Bernadette Marie Caruso was 23 when she vanished after leaving work at Shaw’s Jewelry Store in Eastpoint Mall, Dundalk, Maryland. She was last seen on September 27, 1986, entering her gray-green 1982 Chevrolet Cavalier at about 5:05 p.m. and never made a planned call to a friend later that evening. Neither she nor the vehicle has been seen since.

At the time she disappeared Bernadette was involved in a contentious custody dispute with her estranged husband, Michael Caruso, a Baltimore County police officer; co-workers said she had plans to meet him that day. The couple’s strained relationship and past threats by Michael were noted, and he was later dismissed from the police force for an unrelated prisoner abuse incident. No charges have been filed and no formal suspects have been announced.

Investigators continue to treat the case as open and unsolved; family and friends describe her disappearance as completely out of character. If anyone has information about Bernadette, her gray-green 1982 Chevrolet Cavalier, or her movements on September 27, 1986, please come forward.