Case Details
- Photo URLs:
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- Missing Since:
- Missing Since 10/31/1995
- Missing From:
- Missing From Campbell, California
- Classification:
- Classification Non-Family Abduction
- Gender:
- Female
- Race:
- Race White
- Date of Birth:
- Date of Birth 03/26/1978 (46)
- Age:
- Age 17 years old
- Height and Weight:
- Height and Weight 4’11 – 5’0, 110 – 125 pounds
- Clothing/Jewelry Description:
- Clothing/Jewelry Description A black sweatshirt and black pants.
- Distinguishing Characteristics:
- Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, brown/hazel eyes. Sylvia has a tattoo of her nickname, Shorty, on her left hand. She may dye her hair blonde or black.
- Details of Disappearance:
- Sylvia disappeared on October 31, 1995, in Campbell, California. She was going to her grandmother’s house in San Jose by bus and train, but she never arrived.
Sixteen years later, in 2011, a man named Wilbur Atcherley confessed to killing her. Atcherley was already in prison for kidnapping and trying to kill another woman. He said he met Sylvia at the train station, they took a taxi together, and he then took her to a secluded place, hurt her, and killed her. He said he left her body in a creek.
Police found a taxi receipt that matched Atcherley’s story. Although Atcherley showed police where he left the body, it wasn’t found; police think the creek washed it away. Atcherley got an extra 15 years in prison for Sylvia’s murder.
- Agency:
- Campbell Police Department
- Source Links:
This person was missing Missing Since 10/31/1995