New image released in Bridgeport cold case after 10-year-old vanished 24 years ago
BRIDGEPORT, Connecticut (WABC) -- Police in Bridgeport released a new photograph on Wednesday in a missing person cold case from 2001.
The photograph is an age progression image released by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that shows what Bianca Lebron would look like today at 34 years old.
Lebron was last seen when she was 10 years old at the former Elias Howe School at 8:30 a.m. on Nov. 7, 2001.
She was last seen getting into a van after telling friends she was going to the mall with her uncle, but the girl did not have an uncle.
The pain of Lebron's disappearance is still fresh for her family almost 25 years later.
"Living with this every day, it's no life, it's not, not knowing where your child is, what happened to her," said her mother Carmelita Torres.
Lebron's family was at the news conference on Wednesday, including her adult niece -- someone she never met.
"Coming from a mother, I know there is someone out there who had to see something, my grandma has been broken for the past 24 years without her daughter, please help bring my family closure," she said.
Police believe that since Lebron was never found, she could still be alive today and authorities hope the new photo will help generate new leads.
"Bianca Lebron could be the victim of a homicide, she could also be missing and out there and still alive and that's what this photograph means," said Bridgeport Police Dept. Det. Jeffrey Holtz.
Police say that have persons of interest and have dug up two locations during their investigation based on tips. But detectives are still asking for the public's help.
There is a $62,000 reward in the case.
"Anytime a community has a child go missing from school, we need to find out what happened, and if so there's anybody out there, if you know anything regarding this case, please come forward and help us," said Bridgeport Police Dept. Chief Roderick Porter.
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