Anthonette Cayedito

Status:

Open

Jurisdiction:

Gallup Police Department (NM)

Missing From:

Gallup, New Mexico

Summary:

Anthonette Christine Cayedito disappeared from her home in Gallup, New Mexico on April 6, 1986, aged 9. Authorities found no evidence following an extensive three-day search, but suspected Cayedito had been abducted and were treating her disappearance as foul play. A year after her disappearance, a girl claiming to be Cayedito phoned the Gallup Police Department, stated her name multiple times and said she was in Albuquerque, before an unknown adult yelled "Who said you could use the phone?" followed by the girl screaming. The phone call was disconnected and could not be traced; Cayedito's mother Penny listened to the 40-second tape recording repeatedly and said the caller was her daughter. She remains missing.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Disappearance:

Anthonette Cayedito disappeared from her home in the early morning hours of Sunday, April 6, 1986. Her mother, Penny, had been out with friends at a local bar the previous night and Anthonette, along with her younger sisters Wendy and Sadie, were at home with a babysitter. Penny returned around midnight and sent the babysitter home; she last saw Anthonette at about 3 a.m. that morning. She ostensibly left only wearing her pink nightgown. Even her shoes had been left behind. Years later, investigators re-interviewed Anthonette's younger sister Wendy, who had been five years old the night Anthonette disappeared. Wendy told them she remembered a knock at the door around 3:30 a.m. She said Anthonette asked who was there, and a voice on the other side answered that it was her Uncle Joe. Anthonette opened the door. Wendy told the detectives that two men grabbed Anthonette, and that her sister was kicking and screaming as they carried her out. The men took Cayedito into a brown van that sped away from the residence, and Cayedito has not been seen since. Neighbors joined the search, and in the days that followed police combed the surrounding foothills and brought in the FBI. Despite three days of searching, no trace of Anthonette was found. There was no physical evidence at the scene, and no sign of a struggle.

Additional Details:

Among the visitors that night was Emiliano "Emo" Gardella, introduced to Penny by her friend Ronald ("Ron") Perry. Emo had previously brought Anthonette flowers and gifts, sometimes having her sit on his lap—behavior later interpreted as grooming. That night he reportedly gave her roses and a necklace, which made her uncomfortable. From the outset, investigators encountered inconsistencies. Penny failed an early polygraph exam, and her narrative changed on key points, including her 1994 statement that she told Anthonette to answer a late-night knock. She also did not mention Emo's presence that night until relatives prompted her four days later. Some detectives believe Penny knew who had abducted her daughter and had more intimate knowledge of the disappearance, citing a failed polygraph test and a confession to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. On April 12, 1987, a call came into the Gallup Police Department from a girl claiming to be Anthonette. A girl claiming to be Cayedito phoned the Gallup Police Department, stated her name multiple times and said she was in Albuquerque, before an unknown adult yelled "Who said you could use the phone?" followed by the girl screaming. The phone call was disconnected and could not be traced; Cayedito's mother Penny listened to the 40-second tape recording repeatedly and said the caller was her daughter. Four years after the phone call, a waitress from Carson City, Nevada claimed to have served a girl who resembled age progression reconstructions of what Anthonette might have looked like at the time. She said the girl, who appeared to be between 14 and 15 years old, was with an unkempt couple. After the trio left, the waitress noticed that the girl had left behind a note she had written on a napkin. "Please help me," it read, "Call the police". Multiple alleged sightings of Cayedito were reported between 1986 and 1991; police also received hundreds of tips from the general public, but none have proved useful to the investigation. The disappearance was featured on a 1992 episode of Unsolved Mysteries, which brought renewed attention to the case, but no viable leads. Penny died in 1999 from liver cirrhosis and cardiac issues. Some detectives believe Penny knew who had abducted her daughter and had more intimate knowledge of the disappearance, citing a failed polygraph test and a confession to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The FBI is investigating this case with the Gallup Police Department and Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety.

Case Last Updated:

Oct 05, 2026