Bianca Lebron (born June 26, 1991), was a fifth grader at Elias Howe School in Bridgeport, Connecticut, in 2001. she came to class in the early morning of November 7, 2001 and told a teacher and friends that her uncle was taking her shopping after school, she even invited friends along, though they declined. At around 8:30 a.m., before class started, witnesses recounted that Bianca got into a older-model two-toned brown and tan van with tinted windows. The outside was in bad condition and appeared to be sanded in several areas. After this, Bianca was never heard from or seen again.
Witnesses described the driver as a 20-30 year old white or Hispanic male, stood 5’8 to 5’11 and had an average build (sketch below). He had black, curly hair styled in a short afro with long sideburns, a beard, brown eyes, and a prominent nose and scratches on both of his cheeks. He made no attempt to hide his face from witnesses.
It but is believed that Bianca really thought that this is her uncle, as did her classmates and didn’t interfere when she entered his van. In fact, Bianca didn’t have an uncle, nor did she have any relatives who owned a van similar to the one she was abducted in.
School officials were hugely criticized for their handling of Bianca during her disappearance. School administrators didn’t even realize she was missing until the day after her abduction, her teacher even counted her absent. After Bianca disappeared, stronger security measures and new attendance policies were put into place and the teacher who Bianca talked to about leaving with her uncle was suspended, with pay. While her mother, Carmelita Torres still think’s she’s alive, she had her declared legally dead so she could bring a wrongful death lawsuit against the school.
Bianca's family didn’t even realize she was missing until she didn’t come home after school at 4:30 p.m.. Initially they thought she was at a friends house and simply forgot to call. When Bianca wasn’t home by 8:30 p.m., her mother called the authorities. She often went to a relatives house after school, and once disappeared overnight but was found safe at a friends house.
In late April 2002, police announced they wanted to question 20 year-old Jason Gonzalez (*photo below) as a possible witness. Jason lived in Bridgeport and was known as an acquaintance of Bianca. He left town a month after Bianca’s disappearance. November 2003, Gonzalez, real name Jason Lara, called the Bridgeport Police Department to deny that he was involved in or knew anything about Bianca’s disappearance. The police eventually traced his phone to Fort Myers, Florida, and arrested him on forgery. Though his arrest was not related to Bianca’s case, police used this as an opportunity to bring him back to Bridgeport for interrogation. Investigators began to question him intensely about Bianca and her disappearance, he also shares a likeness of the sketch of the abductor and one of his friends own a van similar to the one Bianca was seen getting into.
Bianca’s family stated that Jason was her secret boyfriend and had been seen kissing him, however his fiancee say that all of the allegations are false and are the result of a feud between Jason and Bianca’s family. He also had a criminal record; he was sentenced to seven years in 1998 for carjacking, but was released early. He had an alibi for the time Bianca disappeared and was eventually cleared of suspicion. He plead guilty to a charge of interfering with a police officer and received a reduced sentence in December 2003. As of 2016, 15 years later, there are no other suspects in Bianca’s disappearance.
If you have any information on this case, please contact:
Bridgeport Police Department
203-576-7671 or 203-332-5533
