Linda Maggie Reategui
Reategui, circa 2000
- Missing Since 11/26/2000
- Missing From Houston, Texas
- Classification Endangered Missing
- Sex Female
- Race Hispanic
- Date of Birth 09/15/1968 (56)
- Age 32 years old
- Height and Weight 5'3, 130 pounds
- Associated Vehicle(s) White SUV
- Distinguishing Characteristics Hispanic female. Brown hair, brown eyes. Reategui is a Peruvian national and speaks Spanish. Her ears are pierced.
Details of Disappearance
Reategui was last seen on November 26, 2000 at her residence at Oakridge Apartments in the 600 block of Rushcreek Drive in Houston, Texas. Her neighbors called police to report a domestic disturbance in her apartment on November 27, the following day. When officers arrived at the scene, Reategui was gone.
A day later, the neighbors saw two middle-aged women arrive in a white SUV and clean her apartment and take several items with them when they left. The building management, however, said the women weren't part of the usual cleaning crew and they hadn't sent anyone to clean there. They have never been identified.
The neighbors saw Juan Neciosup, Reategui's live-in boyfriend, at the apartment later that day and they assumed it was he who hired people to clean it up. A glass company worker arrived on the same day to fix a broken window in the apartment.
Police initially believed Reategui had simply returned to her home in Peru. She had been planning on doing so, had booked a flight with Continental Airlines, and had told others about the upcoming trip.
Several months after her disappearance, however, Reategui's family members in Peru reported her missing and confirmed that she had never arrived there. Subsequent investigation revealed that she never boarded her scheduled plane flight.
Neciosup moved to the 4400 block of Brandemere Street afterward Reategui's disappearance. When questioned, he told the police that he had broken up with Reategui and knew nothing of her whereabouts except that she had intended to go back to Peru. Shortly after the interviews and a year to the week since Reategui was last seen, Neciosup disappeared as well.
The father of Reategui's daughter, who lives in Peru, is considered a person of interest in Reategui's case. They were living in Peru when he told Reategui he was taking the girl on a vacation to the Disneyland theme park in California. Instead he sent the child to live with his sister in Houston and refused to tell Reategui where she was.
Several years passed before Reategui learned the whereabouts of her child. She then went to Houston, sought help from the Peruvian consulate there and spent six months trying to get her daughter back. This is how she met Neciosup; he was part of an informal organization of Peruvians who tried to aid other Peruvians in the United States.
Reategui and her daughter's paternal aunt were still fighting for custody of the girl at the time Reategui vanished; her aunt wanted to legally adopted her. The girl's father has not been publicly identified, but authorities said he was a person of some importance in Peru.
Both Reategui and Neciosup's cases are unsolved and it is not known if their disappearances are related, but foul play is suspected in Reategui's disappearance. Neciosup is wanted by police for further questioning in Reategui's case.
Investigating Agency
- Houston Police Department
- 713-731-5223
- 713-308-3600
Updated 3 times since October 12, 2004. Last updated March 20, 2016; details of disappearance updated.