It was 25 years ago this month that Bernadette Caruso went missing, and her family is still on the hunt for answers about what happened.
The 23-year-old was last seen leaving her job at a mall jewelry store Sept. 27, 1986, according to Baltimore County police and Caruso’s family.
Her estranged husband was caring for their 3-year-old daughter that weekend, but when he tried to return the child, he couldn’t find Caruso, said Susan Bowerman, Caruso’s sister.
“We knew that something terrible had happened,” Bowerman said.
Police say foul play is suspected in the disappearance, but no suspect has ever been publicly named.
Bowerman said her sister and her husband were going through a divorce, and Caruso expected to get custody of their daughter after an upcoming court hearing.
“Why would she disappear two weeks before she was going to get everything she wanted?” Bowerman said.
The past 25 years have been filled with grief for relatives of Caruso, the youngest of seven siblings.
Some family members have become advocates for relatives of missing people: Bowerman and another sister both serve as family advocates for the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, a Justice Department initiative that integrates information from missing and unidentified persons databases in hopes of solving cases. They’ve also formed a Maryland task force. In both roles, Bowerman said, she works with families of people who have been reported missing.
The Maryland group is holding an event in Middle River this weekend to raise awareness about missing-persons cases.
Bowerman said she still hopes her sister’s case will be solved, and she continues to press authorities for answers.
“We want her remains, we want to know where she’s at,” Bowerman said. “Just because it’s 25 years old, we’re not going to stop.”
Anyone with information can call police at 410-887-3949 or Crime Stoppers at 866-756-2587.
