FL MARTHA JEAN LAMBERT: Missing from St. Augustine, FL - 27 November 1985 - Age 12

3952DFFL - Martha Jean Lambert

3952DFFL - Martha Jean Lambert

The images on the right have been age-progressed to 24 and 29 years.

Name: Martha Jean Lambert
Case Classification: Endangered Missing
Missing Since: November 27, 1985
Location Last Seen: Elkton, St. Johns County, Florida

Physical Description
Date of Birth: March 26, 1973
Age: 12 years old
Race: White
Gender: Female
Height: 4'5"
Weight: 70 lbs.
Hair Color: Blonde, Shoulder Length
Eye Color: Blue
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Birthmarks on the front of her right thigh and on her upper left chest, Protruding front teeth

Identifiers
Dentals: Available
Fingerprints: Not Available
DNA: Available

Clothing & Personal Items
Clothing: Matching two-piece bathing suit
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Unknown

Circumstances of Disappearance
Martha Lambert, a 7th grade student at Ketterlinus Junior High, was last seen at her family's mobile home in Elkton, Florida on November 27, 1985. She spent time at a neighbor's residence after school, then returned to her home to have a small dinner with her brother. She has never been seen or heard from again. Martha's family life was troubled, she had spent much of her life in different foster homes. Her brothers had also ran away previously from their home. In 2009 Martha's brother confessed to accidentally killing her during an argument, then panicked and buried her in a 3-foot grave, at the old Florida Memorial College site near their home.

Lambert said he and his sister were fighting over $20. Martha slapped him and he pushed her back. She fell and landed on a piece of steel that went through the base of her skull, killing her. Lambert led police to the site, but no remains were found. Police dug up the area and brought in dogs during an extensive search in September 2009, but they couldn't find Martha's remains. The overgrown, wooded property had been cleared of buildings in the years since her disappearance. Because authorities believe it was an accident, because Lambert was 15 at the time and because manslaughter charges had a statute of limitations in 1985, he will not be charged and the case will be closed unless new evidence surfaces. He later recanted his statements and said he did not know what happened to Martha. Martha's mother believes she was kidnapped.

Investigating Agency(s)
Agency Name: St. Johns County Sheriff's Office
Agency Contact Person: Eugene Tolbert
Agency Phone Number: 904-824-8304
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: 271329

NCIC Case Number: M-293192969
NCMEC Case Number: 601793
NamUs Case Number: 6278

Information Source(s)
NamUs
Life Daily

Admin Notes
Added: 3/19/19; Last Updated: 3/19/19

edited by staff to add media link

MARTHA JEAN LAMBERT - Missing from St. Augustine, FL since November 27th 1985 - Age 12 years

Martha Lambert, a 7th grade student at Ketterlinus Junior High, was last seen at her family's mobile home in Elkton. She spent time at a neighbor's residence after school, then returned to her home to have a small dinner with her brother. She...

www.crimewatchers.net

 

[Mel70]

I've tried to assist Mysteries1974 in trying to solve this to no avail. Mysteries has worked tirelessly on her case and should be applauded. Thank you Mysteries. If you can think of anything you would like to pass off to me to look into don't hesitate to PC me.

 

[Mysteries 1974]

Certainly doesn't look like a happy family. Martha looks especially unhappy.

She was unhappy and for so many reasons. I’ve heard so many bad things about the family. I’ve spoken to some people who were foster relatives of the kids... just horrible. These three kids were doomed the minute they were born into this world. I’ve spoken to Raymond on a few occasions and he is a confusing person to say the least.

I’ve spoken to some people about the case who knew the family and all I can say at this point is either Martha ran away or was taken into a new home or that her family knows more than what they have let on.

Ive had issues with jumping to conclusions too fast in this case, it’s mentally draining a lot. But I’ve learned over the last few years to take it slow and I am not giving up until Martha is found... alive and safe or deceased and in need of a proper burial.

btw if you read that article I posted, it mentions that weirdo, Clifford Morgan. I spoke with Raymond about him and he remembers Morgan. He said that Martha would go to his house for about 5-10 minutes and then come back home and wouldn’t say a word about the visits.

It does say the original detective doesn't believe Clifford did anything to Martha but I’m wondering because in this case, law enforcement and family have issues. No ones stories can be set straight and it’s impossible to determine what happened that night because of this.

I do wonder if Clifford had some hand in Martha’s disappearance. He seems to fit the profile of a neighborhood creep.

Both Howard and Margaret were said to be terrible. Drunks is what they were. Howard was an abusive, miserable old drunk and Margaret was neglectful Apparently

 

[Mysteries 1974]

I've tried to assist Mysteries1974 in trying to solve this to no avail. Mysteries has worked tirelessly on her case and should be applauded. Thank you Mysteries. If you can think of anything you would like to pass off to me to look into don't hesitate to PC me.

I will pm you later today

 

[Kimster]

She was unhappy and for so many reasons. I’ve heard so many bad things about the family. I’ve spoken to some people who were foster relatives of the kids... just horrible. These three kids were doomed the minute they were born into this world. I’ve spoken to Raymond on a few occasions and he is a confusing person to say the least.

I’ve spoken to some people about the case who knew the family and all I can say at this point is either Martha ran away or was taken into a new home or that her family knows more than what they have let on.

Ive had issues with jumping to conclusions too fast in this case, it’s mentally draining a lot. But I’ve learned over the last few years to take it slow and I am not giving up until Martha is found... alive and safe or deceased and in need of a proper burial.

btw if you read that article I posted, it mentions that weirdo, Clifford Morgan. I spoke with Raymond about him and he remembers Morgan. He said that Martha would go to his house for about 5-10 minutes and then come back home and wouldn’t say a word about the visits.

It does say the original detective doesn't believe Clifford did anything to Martha but I’m wondering because in this case, law enforcement and family have issues. No ones stories can be set straight and it’s impossible to determine what happened that night because of this.

I do wonder if Clifford had some hand in Martha’s disappearance. He seems to fit the profile of a neighborhood creep.

Both Howard and Margaret were said to be terrible. Drunks is what they were. Howard was an abusive, miserable old drunk and Margaret was neglectful Apparently

I'm so glad you've taken this case to heart! Sounds like Martha has needed an advocate since the day she was born.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Detectives stand by cold case confession

A man who confessed to killing his sister in 1985 is now saying he only told detectives what they wanted to hear. Detectives insist that a person who is lying would not have been as overwhelmed wit…

www.staugustine.com

Detectives stand by cold case confession​

A man who confessed to killing his sister in 1985 is now saying he only told detectives what they wanted to hear.

Detectives insist that a person who is lying would not have been as overwhelmed with grief and anxiety as David A. Lambert was as he labored over a map that allegedly showed where he buried Martha Jean Lambert 24 years ago.

"There's no doubt about it," said Detective Sean Tice with the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office. "He's 100 percent honest about where he buried her."

At the end of a series of interviews that began in August, David Lambert, now 38 years old, told detectives that he and his sister were at the abandoned Florida Memorial College when they got into a quarrel over change from $20.

He told detectives that she punched him, and he shoved her. She fell backward. A piece of metal sticking out of the ground impaled her in the base of her skull, he reportedly said.

Tice wrote in his report that Lambert said he first called out for help. No one responded.

Lambert said he didn't run home and tell his parents because he feared that Howard and Margaret Lambert "would have killed him," according to Tice's report.

Instead, he picked up a broken piece of a road sign and dug a three-foot grave in the sandy ground.

Then he went home.

"It's not what he said; it's how he said it," said Detective Howard F. "Skip" Cole III. "That's what people need to understand. It was real emotion."


Lambert's mother told a local television station on Monday that the oldest missing person case in St. Johns County still hasn't been solved.

"There was no way he could have had anything to do with her disappearance," Margaret Lambert Pichon told First Coast News.

The television station aired an interview with David Lambert on Tuesday.

He can be seen on a sheriff's office video telling detectives and his mother, "I buried her. I didn't know what to do.

"It was the wrong thing to do. I agree, but I was 14 years old. I wasn't thinking."

He later recanted it all.


He was not charged after his most recent admission because a statute of limitations was in effect for manslaughter in 1985.

And, the detectives pointed out, there is still no body.

Cadaver dogs searched the site and showed "a behavioral change" near the spot mapped out by Lambert, said Tice.

The area was excavated, with no results.

The grave may have vanished in the mid-1990s, when a tract was excavated for a planned Holmes Boulevard widening project.

That excavation "basically ran right down where the dogs changed their behavior," Tice said.


Cole and Tice agree that Lambert has been "conflicted" for decades about what happened. He wanted to tell someone, they said, but he didn't want to go to prison.

"We have no motivation for clearing this case if we didn't believe it," Cole said. "Our point is, we know what happened. We know who's responsible."

Tice threw out a semi-serious challenge to those who doubt Lambert's confession.

"We have 23 hours of (interview) video," he said. "If someone wants to sit down for two or three days and watch it, then have at it. And if you can draw another conclusion, God bless you.

 

[Mysteries 1974]

Detectives stand by cold case confession

A man who confessed to killing his sister in 1985 is now saying he only told detectives what they wanted to hear. Detectives insist that a person who is lying would not have been as overwhelmed wit…

www.staugustine.com

Detectives stand by cold case confession​

A man who confessed to killing his sister in 1985 is now saying he only told detectives what they wanted to hear.

Detectives insist that a person who is lying would not have been as overwhelmed with grief and anxiety as David A. Lambert was as he labored over a map that allegedly showed where he buried Martha Jean Lambert 24 years ago.

"There's no doubt about it," said Detective Sean Tice with the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office. "He's 100 percent honest about where he buried her."

At the end of a series of interviews that began in August, David Lambert, now 38 years old, told detectives that he and his sister were at the abandoned Florida Memorial College when they got into a quarrel over change from $20.

He told detectives that she punched him, and he shoved her. She fell backward. A piece of metal sticking out of the ground impaled her in the base of her skull, he reportedly said.

Tice wrote in his report that Lambert said he first called out for help. No one responded.

Lambert said he didn't run home and tell his parents because he feared that Howard and Margaret Lambert "would have killed him," according to Tice's report.

Instead, he picked up a broken piece of a road sign and dug a three-foot grave in the sandy ground.

Then he went home.

"It's not what he said; it's how he said it," said Detective Howard F. "Skip" Cole III. "That's what people need to understand. It was real emotion."


Lambert's mother told a local television station on Monday that the oldest missing person case in St. Johns County still hasn't been solved.

"There was no way he could have had anything to do with her disappearance," Margaret Lambert Pichon told First Coast News.

The television station aired an interview with David Lambert on Tuesday.

He can be seen on a sheriff's office video telling detectives and his mother, "I buried her. I didn't know what to do.

"It was the wrong thing to do. I agree, but I was 14 years old. I wasn't thinking."

He later recanted it all.


He was not charged after his most recent admission because a statute of limitations was in effect for manslaughter in 1985.

And, the detectives pointed out, there is still no body.

Cadaver dogs searched the site and showed "a behavioral change" near the spot mapped out by Lambert, said Tice.

The area was excavated, with no results.

The grave may have vanished in the mid-1990s, when a tract was excavated for a planned Holmes Boulevard widening project.

That excavation "basically ran right down where the dogs changed their behavior," Tice said.


Cole and Tice agree that Lambert has been "conflicted" for decades about what happened. He wanted to tell someone, they said, but he didn't want to go to prison.

"We have no motivation for clearing this case if we didn't believe it," Cole said. "Our point is, we know what happened. We know who's responsible."

Tice threw out a semi-serious challenge to those who doubt Lambert's confession.

"We have 23 hours of (interview) video," he said. "If someone wants to sit down for two or three days and watch it, then have at it. And if you can draw another conclusion, God bless you.

“God bless you” the arrogance. Martha’s case was reopened recently because it was closed on error since she was never actually located and there’s no proof of her even being dead.

 

[Mel70]

Hi there @Mysteries 1974. Long time no see . Never located of, No proof of her being dead. That's exactly why a case SHOULD be open and NEVER closed until there is resolution. A 12 yr old disappears in 1985! And they don't seem to care at all! I do think David is responsible, But would have only been charged with manslaughter. But IMO is his story it was an accident is too convenient. And if they found her body may be able to tell it was murder. But David is such a low down scumbag and compulsive liar. He's had so many stories. I think because he didn't want them to actually find her. The van theory, It's possible. She was very small and easy to grab and drag into a van. But my mind keeps going back to David. Their mother saying David didn't do it. It wasn't possible. That's what Louise Bundy said too.

 

[Regina]

I've read the thread and links and based on that info, it appears to me that Martha was abducted sometime after she left her home, that she was either on her way back to the neighbor's (where her mother was) or had changed her mind and was headed to or went somewhere else.
Re David's confessions, since there's no supportive evidence, I don't find them credible.

 

[Mel70]

I've read the thread and links and based on that info, it appears to me that Martha was abducted sometime after she left her home, that she was either on her way back to the neighbor's (where her mother was) or had changed her mind and was headed to or went somewhere else.
Re David's confessions, since there's no supportive evidence, I don't find them credible.

I've read everything. I investigated with Mysteries. Who has investigated this endlessly. In my gut I feel it was David. I feel if it was strangers, They would have found her body by now. Of course, They don't always. I could be wrong of course on both. The van description has lead nowhere. Every lead I found led nowhere. I ran into a brick wall of no longer having anything else to go on. She really haunts me. 1985, She was 12. She would be 49 now. I want to find out the truth and her body so bad. I hope she isn't a UID just sitting on a shelf.

 

[Mel70]

I've read the thread and links and based on that info, it appears to me that Martha was abducted sometime after she left her home, that she was either on her way back to the neighbor's (where her mother was) or had changed her mind and was headed to or went somewhere else.
Re David's confessions, since there's no supportive evidence, I don't find them credible.

When he confessed. I believe he needed to get it out, Admit it. But he also didn't want to go to jail. So that could be the motive for leading the police around to false disposal spots. He may have been thinking that if they didn't have a body they couldn't convict. Did he know he would only be charged with manslaughter?. And the limitation had run out?.

 

[Mysteries 1974]

I've read everything. I investigated with Mysteries. Who has investigated this endlessly. In my gut I feel it was David. I feel if it was strangers, They would have found her body by now. Of course, They don't always. I could be wrong of course on both. The van description has lead nowhere. Every lead I found led nowhere. I ran into a brick wall of no longer having anything else to go on. She really haunts me. 1985, She was 12. She would be 49 now. I want to find out the truth and her body so bad. I hope she isn't a UID just sitting on a shelf.

Well, the detective on the case is looking into a possible suspect who they called “plausible” in this case. Hoping it might lead somewhere. I really still don’t think David did this. On top of that, the college property was searched, I think even before the demolition happened and no body was located.

 

[Mysteries 1974]

When he confessed. I believe he needed to get it out, Admit it. But he also didn't want to go to jail. So that could be the motive for leading the police around to false disposal spots. He may have been thinking that if they didn't have a body they couldn't convict. Did he know he would only be charged with manslaughter?. And the limitation had run out?.

David loves to talk. That’s why a lot of people don’t believe he killed her and tried to keep it a secret. David is not good at keeping secrets which is also why I don’t think he pulled this whole thing off.

 

[Regina]

The van description has lead nowhere.

Did LE even publicize it? If so, I missed it.
If they did, then I'm very leery that no one came forward.

 

[Guess Who]

I've read everything. I investigated with Mysteries. Who has investigated this endlessly. In my gut I feel it was David. I feel if it was strangers, They would have found her body by now. Of course, They don't always. I could be wrong of course on both. The van description has lead nowhere. Every lead I found led nowhere. I ran into a brick wall of no longer having anything else to go on. She really haunts me. 1985, She was 12. She would be 49 now. I want to find out the truth and her body so bad. I hope she isn't a UID just sitting on a shelf.

why do you think if strangers did it she would have been found by now vs him doing it and not finding her? Many strangers have hidden bodies to where they have never been found and where would he put her vs a stranger?

 

[Mysteries 1974]

Did LE even publicize it? If so, I missed it.
If they did, then I'm very leery that no one came forward.

It was a green van and it was driven by two unidentified male individuals

 

[Regina]

It was a green van and it was driven by two unidentified male individuals

Just to be clear, I was asking whether LE at the time publicized that they were looking for the van, but that's good info, thanks!
Is that all you know about that sighting?

 

[Regina]

Well, it sure would be enlightening to know details regarding sightings and statements, but from what I gather so far, the timeline is rather narrow.

 

[Mysteries 1974]

Just to be clear, I was asking whether LE at the time publicized that they were looking for the van, but that's good info, thanks!
Is that all you know about that sighting?

A neighbor saw the van driving in the area around the time Martha was last seen and told police about it. It was never located and the two men driving it haven’t been identified. Martha’s case was initially investigated as a runaway situation so they probably didn’t spotlight it that much.

 

[Mel70]

Did LE even publicize it? If so, I missed it.
If they did, then I'm very leery that no one came forward.

Yes. Mysteries and I looked into it. And could come up with nothing. Mysteries has worked tirelessly on this case. I don't find the van theory very credible. I always end up circling back to David. Yes it was reported, But I still think if a stranger was responsible they would most likely just dump her. DNA wasn't a used technique yet. So dump her, Not bury her or hide her body.

 

[Mel70]

why do you think if strangers did it she would have been found by now vs him doing it and not finding her? Many strangers have hidden bodies to where they have never been found and where would he put her vs a stranger?

I did explain why and said they don't always. David has motive to lie. His confession he did kill her. But didn't want to go to jail. Even alot of serial killers just dump the bodies. Ted Bundy, Arthur Shawcross, Alot of long haul truckers in an alarming number. They are strangers, They have nothing to link them to the victim initially.