GREELEY, Colo. (AP) – The disappearance of 12-year-old Jonelle Matthews shortly after singing “Jingle Bells” with classmates at a 1984 Christmas concert stunned this rural town in northern Colorado. Her case attracted the attention of the White House, and came at a time when the faces of missing children across the nation were being placed on milk cartons to heighten awareness.
On Thursday, police announced that human remains found by construction workers earlier this week were that of the little girl who would have been 47 now, answering one question that has haunted police and others for decades but reigniting a gnawing mystery of what exactly led to her demise.
Jonelle, a member of the Franklin Middle School Honor Choir, stood on a garland-adorned staircase during the concert, sporting short, thick dark hair and smiling slightly, perhaps shyly. She was a 7th grader, active at the Sunny View Church of the Nazarene.
After the concert, Jonelle was taken home by a friend and the friend’s father.
She was last seen at 8 p.m. on Dec. 20, entering her family’s simple ranch-style home with a detached garage, the front yard blanketed by snow. No one was ever arrested. Jonelle lived with her father, Jim, her mother, Gloria, and a sister, Jennifer.