Bianca Lebron

25:56Kristi Lee:I featured Molly's case and an interview with her sister Heather in past episodes that I would love for you to listen to and share if you haven't already. But despite all this media attention, investigators admitted that they basically had nothing. And Bianca's 11th birthday on June 26 came and went without any new information about where she may be. And then, in August, Bianca's family sued her school after having her legally declared dead by the courts. Specifically named in the case were Bianca's teacher, Robert Memoli, the assistant principal, Clifford Dudley, and none other than superintendent, Sonia Diaz Salcido.

26:40Kristi Lee:Now, it's a bit of a complicated suit, so let's break it down. Memoli and Dudley were named in the suit because both were on the playground the morning Bianca left campus. Carmelita's lawyer stated that they both failed to properly supervise Bianca while she was on school grounds. Of course, we know Memoli was made aware in some fashion that Bianca planned to speak with someone she called her uncle. But they specifically cite in this suit that Memoli was made aware that Bianca would be leaving his supervision to do this, and that he failed to follow proper procedures to continue supervising her or keeping her on campus.

27:16Kristi Lee:And he did not abide by their policy to notify the parent of a child when another adult attempts to remove them from school. Now, of course, we know Salcido has something to say about this. She speaks up and says that while she can't go into specifics, she hopes Bianca's safe. But she also insists that this lawsuit is, quote, unfortunate. and is causing distress for her personally and professionally. She added that while some safety measures were put in place after Bianca went missing, they just didn't have the resources to do everything they'd like in order to keep the children in her schools safe.

27:56Kristi Lee:Trust me, I have a lot more to say about this, but these things do take time to crawl through the legal system, so Bianca's case continues to be investigated while the civil suit continues. And in September, there was a pretty scary tip called into the police. A city bus driver in Bridgeport said that they believe they saw Bianca walking with a man near John and Middle Streets at 7.52 a.m. on the 24th. He says the man was intentionally covering the girl's face as they got into a black Chevy Blazer and drove north. This is really the best tip they'd gotten in months, so they're all over it. They track down who it belongs to, go to the home listed on the registration, and search all over the city for this blazer.

28:41Kristi Lee:And they can't find it for days. But when they eventually find it and the owner, they say that there's no connection to Bianca. It was another huge letdown for her family. Especially with the one-year anniversary of her going missing right around the corner. That comes and goes without any new answers about what happened to Bianca. Police Sergeant Jesus Ortiz cited one difficulty as the number of similar vans in the area. In fact, he says that when he was at the school on the one-year anniversary, he saw two similar vans drive by within a 15-minute period. But like in other cases we've seen where the vehicle the victim last got into is really focused on, where they're going through every record to find every model possible of this van all across the state, I didn't find anything like that in the reporting for Bianca's case.

29:36Kristi Lee:I'm not saying it didn't happen, I just didn't find it in the reporting. But again, Bianca's case just sits. Until November 2003, when nearly two years to the day that she went missing, a 20-year-old man, police named as Bianca's secret boyfriend, is arrested and extradited to Connecticut. Let's break it down. 20-year-old Jason Lara used to live in Bridgeport where Bianca went missing from. He then moved to Fort Myers, Florida. In early 2003, the Bridgeport police put out a call for information in the Connecticut Post for a Jason Gonzalez along with his photo. They said he was being sought for questioning in Bianca's case.

30:22Kristi Lee:And Jason Lara calls in and says, I'm the man you're looking for. He said he barely knew Bianca and denied knowing anything about her whereabouts. Still, investigators pushed for him to return to Bridgeport for questioning, but he refused. And it looks like he wasn't willing to tell them where he was, because according to reporting from the Connecticut Post, the FBI tracked his location to Fort Myers, Florida, found out where he lived, and went to his residence. But by that time, he'd already moved. They did get a photo of him, though, and they were able to match him to the sketch. Not long after that, a woman in Bridgeport calls the police to tell them she doesn't know a Jason Gonzalez, but Jason Laura was dating her 53-year-old friend.

31:14Kristi Lee:And that friend told her if anything happened to her, that Laura did it. She also gave her a photo of him and a copy of his birth certificate. it. So I mean, obviously, this woman is scared. And it is worth noting that despite his young age, Lara did have a criminal record. He attempted to steal a car from two elderly women in 1998. He was sentenced to seven years in prison, but was let out early. And he has been described as someone believed to be capable of violence. So they're looking for this guy, they just can't seem to find him. Until November 2003. That's when Jason Laura was arrested in Florida on second-degree forgery charges after changing his name on a fingerprint card to Jason Gonzalez.

32:03Kristi Lee:This is when he was arrested on an unrelated drug charge. But basically, after he's released, they realize that he signed the wrong name, hence the forgery charge. This time, they can track him down. And when they go to his home to make the arrest, they find a woman inside who identifies herself as his fiancée and mother to their five-month-old son. She tells investigators she knows Bianca, but only saw her a couple of times in passing, and that she was present the last time Jason Lara saw Bianca the summer before she went missing. So while there were seemingly no new updates in Bianca's case for years, it appears investigators had Jason Lara in their sites pretty much from the beginning.

32:47Kristi Lee:Once he's arrested on the forgery charge, he's extradited back to Connecticut to answer questions about Bianca's case, and he's held in custody with a $100 ,000 bond. Investigators tell the media that he matches the description of the sketch of the man driving the van Bianca got into. They also state that he had a, quote, relationship with Bianca. So it appears he was sexually abusing her. And you guys, they confirm that Lara knew someone with a van matching the description Bianca was last seen getting into. Now, this abuse, not relationship, was confirmed by an unnamed person in Bianca's family and several of her friends.

33:32Kristi Lee:They say Bianca told them she would go to her uncle's house on East Main Street because there was a boy that she liked who also lived there. And some witnesses reported seeing Bianca and this boy kissing. But when these friends were shown a photo of 20-year-old Jason Lara, they say that's the boy they saw with Bianca. But they didn't know him as Jason Lara. They knew him as Jason Gonzalez, the fraudulent name he used when signing the fingerprint card. And unfortunately, Bianca's grandmother finds out all of this from the media, not the police. And she does speak to the Connecticut Post about it.

34:12Kristi Lee:She confirms that Bianca did go to his house often, but she said that she was way too young to be in any type of relationship, as they were alleging. So this is huge. I mean, definitely the largest development in Bianca's case thus far. And it's all over the media. And so is Jason Lara's defense attorney, Heather Abel. When they transfer his forgery case to a higher court in Connecticut, she tells the media that this is completely unprecedented and that there's just no credible evidence against her client in Bianca's case. Really, everyone was getting very vocal about this. Bianca's aunt told the Hartford Courant, quote, I heard this guy at work say he heard she left with her boyfriend.

34:57Kristi Lee:I swear I was ready to fight him. People just don't understand. People don't think before they speak. End quote. Bianca's mom said that her daughter was just beginning to take an interest in boys, but wasn't aware of her having any type of relationship with Jason Lara. Quote, Believe me, if I would have seen that, I think I would have jumped on him. End quote. And then finally, we get more details about the warrant for Jason Lara. It describes police speaking with one of Bianca's 13-year-old cousins, who says when she asked Bianca if she had an older boyfriend, she would deny it. But she did say she kissed an older man.

35:36Kristi Lee:It also states that Bianca and Jason Laura were seen at someone described as her great-uncle's house numerous times. And a 16-year-old girl described as Bianca's friend also confirms that she saw Bianca and Laura holding hands and kissing on the lips. She believed that they were boyfriend and girlfriend. So we have multiple people confirming that Jason Lara knew Bianca and spent time with her. Her younger friends and family confirmed that they either directly saw or were told by Bianca that Lara was kissing her. It feels like a lot of evidence. But Jason Lara was never named a suspect by police despite their very strong statements about his possible involvement in this case.

36:23Kristi Lee:And by December, Jason Lara's forgery charge is less into interfering with police. For that, he's given one year of probation and released. Upon his release, he said he didn't have anything to do with Bianca's disappearance, and his lawyer stated that her client has an alibi for November 7, 2001. It seems Jason Lara was a whole five miles away from Bianca's school out of the city in Stratford when Bianca went missing. Or, just to be fair, up to six miles depending on the route you take from the city. Basically, nothing happens to Jason Lara in relation to Bianca's case, and he continues to maintain his innocence in relation to her disappearance.

37:09Kristi Lee:So the case sits once again, this time for 20 years until 2023, when, according to Bianca's family, the Bridgeport Police Department submits a warrant to the state attorney to arrest a man named Luis Rivera.

37:29Kristi Lee:22 years after 10-year-old Bianca LeBron went missing, her family reports that the Bridgeport Police Department submitted an arrest warrant for 58-year-old Luis Rivera. So again, let's break it down. In 1997, Rivera was convicted of first-degree sexual assault for attacking a 13-year-old in a bathroom at Seaside Park in Bridgeport. He was sentenced to three years in prison and released before Bianca went missing. From there, he moved to Puerto Rico. Now, Bianca's family suspected he could be involved early on, especially as there were documented sightings of a girl matching Bianca's description in Puerto Rico.

38:12Kristi Lee:I told you about that earlier. After they looked into those sightings, nothing really came of them, but Rivera remained on their radar. In 2009, the Bridgeport police excavated a small portion of Seaside Park in relation to Bianca's case, but at that time they didn't give a lot of detail, and they didn't find anything to push the case forward. Or, like I always say, if they did, they weren't telling the media that. So this is a man who's been on the radar of police and Bianca's family for years. Then in 2022, three victims came forward to accuse Rivera of sexually assaulting them as children in the 1990s.

38:51Kristi Lee:He's arrested in Puerto Rico and then extradited right back to Connecticut. In February 2024, Bianca's family held a demonstration outside of the courthouse where Rivera was present for a court hearing in relation to the sexual assault charges. They wore shirts with her photo on it, and held signs with photos of the sketch from 2002 next to Rivera's photo. While they were outside the courthouse, they told Fox 61 News that investigators with the Bridgeport Police had presented their case to get a warrant to arrest him in 2023, but that they were denied. It was a very short and vague statement, but they added that, quote, probable cause is clear as day, end quote.

39:35Kristi Lee:And they were asking for the state's attorney to reconsider. They added that Bianca's detective told them that they were planning to submit another warrant for her kidnapping and murder. So this family's outside of the courthouse convinced that Luis Rivera killed Bianca, and they say that her detective at the Bridgeport PD believes the same. And finally, in July 2024, Rivera pleaded guilty in his case. Bianca's family was in the back of the courtroom while it happened. There were so many that some overflowed to the street outside. Their hope was that he might confess to harming Bianca too, but he didn't.

40:16Kristi Lee:As Rivera was led out of the courtroom, Bianca's mother, Carmelita, began crying and screaming, tell us what you did with Bianca. Tell us what you did with my baby. Rivera showed no emotion. And in October, at the age of 58, he was sentenced to 50 years in prison, suspended after 25 years to serve, followed by 35 years of probation. And it seems that that warrant to arrest him for the kidnapping and murder of Bianca was never submitted or never approved. I couldn't find anything else about it, only that while the Bridgeport PD looked into Rivera, they said they never found any probable cause linking him to Bianca's disappearance.

41:02Kristi Lee:There haven't been many answers in Bianca's case, but there has been at least one form of justice. In 2008, the civil suit Carmelita brought against Bianca's school was settled out of court for$750 ,000. Of course, that money didn't bring any answers or any form of closure to this family, but I have to hope that the suit made them realize the importance of keeping children safe in their schools. Superintendent Salcido was long gone by then, though. She'd apparently tanked the school district's federal testing scores, with 21 out of 25 schools failing to meet the federal standards. The dropout rate under her leadership also increased by about 10%, and the Connecticut Post reported that her contract was not renewed in 2004.

41:52Kristi Lee:After that, she got a job in Miami as the deputy superintendent for curriculum for the Miami-Dade School District, but she left after six months, with the district calling it a mutual decision. Then she went to the Las Cruces Public Schools in New Mexico, where she served as their superintendent, and she was fired just four months later. Apparently, there were a lot of allegations about horrible treatment of district employees. By 2007, she was hired on as the Associate Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction for Baltimore, Maryland Public Schools. I couldn't find what happened to her there, but I know that she wasn't there long because she doesn't post any of that experience on her LinkedIn page and it seems that she goes by Sonia Diaz now.

42:42Kristi Lee:From what I can find, she did stay out of trouble after that, retaining a variety of positions within a variety of school systems, mostly in Massachusetts. But thank goodness, she is now retired. Now you guys know I don't normally do things like this, but I just couldn't help but wonder what happened to the woman who responded so coldly to a 10-year-old leaving campus on her watch and never being seen again. It seems that her success in the education system was truly on par with her compassion for the children she was paid to serve. And I do have another unfortunate update for you in relation to another system that has wholly failed Bianca.

43:27Kristi Lee:In 2018, the Bridgeport Police Department made the decision to close its youth bureau after over 40 years of investigating crimes against children. This is that same unit that was assigned to Bianca's case way back in 2001. But at the end of 2018, Police Chief Armando Perez made the decision to basically absorb the unit into the main detective unit. This came after the former head of the unit, Sergeant Joseph Hernandez, retired after some pretty valid criticism. According to reporting by Daniel Tepfer for the Connecticut Post, this was a long time coming. The article outlines some extremely concerning things, like the sexual assault of a 14-year-old child seeing a two-year delay in investigation due to the investigator on the case being transferred out of the unit and just never being replaced.

44:19Kristi Lee:You'd think they might learn their lesson, but law enforcement officials confirmed that the breaking point was the unit taking two years to look into the sexual assault of an 8-year-old. Apparently, they collected DNA in April 2015 and didn't send it out for testing until April 2017, when the suspect was being investigated for the death of his 10-month-old son. So basically, they wait to test the evidence collected for the sexual assault of an 8-year-old until they were investigating a suspected murder. And wouldn't you know it, this man, Derek Siberian, was guilty of both sexually assaulting this child and murdering his own.

45:02Kristi Lee:He pled guilty to both and got two concurrent 15-year sentences with an additional 20 years of probation. Obviously, there were some major issues in this Youth Bureau unit, but Police Chief Perez basically said that this was all due to older administrations, and he specifically cited their failure to solve Bianca's case. It was really hard to research all the ways that Bianca has been failed, but I do have one more update for you. A very recent one. In March 2026, Colin McNally, supervisor of NECMEC's forensic unit, created a new age-progress photo of Bianca, showing what she may look like now, as of this recording at the age of 34.

45:48Kristi Lee:The Bridgeport police held a press conference to announce this new photo, as well as some recent developments. Of course, as always, Carmelita was right there alongside Bianca's other loved ones. They say Bianca's case is being handled by their homicide division, and that they do have persons of interest they're looking into, including a strong lead on the identity of the man who was driving the brown van. Detective Laura Acevedo-Razuk is now leading Bianca's case, and she said they have a very strong lead thanks to new witnesses who've come forward. She also announces that they excavated a home and garage in 2025, but can't go into further detail.

46:27Kristi Lee:She maintains that she believes that Bianca may have been abducted, but could also be alive. Then, Carmelita's granddaughter, Bianca's niece, Nevaeh, took the mic.

46:39Bianca Lebron:Good morning, everyone. My name is Nevaeh Cook, and I'm Bianca's LeBron's niece. So I would like to begin by thanking everyone who has supported our family during this incredibly difficult time of not knowing what happened to Bianca. Your concern, prayers, and continued support have meant more to us than words could ever express. I also want to extend my sincere gratitude to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children for always keeping Bianca's case visible and for updating images to show how my Bianca might look today. Their continued efforts have kept hope alive and remind the public that she is still missing and still loved.

47:16Bianca Lebron:My family is asking the public to please stop spreading false information about Bianca, especially when there is no real knowledge of what happened to her. Many of the stories and rumors that have circulated contain incorrect details and only add more pain to our family. If Bianca's story is going to be shared, we ask that it be done with care, respect, and a commitment to the truth. I would also like to recognize Detective Azevedo Rasup for her tireless dedication to my aunt's case. She has always kept our family informed of updates and has shown genuine commitment and compassion throughout this process.

47:53Bianca Lebron:We are truly grateful for her hard work and for never giving up on Bianca. And we ask if anyone out there has any real information regarding Bianca's case, please speak up now. There is a$62 ,000 reward. coming from a mother i know there is someone out there who had to see something my grandma has been broken for the past 24 years without her daughter please keep please help bring my family closure

48:18Kristi Lee:thank you that brings me right to our call to action please share bianca's case while it did get some national coverage when she first went missing i couldn't help but notice how little it's gotten from our true crime community. She needs more attention and this family needs answers. The only way Bianca's loved ones have been able to watch her grow beyond 10 years old is through six age progression photos estimating what she may look like. And as I keep saying, Carmelita still publicly fights for Bianca. When the new age-progressed image of Bianca was released, she was right back in the media explaining that she's never gone on with her life and that it's broken without Bianca in it.

49:04Kristi Lee:She's never shied away from this case, and she's never given up on finding her daughter. And now, nearly 25 years later, as we see all too often in long-term missing cases, Bianca's case has now been passed down to the next generation, to her niece. This is a case with so much hope. Even after all this time, her detective says that she still may be alive out there somewhere. So please share. This family has worked so hard for so long and has never given up hope in finding Bianca.

49:46Kristi Lee:As a reminder, Bianca Elaine LeBron was last seen on November 7, 2001 in Bridgeport, Connecticut when she was 10 years old. She is a Hispanic female who was 4 '11 and 115 pounds with brown hair and hazel eyes at the time of her disappearance. She has a birthmark on her forehead and was last seen wearing beige pants, a beige and green shirt, with a dark blue jean jacket and black boots. She was last seen getting into an older model conversion van, two-toned, brown and tan or beige with tinted windows and chrome trim. The driver's been described as a young Hispanic male with dark hair, a beard, unusually large nose, and scratches on the left side of his face.

50:33Kristi Lee:Anyone with information is asked to call the Bridgeport Police Department at 203-581-5100 or the FBI at 203-382-6647. You can also submit tips anonymously online at tips.fbi.gov. But, as always, thank you, I love you, and I'll talk to you next time.

51:05Kristi Lee:Voices for Justice is hosted and produced by me, Sarah Turney, and is a Voices for Justice media original. If you love what we do here, please don't forget to follow, rate, and review the show in your podcast player. It's an easy and free way to help us and help more people find these cases in need of justice.

52:09Kristi Lee:Welcome to the secret after show. the studio door is open and our emotional support puppies, Popcorn and Heber, are in the room. Let's go right into this case, which I feel like I was so infuriated for most of this episode, and I tried my best to keep the sass at an appropriate level, and I think I did. But my goodness, the amount of things that happened in this case. And again, I just like couldn't help but dig into that superintendent. I wanted to know where she went after. And when I started digging, I could absolutely believe what her career history was. So yeah. Next on my list, um, the Amber Alert.

52:59Kristi Lee:The Amber Alert. Can you imagine your child goes missing and your state adopts the Amber Alert program like eight weeks afterwards and then refuses to feature them? I would have lost my mind. I would have lost my mind. Another thing that I was losing my mind over in this case was the warrant in Bianca's case and members of law enforcement in relation to Jason Lara and the way that they kept describing them as a couple, as a romantic relationship. I can't. I just can't. And I know people are going to say it was, you know, just a time thing, and back then that's what we said. And I just want to say that thank goodness things have changed because words matter, especially words like that.

53:57Kristi Lee:You cannot be in a relationship with a child if you are an adult. All it is is abuse. Next, I wanted to talk about this being passed on to the next generation. Which, please know, isn't like any form of like guilt towards Bianca's family. We see this all the time, again in these long-term missing cases, when it's been 25 years that it gets passed down to the next generation. And in this case, Carmelita's granddaughter, Bianca's niece, Nevaeh. They've actually been featured in some of the articles for quite some time. I think starting, I say they because there's another niece, but Nevaeh and the other niece started appearing in articles, I think when they were like four or five, they were just kind of obviously like briefly mentioned.

54:54It just, it breaks my heart.

54:58Kristi Lee:And it's heartwarming at the same time, if that makes sense. Like, this family cares so much about Bianca and you see it every time they talk, every time they show up for her, which is all the time. I just really, really, really hope that they get answers and that this burden, this responsibility, because that's what it is, right, doesn't continue to get passed down. But let's go on to media discrepancies, which is short but sweet. Really not a ton, mostly around like dates surrounding especially Jason Lara's arrest record. But other than that, it was pretty consistent. And I think that's because Carmelita specifically, and you know, many members of Bianca's family consistently showed up.

55:55Kristi Lee:They consistently showed up and told the same story again and again and again and again. And this is another case where most of the reporting is done by these like smaller local news stations. So they tend to over the years, you know, not like recycle content, but go back to their original reporting for all the same details. So it made it pretty consistent across the board. on to our hero of the episode which is no surprise carmelita and the rest of her family i've already said it um so many times and given them so much praise but of course they have to be the heroes of this episode because doing this for 25 years i can unfortunately tell you um is no easy feat.

56:45Kristi Lee:And again, as I researched this case, Carmelita was the anchor. She was always in the public eye, always public-facing with other members of Bianca's family, and she never backed down. And my goodness, her confronting Rivera in court. I mean, confronting your loved one's killer in that way, right? Because she's not a part of this court proceeding. Bianca wasn't named in that lawsuit, so she's like technically an observer, right? So for her to stand up and shout out those things, you go, girl. I mean, that's awesome. I was reading that, and I was honestly like, dang, I should have screamed in a courtroom at one point in my life.

57:30Kristi Lee:So shout out to you, Carmelita for being braver than I'll probably ever be. I know it's not easy, and I know Nevaeh talked about misinformation getting out there and cruel rumors, and I really hope that nothing in this episode perpetrated that. Now let's go on to our segment of hope, which I do think is so fitting for Bianca's case. this is from people magazine um written by angel saunders and the title reads 13 year old girl who vanished without a trace found alive after 30 years and this does just happen to be an arizona case we are solving a lot of cases lately um but it says that christina maria plant was last seen in 1994 when she left her Arizona home to walk to a nearby horse stable.

58:31Kristi Lee:Authorities initially classified her disappearance as endangered and under suspicious circumstances. Basically, they say that again, she vanished without a trace from her home, and there were a ton of, it looks like, volunteers, ground searches, and the sheriff's office was involved. And over the years, she was entered into national missing children databases, but her case eventually went cold. According to the sheriff's office, investigators ultimately reached a breakthrough that cracked the case thanks to advances in technology and techniques. And that's really all they're telling us. They say, out of respect for Christina's privacy and well-being, additional details will not be released at this time.

59:14Kristi Lee:But that's enough for me. I mean, I just think it's absolutely amazing, and I have to imagine that this gives hope to so many families of the long-term missing. But as always, thank you, I love you, and I'll talk to you next time.