Anna Anderson

Anna Marie Anderson, age 19, disappeared from Cypress, California on December 5, 1983.

There is very little information available about her disappearance, just that she was last seen at her home in Cypress, CA.

Sometimes when I come across a case where there is virtually no information available, I will dig around to see if I can at least find out more about the person, even if it doesn’t lead to any clues about what may have happened to him or her.

In my search, I was able to find another photograph of her from a John Kennedy High School (La Palma, CA) yearbook.

Anna stems from Hungarian ancestry, and had likely lived in Southern California her entire life.  She has an older sister.

At the time of Anna’s disappearance, she had a curious tattoo on her ankle:  the initials H.D.V.O.    I went to bed last night pondering these initials, trying to think of any way they could possibly hold a clue.   Google searches revealed a company called HDVO Life Empowerment, in nearby Anaheim, CA.   For a moment, my mind was racing with thoughts of her joining a cult or religious group, only to quickly find that HDVO Life Empowerment has only existed since 2012, and is in no way a cult-like organization.

HDVO doesn’t seem to stand for any place or thing, so I am guessing it would have to be people’s initials?  It doesn’t seem to match up in any way to her family members.

In searching through unidentifieds, it seems that Orange County in particular has been thorough in ruling Anna out as their Jane Does.  The only ones I saw that looked like promising matches had already been ruled out.

I am grateful that the Orange County Coroner is making every effort to solve her case.    California, in general, does not seem to be up to speed on their Missing Persons profiles.   It often seems that they want to spend 30 seconds and be done with it.

Already featured on my blog are Wendy Abrams-Nishikai and Johanna Brighton, whose profiles merely mention what city they were last seen in.  Nothing whatsoever that might trigger a memory in someone who might have seen something unusual.   It’s such a disservice to the missing.

I hope Anna left voluntarily and is enjoying life somewhere – and that someday she will come home.

UPDATED to add a couple photos I found.   The first is her senior picture, along with the quote about Victor that the commenter below mentioned.  The second photo is from 7th grade.

Also, her mother has died in the last year.  Here is her obituary.  Her father died several years ago, so there aren’t many people left to be Anna’s voice.

Lastly, the quote from Anna found in her yearbook is hard to read, but the last part of it reads “Victor & Anna Por Vida”  Por Vida means For Life in Spanish, which makes me think that Victor was likely Hispanic.  Although there is no evidence that the two cases are connected in any way, I did want to note that Benancio Martinez Beltran, a 24 year old Hispanic male, went missing from Orange County on the same day that Anna did.  There are no details about his disappearance either, but I wanted to mention it in case there could be some relation.

Updating again:

Just came across these photos in a collection that was seized from serial killer William Bradford, who was active in Southern California from 1975-1984 and lured his victims by claiming to be a photographer, and offering nonexistent modeling sessions.   Does anyone think these photos could be of Anna?  I’m not 100% sure that both these photos are of the same person but I believe they are.  There is nothing to prove it, though.  The one on the right appears to have lighter hair, but it may just be the lighting making it look that way.

I didn’t really notice the similarity until after I saw and posted Anna’s senior picture above.

Here is a link to all the photos, if interested.  There are about 3 posts which have lots of photos, so be sure to scroll down until you don’t see any more pictures.  Note that while some of the people in the photos have come forward to identify themselves, and are alive, some were also confirmed to be victims of homicide.

Sources:

Charley Project

Ancestry.com

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