Case of missing Bluffton woman stumps investigators 1 year later

One year after a Bluffton woman went missing following an argument with her boyfriend, the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office is hoping its Cold Case Committee will find new leads.

Investigators have been unable to locate Margarita Gonzalez-Almazan, 47, who was reported missing from her home in Shady Glen on Dec. 1, 2013. Though the case is still active, and investigators are following several leads -- including forensic evidence from her home and car -- the incident has also been under review by the office's 12-member Cold Case Committee since October, Capt. Bob Bromage said.

The committee meets Wednesday to present its findings to the Sheriff's Office.

"If there's anything we've missed, they'll see it," Bromage said.

On the night of her disappearance, Gonzalez-Almazan hosted a birthday party for her grandson and had a dispute with her boyfriend, 40-year-old Osman Galicia-Escobedo. Those attending the party said he was drinking heavily.

Witnesses saw him several hours later on the south side of Savannah with what appeared to be fingernail scratches on the side of his face, according to a Sheriff's Office news release marking the anniversary of the missing person's report. He offered the witnesses a "brief non-incriminatory explanation" for the scratches, Bromage said.

Investigators saw signs of a struggle in Gonzalez-Almazan's home, and her cellphone was found on the side of S.C. 170 near the Chechessee River Bridge.

The Sheriff's Office also learned on Dec. 3, 2013, that Galicia-Ecobedo had bought a plane ticket earlier that day to Guatemala, but did not show up for the flight at Savannah-Hilton Head International Airport.

Gonzalez-Almazan's daughter, Dayra Manrique, said she later saw a surveillance photo from the airport, when Galicia-Escobedo was buying his ticket. Her mother was not in it, Manrique said.

Federal authorities are trying to locate him in Guatemala in case he later fled the U.S., but have been unsuccessful, Bromage said.

The man's brother left for Guatemala on Dec. 6, soon after he was interviewed, Bromage said. Investigators verified with witnesses and other records that it was Galicia-Escobedo's brother, not him, on that plane.

Also on Dec. 6, investigators found the missing woman's car abandoned near the Keller's Flea Market in Savannah, a few miles from where several witnesses last saw Galicia-Escobedo. However, forensic evidence collected from the 2001 Dodge Stratus did not offer any clues as to her or Galicia-Escobedo's whereabouts. Bromage declined to say whether any blood was found in the car or in Gonzalez-Almazan's home.

Manrique, 24, of Bluffton said she stopped contacting investigators about two months ago.

"I know in my heart they're not going to find her," she said.

As a last resort, she has put some faith in her aunt, an experienced psychic, though Manrique says she doesn't really believe in clairvoyance.

"At this point, I'm willing to do anything," she said. "If someone said stand on your head and do something for 20 minutes and you'll find out where your mom is, I'd do it."

Follow reporter Rebecca Lurye on Twitter at twitter.com/IPBG_Rebecca.

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This story was originally published December 2, 2014 at 6:54 PM with the headline "Case of missing Bluffton woman stumps investigators 1 year later."