Unsolved Tragedy: 2019's Biggest Cases Remain Open After Months Of Searching

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – As the world rings in 2020, police across the Tri-state area are still searching for clues into the biggest unsolved cases of 2019.

CBS2 has been following the investigations into several high profile disappearances throughout the year – as police have yet to find any trace of the women and children in our area missing for months.

JENNIFER DULOS

The Connecticut mother of five disappeared in May, under disturbing and allegedly violent circumstances.

Jennifer Dulos, 50, was last seen last Friday in New Canaan. (Credit: New Canaan Police Department/Facebook)

Police have constructed a narrative in which the 50-year-old's husband -- who was deeply in debt to his mother-in-law -- allegedly orchestrated foul play against his estranged wife, then got his girlfriend to help clean up after a bloody assault.

Estranged husband Fotis Dulos and girlfriend Michelle Troconis have been charged with tampering with physical evidence and hindering the prosecution.

Fotis Dulos is now in court in a separate civil case regarding a lawsuit brought by Jennifer Dulos's mother, Gloria Farber, filed back in January 2018. Farber claims Fotis owes her family nearly $2.5 million in loans that helped finance his home building business and his personal mansion.

Despite the bloody clothing found by investigators, Dulos' body has never been found and the case remains unsolved.

STEPHANIE PARZE

The New Jersey makeup artist vanished without a trace after leaving her parent's home on Oct. 30.

Stephanie Parze (Credit: CBS2)

When the 25-year-old did not show up at work the next morning, her family knew something was wrong. Police found Parze's car and cell phone still at her Freehold Township home.

Those phone records eventually led investigators to question her ex-boyfriend, John Ozbilgen, after finding several angry text messages sent right before the disappearance. Ozbilgen killed himself inside his home on Nov. 22.

Parze's father and hundreds of volunteers have continued searching for her in the woods of Staten Island, but have yet to find any clues as to where she may be.

Anyone with information about the 25-year-old's whereabouts is being asked to call Detective Shawn Murphy of the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office at 732-431-7160 ext. 7032.

VANESSA MORALES

An Amber Alert for the missing one-year-old was issued on Dec. 4, after the infant's mother was found dead inside their Ansonia, Connecticut home.

(Credit: Ansonia Police Department)

Vanessa Morales was originally reported missing from her Ansonia home on Dec. 2 after local police conducted a welfare check at the residence on Myrtle Avenue.

According to CBS-affiliate WFSB, the woman was later identified as Christine Marie Holloway, the infant's mother. That killing has been declared a homicide after investigators determined the woman was beaten to death.

Since then, the FBI has issued a $10,000 reward for information that helps find her missing child.

WFSB reports Jose Morales, the father of Vanessa and boyfriend of Christine, has been named a suspect in the toddler's disappearance and the homicide.

Ansonia police are asking anyone with information to contact them immediately at 203-735-1885.

DULCE MARIA ALAVEZ

It's been more than three months since the five-year-old went missing from a park in Bridgeton, New Jersey. The FBI and New Jersey State Police are working with local agencies to find the little girl.

Dulce Maria Alavez (credit: CBS)

Dulce's mother, Noema Perez says she took her children to a store to get ice cream and then they went to the park.

Perez says she stayed in the car with a young relative while Dulce and her three-year-old brother ran to the playground. When Perez checked on her children, Dulce couldn't be found.

Perez eventually appeared on "Dr. Phil" to discuss losing her daughter. Dr. Phil pressed her for more information on her missing daughter.

Dr. Phil asked her about the speculation she may have been involved with the disappearance. "People have been wanting to ask you: Did you do this? Did you sell your daughter? Are you involved in her abduction? Do you know who has her? I'm asking you those questions so people can hear you from your own lips say the answer to those questions, and you've answered them."

Perez denied being involved in any plot to sell or abduct the five-year-old.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the New Jersey State Police Missing Persons Unit at 609-882-2000 ext. 2857, Bridgeton Police Department at 856-451-0033, or call 911 immediately.

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