ARANSAS PASS — The house at 431 S. Whitney St. in Aransas Pass is about four blocks from Kieberger Elementary School — a six-minute walk along Goodnight Avenue.
It was along that unassuming stretch of pavement that 13-year-old Blanca Elisa Roberson, who was known by her middle name, was last seen walking to meet a friend on the afternoon of Aug. 6, 1989.
Thirty-five years later, the case of the missing woman is still open. Aransas Pass police detectives have followed reported theories and tips.
The Roberson family, exasperated by the lack of resolution of the case, began investigating it on their own, hiring a private investigator to help them obtain public records on the case.
While many questions are left unanswered, the case took a turn in 2016 when investigators with the Aransas Pass Police Department Criminal Investigation Division brought in a team from a search and recovery nonprofit organization to assist detectives with forensic search efforts, turning up new evidence, they say, that led them to update the case file on the missing woman.