In 1997, Kristen Modafferi was an 18-year-old honors college student from Charlotte, North Carolina. She had already completed her freshman year at North Carolina State University’s School of Design– during which she was reportedly encouraged to plan “an enriching summer experience.”

So, in the summer of 1997, she moved to San Fransisco to take a summer photography course at U.C. Berkeley and planned to enjoy a summer filled with new life experiences in a big city.

In order to afford that course’s tuition, Kristen found a job at a local coffee shop known as Spinelli’s, which was located at the Crocker Galleria mall. And on Monday, June 23, 1997, the very day before beginning her photography class, the 18-year-old arrived for her shift as usual.

Kristen was relieved from work at 3:00 p.m. But, coworkers reportedly saw her speaking with an unknown blonde woman up on the Galleria’s second floor approximately 45 minutes later.

What happened afterward remains unknown, though– because that was the last time anyone saw the teen.

Another coworker did recall how Kristen asked for directions to Baker Beach– suggesting that perhaps the 18-year-old had been heading to a party. But, authorities were never able to determine if Kristen ever attended a party or if there was even a party at all.

All that is known is that the teen left her job wearing tan pants, a black Spinelli’s t-shirt, a long-sleeved blue flannel shirt, and a green JanSport backpack holding a few library books.

At the time, Kristen lived with roommates in a rented home located on Jayne Avenue in Oakland. But her roommates were frequently in and out of the house, revealing that they were not concerned after the 18-year-old did not return on the evening of June 23.

Instead, her roommates assumed she might have stayed over at a friend’s house or met a guy.

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So, it was not until Kristen’s father, Bob Modafferi, called the home in search of his daughter that her disappearance came to light. After he left a message asking Kristen to call him back, one of the teen’s roommates called Bob to let him know that no one had seen Kristen for three days.

Bob and his wife, Debbie, immediately became alarmed and ultimately hopped on the next flight to San Francisco. Then, upon arrival, they headed straight to Oakland Police headquarters.

“When we found out that she had disappeared, we were just shocked. We couldn’t eat. We barely spoke. We just were even having trouble breathing,” Bob said.

Unfortunately, though, Kristen’s parents tried to report her missing on a Friday afternoon– meaning that the investigators assigned to her case were heading home for the weekend. The desk officer reportedly did not seem concerned about this, either, and viewed the 18-year-old as another runaway.

This led to a delay in the launch of an investigation into Kristen’s disappearance, and by the time authorities began working on her case on Monday, June 30, the 18-year-old had already been missing for nearly a full week.

The first clue investigators uncovered pertained to the conversation Kristen had with the unidentified blonde woman after she finished work on June 23. According to the teen’s coworker, who spotted the interaction, this was out of character for Kristen.

“He [the coworker] thought that was kind of strange because she never really stuck around after work. As soon as she checked out, she would be gone,” recalled Oakland Police Department Officer Patrick Mahanay.

Kristen’s father, Bob, was also determined to uncover the woman’s identity– even though her relation to the teen has never been determined.

“They were hanging out together, talking together, definitely with each other. And so we’ve made a lot of effort to try to get the blonde woman to come forward, identify herself,” Bob explained.

“We appealed a number of times through the media, but we’ve never got a response.”

Once Bob and Debbie personally searched through their daughter’s room, they also found a Bay Guardian newspaper in the trashcan. One of the personal ads had been circled.

“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,” the ad read.

This piece of potential evidence was brought to authorities, and detectives subsequently tried to determine who had taken out the ad in the paper. Unfortunately, though, the Bay Guardian had already deleted that information– reportedly in a routine housekeeping operation.

So, authorities still do not know if Kristen actually placed the ad, if she responded to it, or if she was simply interested and decided to highlight it.

In terms of ground searches, investigators also used bloodhounds in an attempt to retrace Kristen’s steps on the day she disappeared.

After the dogs located the 18-year-old’s trail, they led investigators to Geary Street– heading toward Land’s End Beach. Then, the scent trail ended.

“We got down to the beach area and came to a point where the trail seemed to have stopped,” Officer Mahanay detailed.

“That’s a very treacherous part of the San Francisco waterline. Numerous people each year are washed off the rocks and are never seen again, so it was a distinct possibility that she had, in fact, fallen into the ocean.”

Although Kristen’s father, Bob, highly doubted this theory.

“We really don’t believe that’s what happened to Kristen,” Bob revealed.

“It’s a very tourist-oriented area, so there are always people around. If she had fallen into the water, somebody would have seen something.”

Then, 17 days after the 18-year-old vanished, a man phoned the news outlet KGO-TV with an alarming tip.

Bill Magee, a former ABC7 News Assignment Manager, received that phone call on July 10th– in which the man claimed Kristen had been murdered in a “love triangle.”

The man also claimed that Kristen’s remains had been dumped off a wooden bridge located near Point Reyes.

Investigators were subsequently contacted, and they determined that the caller had been a 36-year-old man named John, who lived about a mile away from the Cocker Galleria.

After being questioned by authorities, John first denied calling the news station. But he eventually admitted to being the tipster.

According to Officer Mahanay, though, the information provided by John was false. Investigators followed up with the women he implicated, and they were cleared.

“He [John] gave us too many details. When people do that, we know they’re not giving us a tip. They’re telling us a story,” Officer Mahany said.

Once John entered the investigators’ scope, though, he was personally investigated. It was discovered that John had placed several classified ads in the paper– which various Bay Area women had responded to in the past.

In questioning the women, they claimed that John tried to steal money from them or coerce them. The women also said that they chose not to report what happened out of fear of retaliation.

In 1999, John Onuma was also featured on one episode of “America’s Most Wanted,” a popular Fox Television crime series. During the episode, three women alleged they had been held against their will and tortured by John. The torture reportedly included burning and sleep deprivation.

John reportedly now lives in Hawaii. And according to Oakland Police, he is not a suspect in the case– although he remains a person of interest.

In 2015, there was renewed hope for a potential break in the case when a forensic investigator offered his services to the Modafferi family free of charge. That year, he brought a famous cadaver dog– known for its ability to locate the remains of missing WWII soldiers– to Kristen’s old rental home located at 274 Jayne Avenue.

While there, the dog reportedly “alerted” after detecting the scent of a “chemical plume” in the basement– which is associated with decaying human remains. According to the forensic anthropologist Dr. Arpad Vass and investigator Paul Dostie, further tests also confirmed human decomposition in the area.

After this discovery, Oakland police claimed they needed to conduct their own testing at the house. However, it is unknown what came of these efforts.

So, Kristen has now remained missing for over 25 years, and her loved ones have continued searching for answers. They created a Facebook group entitled Help Find Kristen Modafferi in order to keep her memory alive and continue raising awareness about her case.

And according to Kristen’s mother, Debbie, they will never give up hope.

“When you are faced with a situation like this, you really don’t know how strong you can be. You either crawl in a hole and die and give up, or you can fight. There was no choice for us; we were going to fight for our daughter,” Debbie said.

At the time of her disappearance, Kristen was five foot six, weighed 140 pounds, and had dark brown hair and brown eyes. She had distinctive dimples on her face and was known to use public transportation. If you have any information regarding Kristen’s disappearance or whereabouts, you are urged to contact the Oakland Police Department.

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