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Case Description
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Brenda Joan Szabo was 33 years old when she was last seen in San Diego County, California, on October 1, 1983. At the time of her disappearance, she was described as a white female, 5'4" tall, weighing 120 pounds, with light brown hair and blue eyes. She had a tattoo of a "Harley" motorcycle without wheels on her left wrist and various other tattoos. Szabo had previously fractured her arm, leg, finger, and back and was known to use aliases, including Karen Blaha and Brenda Miller.

Szabo ...Read More
Last Seen: Oct 01, 1983
Links to Additional Sources (5)
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Victim Details

Jan 24, 2026

Jan 24, 2026

Brenda

Joan Szabo

33

33

5'4 inches

120 lbs

White

Female

Szabo was last seen in San Diego County, California on October 1, 1983. She had a troubled life prior to her disappearance. She ran away from home as a teenager and gave birth to four children over the course of eleven years; every one of them was eventually put up for adoption. She was involved with drugs, crime, and sex work, and was jailed several times in the 1970s. She traveled from New York to California and used at least fifteen different alias names and several Social Security numbers. In the early 1980s Szabo tried to pull her life together and enrolled in community college. She was arrested for probation violation and served a term in Frontera State Prison. Following her release, Szabo told her family she would be traveling to Dallas, Texas to visit them and would call in two weeks. She never did and has never been heard from again. One of Szabo's daughters is searching for her. She believes her mother may have started a new life under a new identity. San Bernardino County and San Diego, California police are investigating Szabo's disappearance. Her case remains unsolved.

Oct 01, 1983

San Diego County

California

San Diego County

6

San Bernardino County Sheriff's Departmen

760-256-4838

01/25/2026