By Kaitlin Durbin, The Gazette
A local mother who spent 31 years searching for her son in one of Colorado Springs’ most famous missing person cases has died without answers.
Bernice Abeyta, 73, lost her battle with gallbladder cancer Sunday. She had spent her life searching for her son, Christopher, who was snatched from his crib in 1986 when he was 7 months old.
He has never been found.
His disappearance left “a hole in her heart that was never filled,” family wrote Monday on a Facebook page that shares information about Christopher’s disappearance. “She never stopped searching for her son.”
Bernice Abeyta was known for traveling the U.S. vetting tips that came in about her son. Family previously recounted instances in which the dedicated mother reached a person thought to be her son before police arrived. It was not Christopher, family said.
After years without a suspect in the kidnapping, police said this year a person of interest has been identified. Colorado Springs Police Lt. Howard Black said a detective who took the stand in a civil hearing did say a person of interest had been identified. Black declined to name the person.
There remains a $100,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest. An age progression photo being circulated shows what Christopher would look like today at age 31.
Family long suspected Gil Abeyta’s mistress was responsible for the youngest child of seven’s disappearance. Emma Bradshaw later sued the family for defamation and was awarded $155,000 in damages in 2015.
Bernice also was heavily vetted after she failed two polygraph tests following her son’s disappearance. She said prescription drugs were to blame.
She didn’t let the allegations stop her from searching, family said on Facebook.
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