Martha Martinez Maxwell, 41, was last seen on May 10, 1992, in Fort Worth, Texas, where she lived with her husband of eleven years, Jeffrey Allen Maxwell, and their son. Her family last heard from her on Mother's Day of that year. After that, they received a letter purportedly from Martha, stating she was leaving her husband. However, her relatives found this suspicious, as she typically communicated with them through phone calls and visits, leading them to believe the letter was either a
forgery or written under duress. When her brother contacted Jeffrey Maxwell to inquire about his sister's whereabouts, he was uncooperative and hung up the phone. This prompted Martha's brother to travel to Texas and file a missing person report.
Upon investigation, authorities found no clear indication of what had happened to Martha. Jeffrey Maxwell claimed that she had left him, abandoning her car, Social Security card, credit cards, and their young son. In 1995, three years after her disappearance, Jeffrey filed for divorce, stating he had not seen or heard from her since she left. He remains the primary and sole suspect in his wife's disappearance, though he has never been charged in connection with the case. Foul play is strongly suspected by investigators, who believe Jeffrey murdered her.
The suspicion surrounding Jeffrey Maxwell is intensified by a violent incident that occurred five years before Martha's disappearance. In April 1987, Martha was discovered on the side of Interstate 35 near Ardmore, Oklahoma, having been bound with duct tape, severely beaten, and her throat slit. She survived the attack and informed investigators that her husband had drugged, bound, and tortured her. While Jeffrey was charged with aggravated kidnapping, a grand jury declined to indict him in July 1987 after Martha stopped cooperating with the police and reconciled with him. She had initially taken their son and moved to Mexico to live with her parents, during which time Jeffrey wrote her letters apologizing and urging her to return.
In March 2011, Jeffrey Maxwell's violent behavior resurfaced when he was charged with the kidnapping and sexual assault of a 62-year-old woman. The victim was found alive in a secret compartment in his home after being held captive for 13 days, during which she was bound, raped, and tortured. In February 2012, he was convicted of aggravated kidnapping and aggravated sexual assault and sentenced to life in prison for these crimes. Following his arrest in 2011, authorities reopened the cold case of his missing wife. Jeffrey Maxwell has also been looked at as a person of interest in the 2000 disappearance of Amelia Smith, as the circumstances of her case bear similarities to the 2011 kidnapping, although no evidence has been found to directly link him to Smith. He continues to deny any knowledge of Martha's whereabouts.Last Seen: May 10, 1992
