18-year-old Kristen Modafferi was last seen in San Francisco, California on June 23, 1997. She disappeared while spending the summer in the Bay Area to work part-time jobs and to attend a photography course at UC Berkeley.
Background
Kristen Deborah Modafferi was born on June 1, 1979 in Danbury, Connecticut to parents Debbie and Bob Modafferi. She grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina and is the second oldest of four sisters.
Kristen was a gifted student and skipped a grade in elementary school. She won math competitions, speech and debate tournaments, and received the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Writing Award.
Kristen scored 1570 points on her SAT and went on to be awarded a full academic scholarship through the Park Foundation at North Carolina State University, one of the top design schools in the country.
In 1997, Kristen had just completed her freshman year at North Carolina State University as an industrial design major.
Disappearance
On June 21, 1997, Kristen Modafferi traveled to the San Francisco Bay Area from her family home in North Carolina, with plans to study photography class at UC Berkeley while working part-time jobs and seeing the West Coast for the summer.
Kristen was renting a room in a house with four male roommates that she found through Craiglist, located on Jayne Avenue in Oakland, California.
Kristen was working part-time at Café Museo at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and had a full-time job at Spinelli’s Coffee Shop in the Crocker Galleria Mall in San Francisco’s Financial District.
At 7:00 am on June 23, 1997, Kristen began her shift at Spinelli’s Coffee Shop at Crocker Galleria Mall. She asked her coworkers for directions to Lands End beach for a party that was considering attending that afternoon.
Around 3:00 pm, Kristen finished her shift at Spinelli’s Coffee Shop and was seen 45 minutes later by a coworker, walking on the second floor of the Crocker Galleria Mall talking with an unidentified blonde woman.
Kristen was last seen on surveillance camera withdrawing cash from an ATM at Wells Fargo. Kristen hasn’t been seen or heard from since.
On June 24, 1997, Kristen failed to show up to her first photography class at University of California, Berkeley, a course for which she had already paid $925 in tuition.
On June 27, 1997, her family filed a missing person’s report with the Oakland Police Department after learning from her roommates that Kristen never returned home on the night of June 23.
Investigation
Kristen Modafferi disappeared just three weeks after her 18th birthday. She left behind all of her belongings in the room she rented on Jayne Avenue in Oakland, California. She never picked up her last $400 paycheck from Spinelli’s.
Authorities found a Bay Guardian newspaper in her room with a personal advertisement circled which read: “FRIENDS: Female seeking friends to share activities, who enjoy music, photography, working out, walks, coffee, or simply the beach, exploring the Bay area! Interested, call me.”
Bloodhounds traced Kristen’s scent to the SF Muni 38 Geary bus from a bus stop outside Crocker Galleria Mall. Her trail was then traced near the end of the bus route at Sutro Heights Park near Land’s End Beach before it was lost.
On July 10, 1997, 36-year-old Jon Onuma phoned KGO-TV claiming that Kristen Modafferi was murdered by two women and her body disposed of under a wooden bridge near Point Reyes in Marin County, California.
Jon Onumatold subsequently admitted to police that he had falsely implicated the women because they were planning to get his girlfriend, Jill Lampo, fired from her job at the local YMCA where they worked. He denied having ever met Kristen.
In 2000, President Bill Clinton signed Kristen’s Law, which provides assistance to police departments and families of missing persons over the age of 17, including the annual sequestering of $1 million for the support of missing persons organizations.
In 2015, a cadaver dog alerted to the scent of human decomposition in the basement of Kristen’s former residence on Jayne Avenue in Oakland. Authorities dug up the area but the lead was ruled inconsequential.
Whereabouts
The circumstances of Kristen Modafferi’s disappearance remain unclear and her case is currently classified as missing. Her case remains unsolved.
Appearance
Physical Description:
White female born on June 1, 1979. Kristen has brown hair, brown eyes, stands 5’6 tall, and weighs 140 pounds.
Distinctive Physical Features:
Kristen has distinctive dimples on her face.
Clothing and accessories:
Kristen was last seen wearing a black t-shirt with “Spinelli’s Coffee Shop” logo, tan pants, and a dark blue plaid flannel shirt. She was carrying a dark green “Jansport” backpack.
Investigating Agency
If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Kristen Modafferi please contact the Oakland Police Department at (510) 238-3641. Agency Case Number: 97-060524
