In the summer of 1990, a cloud of uncertainty and sorrow descended upon a family in Aurora, Illinois, with the disappearance of Maria Guadalupe Montano. A native of Zacatecas, Mexico, who had moved to the Aurora area as a teenager, Maria was a 35-year-old mother at the time she was last seen. Her husband of twelve years, Aurelio Montano, stated that on July 7, 1990, he was taking her to visit a cousin. From that day forward, Maria was never heard from again.
In the weeks and months that followed, her absence became a painful void in the lives of those who knew her. It was noted that a formal missing person report was not filed for several months after she was last seen. The initial explanation provided to her then ten-year-old daughter was that her mother had left with another man, a story that would be questioned years later.
The circumstances surrounding Maria's life before she vanished were fraught with difficulty. Her marriage was described as deeply troubled, and court records indicated a history of domestic turmoil. In 1985, her husband had filed for divorce, citing 'extreme and repeated mental cruelty,' though the suit was later dismissed. In the year of her disappearance, Maria had sought an order of protection against her husband, alleging that he had physically assaulted and threatened her life. In fact, he had been arrested twice in February of that same year on charges of assaulting her. Following her disappearance, Aurelio Montano filed for divorce again in 1991, claiming he was unaware of her whereabouts and suggesting she might have returned to Mexico. This narrative, however, did not align with the concerns of those who knew Maria and the life she had built.
For years, Maria's case remained unresolved, a lingering question in the hearts of her loved ones. A significant turning point came in 2007 when her daughter, who was just a child when her mother disappeared, requested that authorities reopen the investigation. This plea for answers breathed new life into the cold case. The investigation that followed uncovered disturbing details. Authorities came to believe that Maria was a victim of a domestic violence incident that ended her life in July 1990. The theory emerged that her husband had killed her, buried her body on a relative's property, and then later moved her remains to another location. This was supported by testimony from Aurelio's own sister, who stated that he had asked for her help in burying Maria's body and that she had seen the body wrapped in a rug. A search of the property in question led to the discovery of a buried rug, which Maria's daughter identified as having been in their family home. Forensic investigation of the rug by a cadaver dog detected the scent of human remains. Although Maria's body has never been found, the culmination of this evidence led to a significant legal outcome. In 2008, while already serving a life sentence for a separate double murder, Aurelio Montano was charged with his wife's murder. In October 2013, he was convicted of the first-degree murder of Maria and was sentenced to an additional life term in prison. The case of Maria Montano is a somber story of a life cut short and the enduring pursuit of justice by a daughter who refused to let her mother be forgotten. It highlights the devastating impact of domestic violence and the pain that the absence of a loved one inflicts, even decades later.Last Seen: Jul 7, 1990
