Name: Maria Aravena Reyes
Case Classification: Endangered Missing
Missing Since: March 19, 1976
Location Last Seen: Pompton Lakes, Passaic County, New Jersey.
Date of Birth: Circa 1927
Age: 49 years old
Race: White/Hispanic
Gender: Female
Height: 4'10"
Weight: 85 lbs
Hair Color: Strawberry blonde
Eye Color: Brown
Nickname/Alias: Unknown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: She had recently undergone a mastectomy on her left breast.
Dentals: Available
Fingerprints: Unknown
DNA: Unknown
Clothing: Unknown
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Unknown
Reyes was reported missing by a close friend on March 22, 1976. A housekeeper said she missed her doctor's appointment on the date she was reported missing. Her husband who is now deceased, told police she packed her things and left home but investigators thought she would be too weak after her recent surgery, weighing only 80-90 pounds, to do so.
Reyes disappeared over the weekend of March 20, 1976, a few days before she was scheduled to appear in Superior Court in Paterson in a divorce proceeding. The couple was childless.
Reyes had left her husband of 13 years and returned to Chile, the couple's homeland, in December 1974. But she moved back to her Ringwood Avenue home in early 1976.
The case is unsolved and her body has never been found. Reyes has ties to Chile and relatives there but authorities in Santiago, Chile said she had not reentered the country during the time period she was missing.
Agency Name: Pompton Lakes Police Department
Agency Contact Person: Detective Daniel Cottrell
Agency Phone Number: 973-835-0400
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: 76-00451
NamUs Case Number: MP13012
Added: Prior to 2011; Last Updated: 02/25/2023 - By: Htmlcnvtr
Questions or comments? Please contact appropriate member of the Area Team
** Listed information is from the time of disappearance.
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