What happened to Cheka?

Franchesca Alvarado
​Philadelphia, PA

Franchesca "Cheka" Alvarado was a 22-year-old single mom living in Philadelphia. She was last seen outside the Borgata Hotel in Atlantic City, NJ, on March 17, 2012.

That day, Franchesca secured a babysitter for her 3-year-old daughter and headed to the shore town with an acquaintance named Tracy Williams to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Williams returned to Philadelphia the next day without Franchesca. 

Unable to reach Franchesca, her sister Francis went to her apartment and spoke with her roommate, who reportedly stated that Franchesca was away and would return in two weeks. At that point, the family knew something was wrong.

The Alvarado family filed a missing person report, and when investigators asked Williams what happened, he reportedly stated that Franchesca told him she would find her own way home, and that was the last time he saw her. It would be 18 months before there was a break in the case. In August 2013, a fisherman found an Adidas high-top sneaker with a foot still inside floating in the ocean, 26 miles away in Corson's Inlet State Park in Ocean City, NJ. When the Alvarado siblings saw a picture of the sneaker on the news, they knew it belonged to their baby sister. Months later, Franchesca's femur and tibia also washed ashore; the medical examiner confirmed the body parts belonged to Franchesca.

​What happened to the young mother is still a mystery.​ There's no official cause of death. Both Williams and the roommate have been questioned, but there are no suspects in the case. Her family laid her partial remains to rest.

If you know what happened to Franchesca Alvarado, contact New Jersey State Police at 609-882-2000 ext. 3353