show is always available at www.amw.com after the show airs.’
I’d like to thank Kelly of Project Jason for her kindness and support. Kelly reached out to us and let us know that AMW (America’s Most Wanted) was working on adding more missing person case features into the show. She updated the Project Jason Forum with all the details for all the families of missing loved ones to see. Giving us strength with her words: “Remember, there is always hope………”
We are very grateful to America’s Most Wanted for the coverage. THANK YOU so much! And thanks to all our friends and supporters. Thank you for caring, for keeping Lily in your mind and prayers. Never give up on her, someone knows something.
AMW’s 23rd Season Begins Saturday Night
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Attention Miami Dade Police, City of Miami Police, US Law enforcement, medical examiners, coroners, victim advocates, volunteers and families of missing persons:
There is an incredible online tool, the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs). This online tool allows you to search records of missing persons and unidentified human remains (recovered throughout the country) in an effort to SOLVE CASES. Anyone can search the national database using characteristics such as sex, race, body features and dental information. If you have a missing loved one, MAKE SURE to have their information listed on this FREE database! NamUs has already begun solving cases!
Washington Post article, The NamUs System
“There are perhaps 40,000 sets of unidentified human remains held by medical examiners and coroners across the country, according to government estimates. A patchwork of record-keeping policies govern the related data.
With that in mind, the Justice Department has created the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs), a searchable database of “unidentified decedents,” in hopes of matching remains to missing persons, an estimated 100,000 of which exist in the U.S. at any given time.
The more information in a NamUs profile, the more likely a match can be made. NamUs has created a five-star rating system indicating how much information is in a file, a hint at how likely it might be that the remains can be identified.”
Early in 2009, I submitted my friend, Lily Aramburo (missing from Miami, FL since June 2007) into NamUs. All the information we had on Lily (including pictures of Lily and her tattoo) was entered; except for Lily’s dental records and NCIC number, which we did not have. Lily Aramburo NamUs profile 
In February, while searching the database, I got a match for skeletal remains found in Broward County, FL. I got in touch with the Medical Examiner’s Office and they made contact with law enforcement in Miami Dade. Soon they had the two DNAs compared and were able to get a quick turn around time regarding the results. The University of North Texas and the F. B. I. both had mitochondrial DNA profiles already established. Therefore, based on their unidentified decedent’s profile and Lily’s mom’s profile, the labs came to the conclusion that it could not possibly be Lily.
A short time later, I was contacted by Tony, the Regional System Administrator at NamUs. He said his goal was to make Lily’s file as complete as possible to enhance a resolution. He offered to help get Lily’s NCIC number, as well as working on contacting Lily’s dentist. Thanks to Tony we were finally able to acquire Lily’s NCIC number! The National Crime Information Center number for Lucely “Lily” Aramburo is M497579638. (For some reason, law enforcement didn’t want to share it with us.) We are grateful to Tony and the caring staff at NamUs. Everyone has been so willing to go out of their way to help.
Everyone NEEDS TO KNOW about NAMUS. Law Enforcement and Medical Examiner’s need to know about NamUs. Please make sure to help spread the word!
Recommended reading:
New Path To Restore Identities Of Missing
Names, the missing matched on NamUs
14 years later, missing Va. boy ID’d via national tool
Families of the missing can search from home
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This will be our 2nd holiday without Lilly Aramburo. The feeling of great loss and grieving hasn’t stopped since her disappearance but Christmas is especially arduous. Emotions are raw. Most of Lily’s family is processing through this the same way we would with a death, except there’s no closure because Lilly’s body has not been found.
In the midst of all this suffering, there has been some progress though. Lilly’s mother, Lucely, requested a meeting with Captain Janna L. Bolinger-Heller from Miami Dade Police Department, she kindly agreed. Lucely, Joe Carrillo (private investigator), and I met with the Captain and Lieutenant Normando Gregorisch yesterday. It was our first time meeting Captain Heller in person, as well as Lieutenant Gregorisch. I must say, it was a very positive meeting. Obviously, I can’t disclose any details since it involves an open investigation. The last thing I want is to compromise the case and let violent criminals get away with murdering my friend. If all goes well, and everyone keeps to their word, I have no doubt…the truth will come out and this case will finally be transferred to homicide.
Please light a candle and say a prayer for Lilly and her family.
Lately, I’ve been receiving a lot of traffic and comments on this blog from folks who are curious about my connection to Kid Finders Network. Seems like followers of the Caylee Anthony missing child case, have been Googling information about Kid Finders and have found my old blog posts. Like many of you, I too have been watching in wonderment at the latest controversy surrounding them. This post is for you, those who want to know how Kid Finders Network came into our lives.
The date was July 2008, I received an email through Myspace from a friend, the sister of a missing person, Heather Riggio. She told me about Kid Finders and how they were doing a mobile billboard for Heather. She suggested I contact them to see if they’d be willing to do the same for Lilly. To my surprise, a few days later, I received an email from Sherri Milstead of Kid Finders. She told me about her organization and the work they were doing for Heather Riggio’s case. She explained that along with the mobile billboard, they did press conferences to raise awareness in the community. She offered their services for Lilly. I was very excited about the possibility and immediately notified Lilly’s mother.
A short time later (about a week), I received another email from Sherri. She asked me if I could meet her the following morning at the North Miami Beach Police station, where they were having a press conference for Heather Riggio. She wanted to talk about Lilly’s case. I agreed and contacted Lilly’s mother to go with me.
About 10am on Friday July 11th, we drove to the police station. We saw the mobile billboard for Heather parked out in front of the building on the busy Avenue. Lucely (Lilly’s mother) and I met Sherri and Dennis Milstead moments before the press conference took place. (Pictured above) We watched as everyone exited the station and took their place in front of the mobile billboard. We listened to detectives and Kid Finders speak, we watched as reporters for the Miami Herald and WSVN Channel 7 asked their questions. It was a tough moment us. Although we felt happy for Heather and her family, we could not escape feelings of sadness for Lilly. Quietly, we fell to the background and took a seat.
A short time later, we had our meeting with Sherri and Dennis. They seemed nice and willing to help. They assured us that they would do the same for Lilly. They said it would not be long before the billboard would be ready with Lilly’s picture and information. Dennis gave us each his invention, Safety in a Flash. After conversing for some 45 minutes, Lucely and I left our meeting hopeful.
On July 19th, I got an email from Sherri. She assured me that she did not forget about Lilly. And went on to explain that they were being pulled away to Orlando for a Missing 2 year old girl named Caylee Anthony. She said “As you know we are KID Finders Network and small children take precidence but rest assured we are still working on getting a mobile billboard out for Lily as fast as we can.“
That was the last I heard from Sherri and Kid Finders Network. My emails to Sherri haven’t been answered. But this is the kind of thing I’ve grown used to. I’m sure she’s been really busy with the whole Caylee Anthony search.
But the fact remains, my dear friend, Lilly Aramburo is still missing… just like little Caylee. But NO ONE, not one organization is volunteering to search for Lilly Aramburo or doing anything at all for her or her 2 year old son.
A BIG heartfelt THANK YOU to Jamie for creating this moving tribute for Lilly. THANK YOU to everyone all over the US, that have stepped up so selflessly to help spread the word. Your kindness and hard work is appreciated. Lilly’s family and friends are grateful. May you be blessed with the same love and support in your own lives.
