Maria Guadalupe Montano was 35 when she vanished from Aurora, Illinois on July 7, 1990. Her husband, Aurelio Montano, said he was taking her to visit a cousin that day; Maria was never seen again. A missing person report was not filed for several months, and Maria’s then ten-year-old daughter was initially told her mother had left with another man.

Maria had moved to the Aurora area from Zacatecas, Mexico as a teenager. Court records and reports describe a troubled marriage: Aurelio filed for divorce in 1985 alleging extreme and repeated mental cruelty, a suit later dismissed, and in 1990 Maria sought an order of protection after accusing him of physical assault and threats. Aurelio was arrested twice in February 1990 on charges of assaulting her.

Years later, reopened inquiries developed a theory that Maria died in July 1990 in a domestic violence incident and was buried on a relative’s property before her remains were moved. Aurelio’s sister told investigators he had asked for help burying a body and had shown her a body wrapped in a rug; a buried rug later recovered was identified by Maria’s daughter and tested by a cadaver dog.

Does anyone who knew Maria or the family in Aurora in 1990 have information that could help clarify what happened that July?