Name: Cindy Marie Lesko
Case Classification: Endangered Missing
Missing Since: October 23, 1994
Location Last Seen: St Clair Shores, Macomb County, Michigan
Date of Birth: December 8, 1963
Age: 30 years old
Race: White
Gender: Female
Height: 5'5"
Weight: 175 - 185 lbs
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Brown
Nickname/Alias: nee Kellogg
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Unknown
Dentals: Available; Bridge in the anterior maxilla
Fingerprints: Available
DNA: Available
Clothing: Black t-shirt; blue jeans; black leather jacket with fringe; mid-thigh boots with leather fringe
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Unknown
Cindy Lesko was last seen in her St. Clair Shores home on October 23, 1994. Her husband, Albert Lesko, came to their St. Clair Shores home to drop off the children after a weekend visit. When they arrived at the Leskos' house that Sunday night, Albert got out of his truck and went to the door while the children waited in the car. He encountered Cindy and, between 5 and 20 minutes later, returned to the truck. Rather than leave the kids with their mother, he got back in the truck and drove with the children back to his parents' house almost four hours away. He was the last person to report ever seeing or hearing from Cindy Lesko. Albert has maintained that he arrived at the house to find his wife irate at his being late. He says she told him to take the kids back with him and get them ready for school the next day himself. According to him, Cindy was alive and well when he left. The Lesko children say they were asleep on and off during the ride home from northern Michigan back home, including the time they were waiting in the driveway.
Albert drove Cindy's car several miles away to a Detroit neighborhood, where it was discovered on a side street near Van Dyke Avenue and Seven Mile Road three days later. Cindy's purse, pocketbook, and handgun were found inside, but her wallet was missing. Albert admitted to police that he drove the car there out of spite because of their pending divorce; the couple was scheduled for a pretrial divorce hearing three days before Cindy disappeared.
On the night of her disappearance, Cindy was on the phone with a friend at about 10:30 p.m. before Albert arrived. Cindy hung up the phone when she said she heard his truck pull up in the driveway. When the friend could not reach Cindy the next day, she became increasingly worried; she eventually called police and filed a missing person's report. According to another friend, Cindy had planned to take a nursing exam with her on the morning of October 24, but never showed up.
Police went to Cindy's home on the night of October 24, to conduct a welfare check rather than investigate a possible crime. They found nothing amiss, but said it appeared that Cindy had left suddenly. They returned to the home with a search warrant on October 25 but did not find any forensic evidence.
Albert was a suspect in Cindy's disappearance and was charged with her homicide in March 2001. Prosecutors theorized that he and his estranged wife argued after he returned the children late from a trip to his parents' home in Oscoda County, Michigan. Prosecutors alleged that he killed her, put her body in the pickup bed, and disposed of it while returning to Oscoda County. Albert testified in his own defense and his children stood by him, stating they believed that their mother had left on her own and is still alive. A jury acquitted Albert of the charges in December 2001, as they believed that the evidence presented did not prove that Cindy was dead.
Several searches for Cindy over the years have been unsuccessful.
Agency Name: St. Clair Shores Police Department
Agency Contact Person: N/A
Agency Phone Number: 586-445-5305
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: 94-30217
NCIC Case Number: Unknown
NamUs Case Number: 13920
NamUs
Seacoast Online - May 14, 2010
Ancestry.com
Added: 2007; Last Updated: 10-18-2022 - By: hwa
Questions or comments? Please contact appropriate member of the Area Team
** Listed information is from the time of disappearance.
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