Disappearance of Anthonette Cayedito

Cayedito was born on December 25, 1976, to Penny Cayedito (1952–1999),[2] of the Navajo Nation, and Anthony Montoya (1951–2012), a father of Italian and Hispanic descent.[3] After her parents' separation, Anthonette and her younger sisters, Wendy and Sadie were raised by their mother in Gallup, New Mexico.

Cayedito disappeared from her home on U.S. Route 66 in Gallup, New Mexico, in the early morning hours of April 6, 1986.[4] That evening, Cayedito's mother, Penny, had been out with friends at a local bar, and Anthonette along with her younger sisters, Wendy and Sadie were with a babysitter.[4] Penny arrived home around midnight and sent the babysitter home.[4]

According to Wendy, there had been a knock at the door around 3 a.m.; both of the girls were still awake, and Anthonette answered the door. When she asked who was there, the knocker identified himself as "Uncle Joe". When she opened the door, she was grabbed by two men. She kicked and screamed "Let me go! Let me go!", as the men deposited her into a brown van. Wendy didn't recognize the men; she didn't get a look at their faces.[3] The following morning, when Penny awoke to prepare the girls for Bible school, she realized Anthonette was not in her bedroom. After inquiring with neighbors, she phoned police.[3]

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Age progression of Cayedito to age 42

One year after Cayedito's disappearance, the Gallup Police Department received a frantic phone call in which a young girl claimed to be Anthonette Cayedito; in the call, she said she was in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Before the girl could reveal her whereabouts, an angry adult male voice was heard shouting, "Who said you could use the phone?!" followed by the girl screaming and the sounds of a scuffle, and the phone call was then cut off.[4] Cayedito's mother, Penny, believed the voice to be her daughter's. She did not recognize the man's voice.[3]

Four years later, in 1991, a waitress at a restaurant in Carson City, Nevada, encountered a teenage girl matching Cayedito's description who continually knocked her utensils to the floor, seemingly attempting to get the waitress's attention. According to the waitress, the girl grabbed her hand and squeezed it firmly each time the waitress handed back the utensils. The girl was in the company of an unkempt couple. After they left, the waitress cleaned their table and found a napkin under the plate the girl had been eating from. It contained two brief messages: "Help Me" and "Call the Police", written on it.[4]

Police interviewed an Uncle who was married to Penny's sister, but declined to name him a suspect.[3] Investigators believe Cayedito to be deceased, although her whereabouts remain unknown as of 2020.[1] Her mother, Penny, died on April 18, 1999; in 2016 police stated they believed Penny may have had more information than she had given police concerning her daughter's disappearance, citing a failed lie detector test.[4] Anthonette's father, Anthony, died on August 17, 2012.[5]

Cayedito's disappearance was featured on Unsolved Mysteries in December 1992.[3]

• List of people who disappeared
• Missing and murdered Indigenous women

• Anthonette Cayedito at The Charley Project
• Anthonette Cayedito at The Doe Network
• Anthonette Cayedito at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children