Four-year-old Jessica Martinez was playing near her family’s apartment complex in Bakersfield, Kern County, on May 10, 1990, when she was abducted. Despite intensive searches by her family and local law enforcement, her body was recovered eleven days later on May 21, 1990, in an agricultural field, partially buried. Investigators determined she had been murdered, but the case went cold after initial leads failed to produce an arrest.

Authorities have revisited the investigation at times, hoping that new evidence or witness testimony might break the case. Jessica’s unsolved murder remains a painful open wound for the community and her family. If anyone has information about Jessica’s abduction or the days surrounding May 10–21, 1990, please contact the Bakersfield investigators working the case.