On January 30, 1992, the family of Veronica Martinez filed a missing persons report in Cool, CA, a small town 40 miles outside Sacramento. Veronica Martinez was 19 years old and was last seen on January 27, 1992, when her friend drove her to a Pack N’Save on Florin Rd. in Sacramento, CA. Veronica was at the Pack N’Save to grocery shop and told her friend that her brother would pick her up when she was done.

Veronica Martinez was pregnant and a mother of a 2 year old and 4 year old in 1992. When she was last seen she was wearing a white sweater and red pants. She is described as being of Hispanic descent, 5 feet 4 inches tall and 130 pounds. She did not have her children with her when she disappeared.

On March 7, 1992, a little over a month after Veronica disappeared, a man described as a ‘bottle-collector,’ looking for bottles off the side of HWY 49 between Auburn and Placerville in El Dorado County found Veronica Martinez’s body. Her body was near a place described as Cool Cave and at the bottom of a steep ravine in heavy brush. She was nude, except for a bra, and had been decapitated. Her body was wrapped in plastic.

Police believe that Veronica Martinez may have been alive and held for a period of time before being found. Her body had been badly decomposed but her autopsy showed she had been deceased for 7-10 days and it is not believed that she was sexually assaulted. Police also do not know what Veronica Martinez’s cause of death was.

Unlike many of the victims in our episodes we could find very little about Veronica Martinez, including a picture. What we do know is that she was expecting a child and a mother to two others. She was a waitress who lived in Sacramento and worked very hard to provide for her family. She and her loved ones deserve answers and justice.

If you have any information about the murder of Veronica Martinez please contact the El Dorado County Cold Case Task Force by phone at 530-621-4590 or by email at coldcasetaskforce@ecdgov.us.