Above: Melissa Bustamante in 1998 (left) and an age-progressed image to 12, circa 2008 (right)

Melissa Marie Bustamante

Last seen in Miami, Florida on August 23, 1998

Vital statistics: Hispanic female. Born on July 11, 1996. Brown hair, brown eyes. She has a mole on her right leg and a birthmark on her right leg from the knee up. Was two at the time.

NCIC number: M-391178671

Circumstances: She was abducted by her non-custodial mother, Cecil Jacqueline Argote. A photo and vital statistics are posted below. Argote had applied through the courts to take her to Colombia for three weeks, and although she testified she would return she never came back to the United States. Melissa's father, Carlos Enrique Bustamante, has applied for her return to the US under the Hague Treaty, but Colombia, who has signed the treaty, ruled Melissa should stay with her mother. A felony warrant was issued for her on December 20, 2000 and a FBI warrant for international parental kidnapping was issued for her on November 15, 2002.


Above: Cecil Argote in 1998

Vital statistics: Hispanic (Colombian) female. Born on August 24, 1963. Black hair, green eyes. Was thirty-four at the time.

If you have any information as to Melissa's whereabouts, please contact the Miami-Dade Police Department at 305-476-5423. Any information received can be kept confidential.


Information used to compile this case file came from the following sources:
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
The Charley Project
The Doe Network
Commitee for Missing Children
Florida Missing Persons Search
Melissa Marie Bustamante - Born July 11, 1996 - Miami Florida - USA
NamUs National Missing Persons Data System

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