Brenda Cecilia Crowley

• Missing Since 02/01/1980
• Missing From Staten Island, New York
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Female
• Race White
• Date of Birth 10/05/1963 (61)
• Age 16 years old
• Height and Weight 5'4 - 5'6, 110 - 130 pounds
• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Dark blonde hair, blue/green eyes. Brenda's eyes may appear to be hazel. Her teeth are crowded. Brenda has a small scar on her nose. One of her arms was fractured during her childhood. She may wear eyeglasses or contact lenses to correct strabismus (cross-eye). Her blood type is believed to be O positive, but it could also be A positive or negative. She may use the first name Colleen or the last names Lee and/or Star.

Details of Disappearance

Brenda resided with her mother in the 100 block of Harbor Road in Mariners Harbor in New York City borough of Staten Island in 1980. She was last seen sometime during February or March of that year. Brenda has never been heard from again.

Her mother claimed she had filed a missing persons report with law enforcement, but she had not actually done so. Brenda's sister eventually filed a report in 1994. Brenda's mother was strangled to death by a male acquaintance in 1981, a year after her daughter disappeared. Their home burned down sometime after 1980.

Brenda's home life was troubled. She had seven siblings, all of whom eventually ran away from home, and the family moved frequently between various residences on Staten Island. Her sister stated their mother and stepfather were both alcoholics and their father was incarcerated in 1980.

Brenda had been a special education student at Curtis High School, but stopped attending and was expelled as AWOL (absent without leave) in February 1980. There's an outstanding PINS (person in need of supervision) warrant for her in family court.

It's possible that Brenda may have been placed in foster care or in a group home after her disappearance as the result of alleged abuse. However, in 2008, one of her family members approached police and said Brenda had been murdered and her body was buried in the backyard of a house in East Islip on Long Island. Investigators dug up the backyard, but found only dog bones.

Brenda's case remains unsolved. She was born in the New York City borough of Brooklyn.