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The original was posted on /r/unresolvedmysteries by /u/Actual_Study_5112 on 2024-01-21 21:48:49+00:00.
Original Title: 23-year-old Lucely "Lily" Aramburo disappeared from Miami, Florida on June 2, 2007 following an argument with her boyfriend. Did she leave her boyfriend's condo to end her life or run away? Or does someone know more than they're saying?
Lucely "Lily" Aramburo was born on November 16, 1983. Soon after, she and her parents moved to Miami, Florida, and her parents divorced. By the time of her disappearance, her father was no longer in the picture, and she did not have contact with him.
As a child, Lily attended Shenandoah Elementary, Riviera Day School in Coral Gables, and Ponce De Leon Middle School. She loved the outdoors, especially flowers. Throughout her life, she would pick flowers to cope with stress. She even starred in the Sabado Gigante Show for several seasons, a weekly Spanish-language variety show.
Life was going well until the summer of 1997, when Lily and her mom moved to Hollywood, Florida. This required Lily to change schools to Hollywood Hills High School, a change that would've been difficult for many teenagers. Though she attended this new school for her freshman year, she soon fell into the wrong crowd and started experimenting with drugs. Things got to the point where she would leave for days at a time, and her mother would search frantically for her night after night.
Around the same time, Lily was diagnosed with depression. Though the diagnosis provided answers, her life continued to spiral out of control. At age 16, she dropped out of high school and experimented with other drugs, such as ecstasy and ketamine.
Once these new drugs were introduced, things reached a new level of desperation. Lily met David Lamaso in 2003, after which they began to date. Once they moved in together, she increased her dependence on drugs, and her communication with her mother became sporadic. She also reportedly became angrier, and she was also diagnosed with Schizophrenia at this time.
In 2004, Lily and David met and befriended Christen Pacheco. Christen reportedly never did drugs before meeting Lily and David, but he soon became addicted to cocaine.
Drugs continued to dominate Lily's life until January 2006, when she became pregnant. Realizing she needed to provide for her baby, she got clean, obtained her GED, and even took Buddhism courses. While taking the courses, she met Janet Forte, who became her close friend and advocate, especially after her disappearance. She gave birth in September 2006 to a baby boy that she named Palden.
Things seemed to be looking up for Lily. Unfortunately, things began to go downhill again when Lily and David broke up in late 2006, at which point she and Christen began a relationship. She moved into his condo, and they even discussed marriage. However, many described their relationship as "troubled." The police were called on at least two separate occasions after they got into heated arguments, and Lily reportedly admitted to her mother that she was afraid of him. Even though there were never any arrests made during these altercations, police arrested Christen on drug-related charges several times after Lily's disappearance.
By 2007, Lily's life was once again spiraling out of control. Due to her and Christen's drug use and late-night parties, Child Protective Services (CPS) became involved and gave custody of Paulden to Lily's mother. CPS then told Lily that if she didn't get clean and stay clean, she would lose her son. In response, she was admitted to an inpatient drug treatment program and underwent regular drug testing.
A few days before her disappearance, she had tested positive for drugs, which increased her risk of losing her son permanently.
Disappearance and Investigation
Lily was last seen in the early morning hours of June 2, 2007, by her boyfriend Christen Pacheco. According to his account, she walked out following an argument between them; she was wearing only a nightgown and carried two bungee cords. Her cell phone and purse were left behind. Christen claimed to have woken up around 10 AM and discovered Lily was nowhere to be found. He searched the neighborhood for hours before contacting the authorities. He ended up reporting her missing 24 hours later, at which point he claimed that she had been suicidal.
Initially, the police didn't take her disappearance seriously. She was an adult who had a history of running away and drug abuse. However, her mother and her friend Janet insisted that it was uncharacteristic of her to abandon her son and cut off contact with everyone.
Unfortunately, this was not the only mistake the police made. Even though Christen was the last person known to be with Lily that day, he was not questioned until years after the disappearance. At that point, he was given a polygraph test, which he reportedly passed. It wouldn't be until years later that the public found out he had actually failed.
Due to a lack of attention from the police, her mother and Janet attempted to contact the media to get the word out about her disappearance. Frustratingly, none of the media outlets were willing to cover her case.
Since then, Christen reached out to Lily's mother to report sightings of her in the Miami area. In one sighting, he claimed to have spoken to two men who confirmed that they spoke with Lily. Reportedly, her mother spoke with one of the men, and the details were so compelling that she and Janet began to focus their efforts in the Miami area. Unfortunately, nothing came of this sighting.
For Lily's loved ones, Christen's inconsistencies that night warrant a closer look. There are several questions that only he can answer, such as why it took him so long to report Lily missing or contact her mother. In response, he told her that he had tried to report her missing sooner, but the police had told him that he needed to wait 24-48 hours to report an adult. He also assumed that someone else in the house had contacted her mother.
Not satisfied with these answers, her loved ones tried to go to the police with their suspicions, but nothing came of it.
After that, Janet turned to the internet to share Lily's story in the hopes of garnering more exposure and leads. Her efforts paid off when a journalist from the Miami New Times picked up the story and wrote a comprehensive article about the case, complete with statements from the police, Lily's mother, Janet, and Christen, among others. This article came across the desks of two private investigators, who offered their services pro bono.
Despite the assistance of the private investigators, pushes for more exposure, and a detective reinvestigating her case, no new leads have developed. Over the years, there have been rumors that Lily was murdered, and there have been reported sightings, but none of these have helped the case progress.
Since her disappearance, Lily's mother has been caring for Palden. She's tried to keep her daughter's story alive, but it hasn't been easy. As of this writing, her case remains unsolved.
For a more in-depth analysis, click here.
What do you think happened to Lily Aramburo? And where is she?
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