NPD Cold Case investigator Lt. Art Weisgerber hopes to bring closure to family of teen missing since 1976

The Hour Online The Hour Online Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close NPD Cold Case investigator Lt. Art Weisgerber hopes to bring closure to family of teen missing since 1976 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

NORWALK -- Forty years after 14-year-old Maria Anjiras disappeared from her Midwood Road home, Norwalk Police Cold Case Unit investigator Lt. Art Weisgerber would like to bring closure to Maria's remaining family.

Maria's case, one of 24 unsolved Norwalk Cold Cases dating back to 1971, came to Weisgerber's immediate attention when he received an anonymous email last year with a possible lead from the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs).

"The email said that there was a (deceased) Jane Doe in Baltimore City, Maryland in 1976 from someone who thought there was a connection, " he said.

Following correspondence with Baltimore City detectives, it was determined that the Maryland victim was not Maria.

"I'm starting from the beginning again," Weisgerber said. "I've interviewed some of Maria's friends over the past six months in the hope that they may have information that would be useful to the investigation. When they were 14 or 15 years old, they may have been afraid to give police information about when Maria was last seen or when they last heard from her, but there's no criminal aspect to this and they're in their 50's now."

In the hope that someone may have information that will determine Maria's whereabouts, Weisgerber posted the details of the case on the Norwalk Police Department Facebook page:

"On February 12th, 1976 at 5:46 PM, the Norwalk Police received a Missing Person complaint from Mr. Anjiras of 2 Midwood Road that his 14 year old daughter had run away from the house at approximately 2:15 PM. It was reported that Maria left her house on a blue English racer bicycle and was wearing her Norwalk High School jacket with the # 79 and her nickname "Mia". After Maria did not return home in time for her music lesson, Mr. Anjiras checked the homes of some friends and located the bicycle at the home of Judy Altemose at 50 St. Mary's Lane. Judy and other friends of Maria reported to the Police that they had not seen Maria or heard from her."

"Over the next few days, there were reported sightings of Maria at Duchess Restaurant on Main Street and possible in an orange car and a black car in the same general area. She was never located. A list of friends were interviewed several times by the police and all reported not knowing where Maria was or hearing from her. Numerous leads were followed, even the possibility of Maria being with the Charter Oaks Motorcycle Club in Bethel, CT. After September of 1976, little information or leads came in for Maria Anjiras and none of her family or friends reported being contacted by Maria. Mr. Anjiras passed away in 1983 and Mrs. Anjiras a few years later without ever hearing from Maria again."

"In recent years, DNA samples were collected from Maria's older siblings and entered into the University of North Texas database that is linked Nationally to CODIS in an effort to connect Missing Persons to Unidentified Persons/Remains. There is some difficulty in that connection as blood samples were not collected in Unidentified Remains in the 1970's with the intention of developing DNA profiles. Dental and fingerprint identification were more prevalent."

Maria's case is listed on the Norwalk Police website under Cold Cases; in National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) and National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs).

"Her parents have passed away, but I'm trying to get a resolution to this for her older brother and sister," Weisgerber said.

Anybody that spoke with Maria Anjiras in the weeks or years after she ran away from home or has information on the location of Maria Anjiras can contact Lt. Art Weisgerber at (203) 854-3028; or aweisgerber@norwalkct.org

Anonymous Internet tips can be sent through the Norwalk police website at: www.norwalkpd.com

Anonymous text tips can be submitted by typing "NPD" into the text field, followed by the message and sending it to CRIMES (274637).