In the late summer of 2004, Dena Angelique Candelario, a 36-year-old mother of two, vanished from her home in Pueblo, Colorado. She was last seen on August 15, 2004. The primary trace she left behind was a goodbye note discovered on a table in her residence. It wasn't until several weeks later, on September 6, that her husband, Ralph Candelario, officially reported her as a missing person.
When he spoke with law enforcement, he suggested that Dena had likely left him willingly, perhaps to be with someone she had met online. In the absence of other leads, and with the presence of a note, the investigation into her disappearance initially yielded few answers, leaving her family, including her two sons, without a clear understanding of what had happened to her.
Following his wife's disappearance, Ralph Candelario proceeded to make significant changes in his life. He sought and was granted a divorce from Dena and, in 2009, he married another woman named Pamela. The quiet passage of years did little to bring new information about Dena's whereabouts to light. However, the narrative took a dark turn in January 2015, when Pamela was found brutally beaten to death in the couple's home in Walsenburg, Colorado. Ralph Candelario told police that intruders had broken into their home, killing his wife and injuring him. Investigators, however, did not believe his account of the events. Later that year, Ralph was arrested and charged with Pamela's murder.
The subsequent investigation and trial brought new scrutiny to Ralph Candelario's past and, consequently, to the cold case of his first wife's disappearance. In March 2016, a jury convicted him of murdering Pamela, and he was sentenced to life in prison. This conviction prompted law enforcement to officially reopen the investigation into Dena Candelario's 2004 disappearance. The disturbing parallel of a wife's death cast a shadow of suspicion over the circumstances of Dena's vanishing. One of Dena and Ralph's sons has since publicly expressed his long-held belief that his father was responsible for his mother's death. Despite the renewed focus and the conviction of her former husband for another violent crime, Dena's case remains unsolved. Authorities have not formally declared if they suspect foul play in her case or officially named any suspects in her disappearance, which continues to be an active investigation.Last Seen: Aug 16, 2004
