Rosario Gonzales

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Above: Gonzalez, circa 1984

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Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance

  • Missing Since: February 26, 1984 from Miami, Florida
  • Classification: Endangered Missing
  • Age: 20 years old
  • Distinguishing Characteristics: Hispanic (Cuban) female. Auburn hair, brown eyes. Gonzales's nickname is Chary.
  • Clothing/Jewelry Description: A white t-shirt with "Mejoral" printed on the front, red shorts and a diamond engagement ring.
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    Details of Disappearance

    Gonzales was last seen at the Miami Grand Prix racetrack, where she was working at a temporary job distributing samples of aspirin for a pharmaceutical company. Witnesses states that she left the Grand Prix track between noon and 1:00 p.m. on February 26, 1984 with a Caucasian man in his thirties. She was carrying a gray purse at the time of her disappearance. Gonzales has never been heard from again. She resided with her parents in Homestead, Florida, twenty-three miles from Miami, at the time of her disappearance.

    Gonzales is not thought to have left of her own accord. She was engaged to be married in June of 1984 and had dreams of a career as a model. She never picked up her last paycheck. Christopher Wilder became a suspect in Gonzales's disappearance in March 1984. Photos of Wilder are posted below this case summary. He was put on probation in 1980 after pleading guilty to attempted sexual battery towards a teenage girl. While on a visit home to Australia that same year, he was charged with kidnapping and sexually assaulting two teenaged girls. His parents bailed him out of jail and he flew back to the United States, promising to return for his trial which was set for April 1984.

    Wilder has been linked to at least a dozen disappearances, rapes, murders and/or attacks of women in the early to mid-1980s, including the disappearances of Mary Opitz, Colleen Orsborn, Elizabeth Kenyon, and Tammy Leppert. He sometimes attempted to lure young female victims by offering non-existent "modeling sessions" or other tactics. Gonzales was an aspiring model at the time of her disappearance and had participated in the Miss Florida beauty contest along with Elizabeth Kenyon. In addition, Wilder was a race car driver who frequented the Miami Grand Prix racetrack and was reportedly present there the day Gonzales disappeared.

    Wilder went on a killing spree later in 1984 where he traveled across the United States, abducting, raping, torturing, and killing women along the way. He was killed in a struggle with police officers in New Hampshire in the late spring of 1984 and died without ever divulging what he might have known about Gonzales's disappearance. Her case remains unsolved and foul play is suspected due to the circumstances involved.

    Wilder Wilder 2
    Above Images: Wilder

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    Investigating Agency
    If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
    Coral Gables Department

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    Source Information
    The Crime Library
    Daytona Beach Police Department
    Christopher Wilder Biography
    Foster's Daily Democrat
    The Daytona Beach News-Journal
    The Doe Network

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    Updated 1 time since October 12, 2004.

    Last updated October 26, 2006; distinguishing characteristics and clothing description updated.

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