March 10, 2025 • 32 mins
Danielle Bell was a bright and ambitious 14-year-old who dreamed of becoming a lawyer before she vanished in September 2001. More than two decades later, her sister, Bonnie—continues the relentless fight for answers.
Danielle was full of life, but behind her smile was a troubling connection to a 24-year-old male named Alfredo Sanchez. When Danielle disappeared, law enforcement listed her as a runaway, hindering immediate investigations.
In the nearly two decades Bonnie has been seeking answers for her sister, unsettling details of Danielle's history, home life, and pregnancy that Danielle had shared with friends and her mother have come alight.
Bonnie's dedication, mainly through social media, has reignited interest in Danielle’s case, proving that love and persistence can keep a story alive.
If you have any information, please contact the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.
Danielle deserves to be found. Bonnie deserves answers.
Follow Bonnie's journey: https://www.facebook.com/missingdaniellebell
#DanielleBell #Florida #NoMatterWhere #NoMatterWho #NavigatingAdvocacy
Danielle was full of life, but behind her smile was a troubling connection to a 24-year-old male named Alfredo Sanchez. When Danielle disappeared, law enforcement listed her as a runaway, hindering immediate investigations.
In the nearly two decades Bonnie has been seeking answers for her sister, unsettling details of Danielle's history, home life, and pregnancy that Danielle had shared with friends and her mother have come alight.
Bonnie's dedication, mainly through social media, has reignited interest in Danielle’s case, proving that love and persistence can keep a story alive.
If you have any information, please contact the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.
Danielle deserves to be found. Bonnie deserves answers.
Follow Bonnie's journey: https://www.facebook.com/missingdaniellebell
#DanielleBell #Florida #NoMatterWhere #NoMatterWho #NavigatingAdvocacy
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Welcome to navigating advocacy. Today, we're sharing the heartbreaking story
of Danielle Bell, a fourteen year old girl with dreams
of becoming a lawyer for persons with disability. Her life
was full of promise, but was tragically cut short when
she disappeared in September of two thousand and one. More
than two decades later, Danielle's family is still searching for answers.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
I'm Melissa and I'm Whitney. I came upon Danielle's story
on TikTok when I saw a video from her sister, Bonnie.
Bonnie has taken the cue from Sarah Turney, Julie Murray,
and thousands of others seeking attention for their loved one's case.
Using social media platforms is one of the quickest ways
to garner attention to a story. When I messaged Bonnie
(01:16):
to see how we could help raise awareness, I hoped
she would be receptive to us helping figure out a
way to navigate advocacy for Danielle.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Danielle was born on July twenty eighth, nineteen eighty seven.
She grew up in a loving home with her parents,
Susan and Matt Bell, and her sister Bonnie. Danielle and
Bonnie grew up with her mom in the Pensacola, Florida area.
Danielle was bubbly, outgoing, always laughing, and always bringing energy
(01:46):
into the room. She had many friends and loved dancing
and drawing.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Bonnie said that Danielle, who was six years younger than her,
would describe the pair as Daria and Quinn from the
TV show from the nineties on MTV. Do you remember it?
Speaker 1 (02:02):
I do remember it, I only I never watched it,
but I saw like commercials of it, so I know
the vibe of it.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
So Daria was the melancholy and serious person, which would
be Bonnie. Danielle was Quinn, the outgoing, bouncy cheerleader that
was always like high pitched voice, happy, just polar opposites.
And they were sisters as well. So that's how Danielle
always described her and Bonnie. I know it gives such
a if you've ever seen Daria, it gives you like
(02:29):
the perfect like thought process of this is the perfect example.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
Yeah, it explains them so well.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
I love that Danielle was the baby of the family,
and Bonnie said that she got away with a lot
of things as the baby of the family. I would
agree that's generally how things happen. She was adventurous and
wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty. She liked the
climb trees and be a daredevil, and of course, in
typical younger sister fashion, she always wanted to go with
(02:59):
Bonnie and hang out with her friends. Growing up near
the ocean, like typical Floridians, they spent lots of time
at the beach growing up, swimming, collecting seashells, taking those
typical family photos with the linen pants, white shirts on
the beach or the flowy dress like that's what I picture.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Yep, I have a few of those myself.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Bonnie told me a story when she was in high
school that Danielle made her a Mickey Mouse clock in
her wood shop class. She had carked it out of
wood and painted it and everything, and it was one
of Bonnie's most prized possessions for a long time. She
no longer has it, but it's something that sticks out
in her memories pretty prominently. When Bonnie turned eighteen, she
(03:41):
moved out of the house and began doing all the
adult things that happen after high school graduation. Your life
gets busy, you spend less time with your younger siblings.
You just transition into adulthood. And Bonnie was in college,
she was working school. You know how busy it can be.
Danielle was twelve when Bonnie moved out, and while they
remained in touch, they did not get to spend as
(04:03):
much time together as they once had. Danielle had a
really great group of friends, and those friends still contact
Bonnie to this very day.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Sweet But at just fourteen years old, Danielle became involved
with a man who was far too old for her,
a man who ultimately would be linked to her disappearance.
Danielle's friends had been dating an older man who happened
to be cousins of twenty four year old Alfredo Sanchez.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Bonnie said that it was the summer of two thousand
and one, before her freshman year. Danielle would hang out
with her friends near the river doing what teenagers do.
Definitely some underage drinking going on, maybe smoking a little
bit of weed, probably building a bonfire or just hanging out.
It's typical teenager activities in my mind, especially in a
smaller area like a smaller town, smaller rural area. Bonnie
(04:57):
said that Danielle had told her friends that her and
Alfredo we're in a relationship. Now. I don't know that
you could call this a relationship.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
Agreed, teen and twenty four year old. Absolutely not. I
don't think they As a fourteen year old you can
be making that decision, and definitely a twenty four year
old should not be. But so he's ten years older
than her, he's a grown man, and she's literally just
a top child. She just started high school, she's in
(05:27):
ninth grade. The power and balance is here is stark
and really just unsettling, and I can't imagine I have
a fourteen year old right now, and the thought of
any twenty four year old even associating with him is
absolutely not going to happen.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Right So Bonnie made a point to talk to me
about this quite a bit because I had questions about
the logistics of this. How does a fourteen year old
have the opportunities to be in a relationship, if that's
what you want to call it, with twenty four year old,
How does that even work logistically? I would assume the
twenty four year old has a real job at that point,
(06:07):
and a fourteen year old's going to be going to
school and who when are you seeing each other going
on these days, There's lots of questions revolving around this situation. Ship,
if you will. Danielle lived with her mom at the time.
Now her parents had split up, her father moved away,
and her father ran quite a tight ship at home,
(06:27):
but her mom Susan's roles were a little bit more lax,
if you want to call it that. Danielle didn't really
have a curfew or any rules at all. It was
uncommon for Danielle. It wasn't uncommon for Danielle to be
gone for an entire weekend without Susan knowing exactly where
she was staying. Bonnie said that she would show up
(06:48):
at school on Friday with a Duffel bag or overnight
bag and tell her friends she stayed with her boyfriend
for the weekend, and Susan never really questioned it. She
may have said she was with a girlfriend and actually
stayed with the boyfriend those types of situations, but Susan
was aware of the relationship between Danielle and Alfredo and
ultimately was okay with it, to Bonnie's knowledge. She didn't
(07:13):
necessarily encourage it, but Alfredo was a drug dealer as well,
and Susan was one of his clients. She was also
a sex worker. Yes, so Susan was also a sex worker.
And Bonnie said that due to her mother's lifestyle, Danielle
just came in when as she pleased and there was
no real structure in her home life.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
Not only is this a twenty four year old man,
but he's a drug dealer on top of that, and
Susan is just okay with them. I wonder. I know
they didn't meet because of the mom, but still that
is that's crazy.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Yeah, they met through one of Danielle's friends who was
dating his cousin. So that's just how the relationship or
how the connection occurred. But if he was supplying Danielle's mom,
that's just like further I don't want to call it encouraging,
but it is encouraging enabling, That's what I'm looking for.
(08:11):
It just further enables the relationship because he's not only
around going to be around for Danielle, but he's going
to be around for Susan. Transactionally. Wow.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
On September twenty eighth, two thousand witnesses saw Danielle at
a Park with Sanchez and his friends. Later that night,
she attended a party at the home of Robert Bassett.
Robert is the lifelong best friend of Alfredo. Also, this
guy is in his mid twenties. I also want to
say that Danielle and Alfredo were at another party earlier
(08:44):
in the day and then they ended up at Robert's
house at a different party. So this Robert guy regularly
hosted parties, and his rap sheet is extensive. It's wild
all the things that this man has been convicted of.
So these are your upstanding citizens, but they're also grown
men hanging out with a fourteen year old, which is
(09:05):
weird as well. So this rap sheet literally starts from
when he was a juvenile all the way up until
this point. And even after Danielle goes missing, he's still
being charged with things.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
It's funny you say that because Bonnie, when we were
talking about his extensive rap sheet, she says, Robert's gonna
do what Robert's gonna do. He's gonna end up in jail.
Looks like he's gonna be in jail because he's in
and out of jail so much. That's like a guaranteed.
At this point, that's crazy. You feel like they would
eventually just, oh, you've been.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
In too much. That whole three strikes law. I don't
even know if that's a law anymore, but Okay, he's
been in and out of jail with several counts of violence,
mostly towards women, burglary, stalking. It's literally the list goes
on and on. But this particular party was the last
time anyone had seen Danielle alive. I read a comment
(09:58):
allegedly by Robert I think the name of it. It
said Bobby, and it was on some Reddit thread where
it had a picture of his house, and it said
that he did not have a party that night, he
had nothing to do with Danielle's disappearance, and all this
crazy stuff about how he's just an innocent man and
people need to leave him and his property alone. But
(10:21):
obviously many people disagree, considering he was such good friends
with Alfredo and that was the last place that Danielle
was seen alive, definitely raises some questions. By Sunday, September thirtieth,
Susan Bell became worried when she couldn't get in touch
with her daughter, so she did call nine one one
and of course, the case was initially treated as a
(10:44):
runaway situation. Susan thought her daughter, or this is what
she told police, that she thought her daughter was spending
the night with a female friend, so she wasn't worried.
This is just like you were saying. Every weekend she
would pack a bag and just be gone the whole weekend.
So this wasn't any different than every other weekend Danielle experienced,
(11:04):
except for by Monday, her not coming home is when
Susan was became a little bit worried not being able
to get a hold of her. So let's go back
to two weeks before Danielle disappeared. Yes, we know that
she's missing at this point, but let's go back two
weeks before. Not only had Danielle confided in her friends,
but she had also told her mom that she was pregnant.
(11:26):
She told them that she had been given a lot
of drugs and gang raped by Alfredo and his friends.
She told them further that Alfredo had threatened her, saying
that he would kill her. Now again, still two weeks ago,
that Sunday, September ninth, two thousand and one, Bonnie was
at her mom's house and had picked daniel up, had
picked Danielle up. They took her to she took her
(11:48):
to the beach.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
They had some of those pictures made those regular pictures
or typical pictures, and Danielle asked Bonnie to take her
to a payphone so that she could call her friends
to pick her up. This is two thousand and one.
Everyone didn't have a cell phone then. Payphones were still
like regularly available on random streets or at gas stations.
(12:10):
And Bonnie told her that she is being silly that
she'd take her back to her mom's house. Plus, she
was like twenty years old. She's a college kid. She's
gonna raid her mom's pantry right like she's going to
go still some food.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
All twenty year olds should, yes, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
When they return, Danielle asks her mom if Alfrido could
come over, and Bonnie's still there. She doesn't really know
who Elfredo was at this point, and when he showed
up with his younger brother Alex and his cousin Raouel
overheard Danielle asking your mom if she and Alfrido could
go quote take a ride. Now we were all young.
Once we all rode around, did the drag whatever I
(12:51):
don't think twenty four year olds are just cruising the
streets taking rides. If you catch my drift.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
I agree, you're over that by that point in your life, right.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Susan lets her go, even with Bonnie's verbal hesitation. Bonnie
and her mom get into a little bit of an argument,
asking why are you letting her go? He's way too
old for her. What are you thinking? This is a
school night? Like, what the heck mom thing? She gets
so frustrated she leaves. Susan kind of brushes it off,
saying that she knows Alfredo, that he's a good guy,
(13:26):
and that Danielle baby sits for him, So he has
a kid. I don't know, it seems like it because
else would she be babysitting for him. But I wouldn't
babysit him. I didn't look into his history, but like
outside of I don't know what his parental status is.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
Gotcha.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
This obviously upset Bonnie and she leaves. This was the
last time that she ever saw her sister. Oh, Bonnie
did not know. Bonnie did not know that Danielle was
pregnant or that her mother knew she was pregnant. So
now flash forward to September thirtieth of two thousand and one.
Danielle's missing and hadn't been seen for at least two
(14:09):
days before being reported.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
So when police first spoke to Susan, she didn't mention
Alfredo Sanchez's name at all. This wasn't She didn't bring
him up at all. Could this be because he's possibly her dealer?
Who knows? But she didn't mention. Hey, by the way,
my fourteen year old's boyfriend is twenty four years old
and she could be pregnant by him. None of that
(14:33):
was mentioned. Instead, Susan gave the police the name of
Alfredo's much younger brother, Alex.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
So this misdirection, I don't know whether it was intentional
or accidental, but it really caused some critical delays police
following up with Alex, he tells police that Danielle had
talked about running away because of ray some problems at home.
He told police that Danielle left on foot from the
(15:05):
park on Friday night because Danielle and her mother were
having problems at home, and that Danielle had no intention
of returning to her mother's house. That statement alone, right
there set the entire tone for the law enforcement's approach.
They treated her disappearance as a runaway rather than a
(15:27):
potential abduction or worse. And you have to admit that's
the only information they're getting. Is hey, a friend of
her saying she wanted to run away, the mom not
knowing where she's at for two days, and then not
reporting her missing for two days because she really didn't
This was just the common thing that was happening. We
(15:47):
always complained that police are always too quick to say
it was a runaway, But in this case, everything is
literally pointing to all the information that police is getting
is pointing to this being a run away. Way.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
Yeah, And here's what's even strange. Even more strange, if
she was going to run away the relationship she had
with Bonnie. I feel like she would have reached out
to Bonnie first, if she was having trouble at home, saying, hey,
I can't stay here anymore, what do I need to do?
They had a very close relationship to the point where
I think she would have asked for help. And Bonnie
didn't even know she was missing off right off the bat.
(16:22):
She didn't find out until much later on that Monday,
around twenty volunteers did a ground search for Danielle. They
went to that park, they looked around, they knocked on doors,
canvassed that surrounding area. And Bonnie was involved in this search,
so she did find She did know by the Monday after,
but she didn't know right away that she was missing.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
This was all friends and family members doing this search.
It was not police at all. Just want to put
that emphasis because they're not even searching for her.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
She doesn't even recall seeing a police presence while they're
out doing this. Even if she was a runaway. They
weren't doing extra patrols in the area looking for her,
walking the streets in the area she was last known.
There was no police presence that Bonnie can even remember
it for that time. Law enforcement attempted to speak with
Alfredo at this point because they did have a list
(17:14):
of people known people that their mother had provided, which
Alfredo wasn't on that list. But they eventually made it
to Alfredo based on all the connections, but he disappeared
for a little bit. He was kind of mia. They
didn't really know where he was, couldn't get a hold
of him, couldn't find him. When they did get a
hold of him, he was allegedly visiting family outside of town,
(17:34):
and when they finally brought him in for questioning, he
changed his story that he was locally in that area
with a cousin helping him move or do something super
random and not at all what the original discussion was.
The investigation was slow and relatively nonexistent. In fact, it
(17:56):
wasn't until a new detective took over in two thousand
and four, two thousand and five, after the previous detective
was fired because he was in a relationship with Susan
Holy crap. So it wasn't until a new detective took
over that many of the pieces started coming together.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
When two thousand and four public searches were held for
her remains. Now, I don't know how they got to
this point where they now assumed that she's no longer alive.
She went from a runaway to something in two thousand
and four happening possibly with the new detective, where now
they do not believe she's alive.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
The case that they were building, which is what ultimately
what we're going to talk about with Alfredo in a
little bit, I think they were starting to piece together
the puzzle, or put together the puzzle pieces of Alfredo's
not a good dude. Something could have happened if no
one has seen her, something had to have happened at
this point, so they eventually shifted from runaway to missing
person to oh gosh, what is really going on here?
Speaker 1 (18:56):
Yeah, there's probably some foul play situations going on. East
In two thousand and four, their police are starting to
search for her, and that is with the help of
an organization called Closs Kids Foundation. They were stepping in
to assist, so volunteers combed through the area. They had
cadaver dogs. They were searching for any trace of Danielle.
(19:20):
Of course, nothing was found though, because this is three
years later and they really don't know what they're doing
at this point, the Class Kids Foundation set up an
entire office in the Pensacola area to help search for
the missing kids of that area. They felt like this
was an area that they needed to set up shop
(19:42):
in to help out, and Danielle's case was one of
the ones that they were there helping for. If you
don't know about Class Kids Foundation, definitely go to the website.
They have done some amazing things for so many missing
children all across the United States. In two thousand and seven.
Alfredo Sanchez was charged with providing false information to police
(20:06):
about his whereabouts when Danielle disappeared. So Alfredo stated he
hadn't seen Danielle for two to three weeks before she
ever even went missing, which was not true. They had
various witnesses who stated she was with him the night
she went missing. We've got people at the park. Then
there was people at the first party, people at the
(20:27):
second party that all said Danielle was there with Alfredo.
So he's lying through his teeth about that situation. So
they do actually arrest him for these false statements. And
it wasn't just that he's there with Alfredo, meaning like
they saw them having a conversation at the tree or
whatever in the park. It's they were like.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
Levey Dovey kissing, like clearly together in a relationship.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
Yes, he also said. He also told police that he
happened to be with another woman that night, that he
was not even with Danielle. Was his probably one of
his stories. However, that woman came forward and told authorities
Alfredo had asked her to be his alibi for that night.
Dear lord, why do you need an alibi if you
(21:18):
did nothing wrong? Sorry, not sorry, because you don't ask
someone to be your alibi if you were doing nothing
wrong exactly. So he wasn't and hasn't been directly implicated
in her disappearance. But he was convicted of multiple sex
crimes against miners, including other underage girls that he had exploited,
(21:40):
not including Danielle because he was arrested and convicted of
things with her as far as him having sex with
her when she's clearly underage, but there was also other
girls that he had done this to as well. He
was sentenced to forty five years in prison, fifteen years
(22:01):
for each count to be served consecutively, and he is
still in prison to this day for those charges.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
Danielle, like you said, was one of those victims. A
second brave woman came forward and told her story. I'm
not going to use her name for her privacy, but
she started a relationship with Alfredo when she was fifteen
years old. Alfredo had even met her parents, came to
her parents' house, introduced himself as Alfredo. She said, this
(22:31):
is my boyfriend, and he's nineteen years old. And when
the parents were like, hold on, bro, you don't look nineteen.
Alfredo is twenty three, twenty four at this time, Bro,
you don't look like you're nineteen years old? Can I
see your ID? He presented an ID that said he
was nineteen years old. Now, whether that's it's obviously not
his real idea, unless it was an expired one, an
(22:52):
old one, or maybe is using his brother's ID. I
don't know.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
I was gonna say.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
He presented an ID stating he was nineteen years old.
And while those parents were still like this is a
bit strange, Like they watched movies at their house under
like their watchful chaperoning. So like, maybe he is nineteen,
because what twenty four year old dud's gonna say it
gonna hang out with someone's parents except to win her,
(23:20):
you know, respect the parents' respect, to be able to
get her away from them, to groom them, like all
of the nefarious things that these predators will do to
young women and young men. So one day, this same
brave woman was attending a birthday party for a friend
at a hotel. She didn't tell Alfredo that she was
going to this party, but Alfredo and his brother showed
(23:43):
up anyway and essentially dragged her out of the hotel.
They took her back to Alfredo's house where he was
She was there for a little bit of time. There's
some things she talks about, like she gets put into
a room with some of his cousins. Then they switch
vehicles and he takes her in a different vehicle and
drives out to these woods in the woods. He was
(24:04):
visibly high, like really high on something. She's not even
I don't think she ever said what he was high on.
But he leaned his seat back, the seat back, took
a nap, woke up, raped her, and then proceeded to
do this process several more times. So you take a
little nap, wake up raper again, take a nap, wake
up raper again, over and over. He then threatened her.
(24:25):
She did become pregnant, and he threatened her saying that
he would send her to his family in Texas. So
this is multiple people now that he multiple underage girls
that he has done this too, and the mind games
and grooming that he was doing is just unreal. So
I don't know this girl, I don't even know her name,
(24:47):
but her bravery and coming forward and showing her story,
sharing her story to help get Alfredo behind bars is
just like absolutely commendable, and it makes me believe that
these that came forward for this case are not the
only ones. You don't start with this behavior exactly.
Speaker 1 (25:04):
That girl is so brave to be that young and
that manipulated by a grown freaking man in the horrific
Oh my gosh, horrific. So that Robert Bassett, guy whose
home was the last place Danielle was seen, so obviously
(25:25):
I said, he denied any involvement in her disappearance. However,
his extensive criminal record painted a concerning picture. In twenty ten,
nine years after Danielle's disappeared, law enforcement actually were able
to conduct a search on Robert's property. They pumped out
(25:46):
a septic tank behind the house. Unfortunately, no evidence was found.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
I know that this was one of two rumored places
that Alfredo allegedly disposed of Danielle's body. And I don't
recall if it was Alfredo that said it or if
it was Robert that said it snarkily. Is that a
word snarkily that had popped off and said it at
some point, But they said that, oh, Danielle's body is
not It wasn't at Robert's house. It was at another
(26:14):
locally known area called the Hog Farm, which is like
a pig farm, but they call it the hog farm.
As of today, this farm has never been searched, which
is terrifying because I think that a lot of people
know what can happen when hogs in a wildlife are introduced,
and if Danielle was there, the chances of finding evidence
(26:38):
of that would be slim. Now twenty three years later,
almost twenty four years later, but it has never been searched.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
Wow. Yeah, like you said, I don't think they would
be able to find anything. Oh, that's horrific too. As
the years pass, police began to suspect Danielle was actually
a victim of foul play. By two and twelve, investigators
were covered human remains off a dirt road near Sanchez's home,
(27:06):
but they were determined not to be Danielle's. Her mother, Susan,
was unwavering in her belief that her daughter had not
run away and that she knew exactly who was responsible. Tragically,
Susan did pass away in October of twenty twenty. She
never really knew what happened to her daughter, and honestly,
Bonnie has been the one orchestrating everything since her sister disappeared.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
Bonnie is learning new things about Danielle's disappearance every single day.
She learned that her mom had been trafficking Danielle and
a sex work. In twenty nineteen, Bonnie began getting calls
from people who told her that her mom had tried
to extort them out of money to help fuel her addiction.
There were plenty of people that had seen Danielle and
Alfredo in a relationship kissing in public, and no one
(27:53):
reported it because her mom perpetrated it.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
Today, more than twenty years later, Danielle's sister, Bonnie is
leading the charge to keep Danielle's memory alive. She has
taken to TikTok, using social media to call for renewed
attention to the case and urging a fresh investigation. Danielle's
story is not just a tragedy, but it's also a
call to action. We need to protect children like Danielle
(28:20):
from predators like Alfredo and Robert. We need to ensure
that missing children's cases are taken seriously from the start.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
While both Robert and Alfredo are currently incarcerated, Robert is
slated to be released this year. Bonnie is trying to
bring as much attention to Danielle's story as possible. She's
wanting law enforcement to go talk to all of the
people pertinent to the investigation. Again, people have evolved, they
were in their early twenties then or younger. Loyalties have changed.
(28:50):
How often do you see it that allegiances have shifted
and people are ready to talk or.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
Well those are and especially in situation where there's drug
dealers and traffickers, those people fall out all the time
over anything small. So it's not like they have these
great bonds and will be together forever type.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
Of thing exactly. And those who were at that party
twenty three years ago, they've grown up, but they were
also old enough to remember what they saw. They weren't
children like babies or anything like that. They can remember
likely what happened that night. If something happened, and they
could share that information, it's time to talk. Danielle was
(29:31):
not his only victim. That's been proven. Three people came
forward at least for his one trial. How many more
outside of that have been hurt by this man as well?
So this brings us to our advocacy piece. We're starting
strong with the flyer campaign and we're going to ask
individuals in the area to write letters to the Sheriff's
office requesting that they requestion the suspects and individuals pertinent
(29:55):
to the case. Share Danielle's story. Follow Bonnie. She's amazing
and determined to find Danielle. She that girl cranks out
some content about Danielle every single day, and I'm so
honored to have stumbled upon her TikTok the way we did,
because she is just She's doing amazing things out there.
I have linked all of her socials in the show notes,
(30:15):
and it's her belief that Danielle is deceased. All she
is asked for is to be is for Danielle to
be returned to her.
Speaker 1 (30:23):
So if you have any information about the disappearance of
Danielle Bell, please contact the Scambia County Sheriff's Office at
eight five zero four three six nine six three zero.
Even the smallest detail could be the key to finally
bringing Danielle home. And if you want to help families
like the Bells, consider supporting organizations that advocate for missing children,
(30:48):
such as the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
or the Closs Kids Foundation. Danielle Bell was a bright,
beautiful young girl with the future ahead of her. She
deserves so much more than what possibly happened to her.
It has been over two decades, but our family has
(31:10):
not given up Pulp. Neither will we.
Speaker 2 (31:17):
We want to thank Bonnie for allowing us to share
Danielle's story and to join her pursuit of justice. This
episode was research, written, and produced by us. Please consider
leaving us a five star review wherever you get your podcasts.
As always, follow us on all social media. Help us
navigate advocacy by sharing with a friend, joining our Patreon,
(31:40):
or supporting our mission. Learn more about the podcast Advocacy
con or nonprofit Impact Advocacy Foundation at Navigating Advocacy dot
com
Welcome to navigating advocacy. Today, we're sharing the heartbreaking story
of Danielle Bell, a fourteen year old girl with dreams
of becoming a lawyer for persons with disability. Her life
was full of promise, but was tragically cut short when
she disappeared in September of two thousand and one. More
than two decades later, Danielle's family is still searching for answers.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
I'm Melissa and I'm Whitney. I came upon Danielle's story
on TikTok when I saw a video from her sister, Bonnie.
Bonnie has taken the cue from Sarah Turney, Julie Murray,
and thousands of others seeking attention for their loved one's case.
Using social media platforms is one of the quickest ways
to garner attention to a story. When I messaged Bonnie
(01:16):
to see how we could help raise awareness, I hoped
she would be receptive to us helping figure out a
way to navigate advocacy for Danielle.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Danielle was born on July twenty eighth, nineteen eighty seven.
She grew up in a loving home with her parents,
Susan and Matt Bell, and her sister Bonnie. Danielle and
Bonnie grew up with her mom in the Pensacola, Florida area.
Danielle was bubbly, outgoing, always laughing, and always bringing energy
(01:46):
into the room. She had many friends and loved dancing
and drawing.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Bonnie said that Danielle, who was six years younger than her,
would describe the pair as Daria and Quinn from the
TV show from the nineties on MTV. Do you remember it?
Speaker 1 (02:02):
I do remember it, I only I never watched it,
but I saw like commercials of it, so I know
the vibe of it.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
So Daria was the melancholy and serious person, which would
be Bonnie. Danielle was Quinn, the outgoing, bouncy cheerleader that
was always like high pitched voice, happy, just polar opposites.
And they were sisters as well. So that's how Danielle
always described her and Bonnie. I know it gives such
a if you've ever seen Daria, it gives you like
(02:29):
the perfect like thought process of this is the perfect example.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
Yeah, it explains them so well.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
I love that Danielle was the baby of the family,
and Bonnie said that she got away with a lot
of things as the baby of the family. I would
agree that's generally how things happen. She was adventurous and
wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty. She liked the
climb trees and be a daredevil, and of course, in
typical younger sister fashion, she always wanted to go with
(02:59):
Bonnie and hang out with her friends. Growing up near
the ocean, like typical Floridians, they spent lots of time
at the beach growing up, swimming, collecting seashells, taking those
typical family photos with the linen pants, white shirts on
the beach or the flowy dress like that's what I picture.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Yep, I have a few of those myself.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Bonnie told me a story when she was in high
school that Danielle made her a Mickey Mouse clock in
her wood shop class. She had carked it out of
wood and painted it and everything, and it was one
of Bonnie's most prized possessions for a long time. She
no longer has it, but it's something that sticks out
in her memories pretty prominently. When Bonnie turned eighteen, she
(03:41):
moved out of the house and began doing all the
adult things that happen after high school graduation. Your life
gets busy, you spend less time with your younger siblings.
You just transition into adulthood. And Bonnie was in college,
she was working school. You know how busy it can be.
Danielle was twelve when Bonnie moved out, and while they
remained in touch, they did not get to spend as
(04:03):
much time together as they once had. Danielle had a
really great group of friends, and those friends still contact
Bonnie to this very day.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Sweet But at just fourteen years old, Danielle became involved
with a man who was far too old for her,
a man who ultimately would be linked to her disappearance.
Danielle's friends had been dating an older man who happened
to be cousins of twenty four year old Alfredo Sanchez.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Bonnie said that it was the summer of two thousand
and one, before her freshman year. Danielle would hang out
with her friends near the river doing what teenagers do.
Definitely some underage drinking going on, maybe smoking a little
bit of weed, probably building a bonfire or just hanging out.
It's typical teenager activities in my mind, especially in a
smaller area like a smaller town, smaller rural area. Bonnie
(04:57):
said that Danielle had told her friends that her and
Alfredo we're in a relationship. Now. I don't know that
you could call this a relationship.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
Agreed, teen and twenty four year old. Absolutely not. I
don't think they As a fourteen year old you can
be making that decision, and definitely a twenty four year
old should not be. But so he's ten years older
than her, he's a grown man, and she's literally just
a top child. She just started high school, she's in
(05:27):
ninth grade. The power and balance is here is stark
and really just unsettling, and I can't imagine I have
a fourteen year old right now, and the thought of
any twenty four year old even associating with him is
absolutely not going to happen.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Right So Bonnie made a point to talk to me
about this quite a bit because I had questions about
the logistics of this. How does a fourteen year old
have the opportunities to be in a relationship, if that's
what you want to call it, with twenty four year old,
How does that even work logistically? I would assume the
twenty four year old has a real job at that point,
(06:07):
and a fourteen year old's going to be going to
school and who when are you seeing each other going
on these days, There's lots of questions revolving around this situation. Ship,
if you will. Danielle lived with her mom at the time.
Now her parents had split up, her father moved away,
and her father ran quite a tight ship at home,
(06:27):
but her mom Susan's roles were a little bit more lax,
if you want to call it that. Danielle didn't really
have a curfew or any rules at all. It was
uncommon for Danielle. It wasn't uncommon for Danielle to be
gone for an entire weekend without Susan knowing exactly where
she was staying. Bonnie said that she would show up
(06:48):
at school on Friday with a Duffel bag or overnight
bag and tell her friends she stayed with her boyfriend
for the weekend, and Susan never really questioned it. She
may have said she was with a girlfriend and actually
stayed with the boyfriend those types of situations, but Susan
was aware of the relationship between Danielle and Alfredo and
ultimately was okay with it, to Bonnie's knowledge. She didn't
(07:13):
necessarily encourage it, but Alfredo was a drug dealer as well,
and Susan was one of his clients. She was also
a sex worker. Yes, so Susan was also a sex worker.
And Bonnie said that due to her mother's lifestyle, Danielle
just came in when as she pleased and there was
no real structure in her home life.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
Not only is this a twenty four year old man,
but he's a drug dealer on top of that, and
Susan is just okay with them. I wonder. I know
they didn't meet because of the mom, but still that
is that's crazy.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Yeah, they met through one of Danielle's friends who was
dating his cousin. So that's just how the relationship or
how the connection occurred. But if he was supplying Danielle's mom,
that's just like further I don't want to call it encouraging,
but it is encouraging enabling, That's what I'm looking for.
(08:11):
It just further enables the relationship because he's not only
around going to be around for Danielle, but he's going
to be around for Susan. Transactionally. Wow.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
On September twenty eighth, two thousand witnesses saw Danielle at
a Park with Sanchez and his friends. Later that night,
she attended a party at the home of Robert Bassett.
Robert is the lifelong best friend of Alfredo. Also, this
guy is in his mid twenties. I also want to
say that Danielle and Alfredo were at another party earlier
(08:44):
in the day and then they ended up at Robert's
house at a different party. So this Robert guy regularly
hosted parties, and his rap sheet is extensive. It's wild
all the things that this man has been convicted of.
So these are your upstanding citizens, but they're also grown
men hanging out with a fourteen year old, which is
(09:05):
weird as well. So this rap sheet literally starts from
when he was a juvenile all the way up until
this point. And even after Danielle goes missing, he's still
being charged with things.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
It's funny you say that because Bonnie, when we were
talking about his extensive rap sheet, she says, Robert's gonna
do what Robert's gonna do. He's gonna end up in jail.
Looks like he's gonna be in jail because he's in
and out of jail so much. That's like a guaranteed.
At this point, that's crazy. You feel like they would
eventually just, oh, you've been.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
In too much. That whole three strikes law. I don't
even know if that's a law anymore, but Okay, he's
been in and out of jail with several counts of violence,
mostly towards women, burglary, stalking. It's literally the list goes
on and on. But this particular party was the last
time anyone had seen Danielle alive. I read a comment
(09:58):
allegedly by Robert I think the name of it. It
said Bobby, and it was on some Reddit thread where
it had a picture of his house, and it said
that he did not have a party that night, he
had nothing to do with Danielle's disappearance, and all this
crazy stuff about how he's just an innocent man and
people need to leave him and his property alone. But
(10:21):
obviously many people disagree, considering he was such good friends
with Alfredo and that was the last place that Danielle
was seen alive, definitely raises some questions. By Sunday, September thirtieth,
Susan Bell became worried when she couldn't get in touch
with her daughter, so she did call nine one one
and of course, the case was initially treated as a
(10:44):
runaway situation. Susan thought her daughter, or this is what
she told police, that she thought her daughter was spending
the night with a female friend, so she wasn't worried.
This is just like you were saying. Every weekend she
would pack a bag and just be gone the whole weekend.
So this wasn't any different than every other weekend Danielle experienced,
(11:04):
except for by Monday, her not coming home is when
Susan was became a little bit worried not being able
to get a hold of her. So let's go back
to two weeks before Danielle disappeared. Yes, we know that
she's missing at this point, but let's go back two
weeks before. Not only had Danielle confided in her friends,
but she had also told her mom that she was pregnant.
(11:26):
She told them that she had been given a lot
of drugs and gang raped by Alfredo and his friends.
She told them further that Alfredo had threatened her, saying
that he would kill her. Now again, still two weeks ago,
that Sunday, September ninth, two thousand and one, Bonnie was
at her mom's house and had picked daniel up, had
picked Danielle up. They took her to she took her
(11:48):
to the beach.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
They had some of those pictures made those regular pictures
or typical pictures, and Danielle asked Bonnie to take her
to a payphone so that she could call her friends
to pick her up. This is two thousand and one.
Everyone didn't have a cell phone then. Payphones were still
like regularly available on random streets or at gas stations.
(12:10):
And Bonnie told her that she is being silly that
she'd take her back to her mom's house. Plus, she
was like twenty years old. She's a college kid. She's
gonna raid her mom's pantry right like she's going to
go still some food.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
All twenty year olds should, yes, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
When they return, Danielle asks her mom if Alfrido could
come over, and Bonnie's still there. She doesn't really know
who Elfredo was at this point, and when he showed
up with his younger brother Alex and his cousin Raouel
overheard Danielle asking your mom if she and Alfrido could
go quote take a ride. Now we were all young.
Once we all rode around, did the drag whatever I
(12:51):
don't think twenty four year olds are just cruising the
streets taking rides. If you catch my drift.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
I agree, you're over that by that point in your life, right.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Susan lets her go, even with Bonnie's verbal hesitation. Bonnie
and her mom get into a little bit of an argument,
asking why are you letting her go? He's way too
old for her. What are you thinking? This is a
school night? Like, what the heck mom thing? She gets
so frustrated she leaves. Susan kind of brushes it off,
saying that she knows Alfredo, that he's a good guy,
(13:26):
and that Danielle baby sits for him, So he has
a kid. I don't know, it seems like it because
else would she be babysitting for him. But I wouldn't
babysit him. I didn't look into his history, but like
outside of I don't know what his parental status is.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
Gotcha.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
This obviously upset Bonnie and she leaves. This was the
last time that she ever saw her sister. Oh, Bonnie
did not know. Bonnie did not know that Danielle was
pregnant or that her mother knew she was pregnant. So
now flash forward to September thirtieth of two thousand and one.
Danielle's missing and hadn't been seen for at least two
(14:09):
days before being reported.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
So when police first spoke to Susan, she didn't mention
Alfredo Sanchez's name at all. This wasn't She didn't bring
him up at all. Could this be because he's possibly her dealer?
Who knows? But she didn't mention. Hey, by the way,
my fourteen year old's boyfriend is twenty four years old
and she could be pregnant by him. None of that
(14:33):
was mentioned. Instead, Susan gave the police the name of
Alfredo's much younger brother, Alex.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
So this misdirection, I don't know whether it was intentional
or accidental, but it really caused some critical delays police
following up with Alex, he tells police that Danielle had
talked about running away because of ray some problems at home.
He told police that Danielle left on foot from the
(15:05):
park on Friday night because Danielle and her mother were
having problems at home, and that Danielle had no intention
of returning to her mother's house. That statement alone, right
there set the entire tone for the law enforcement's approach.
They treated her disappearance as a runaway rather than a
(15:27):
potential abduction or worse. And you have to admit that's
the only information they're getting. Is hey, a friend of
her saying she wanted to run away, the mom not
knowing where she's at for two days, and then not
reporting her missing for two days because she really didn't
This was just the common thing that was happening. We
(15:47):
always complained that police are always too quick to say
it was a runaway, But in this case, everything is
literally pointing to all the information that police is getting
is pointing to this being a run away. Way.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
Yeah, And here's what's even strange. Even more strange, if
she was going to run away the relationship she had
with Bonnie. I feel like she would have reached out
to Bonnie first, if she was having trouble at home, saying, hey,
I can't stay here anymore, what do I need to do?
They had a very close relationship to the point where
I think she would have asked for help. And Bonnie
didn't even know she was missing off right off the bat.
(16:22):
She didn't find out until much later on that Monday,
around twenty volunteers did a ground search for Danielle. They
went to that park, they looked around, they knocked on doors,
canvassed that surrounding area. And Bonnie was involved in this search,
so she did find She did know by the Monday after,
but she didn't know right away that she was missing.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
This was all friends and family members doing this search.
It was not police at all. Just want to put
that emphasis because they're not even searching for her.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
She doesn't even recall seeing a police presence while they're
out doing this. Even if she was a runaway. They
weren't doing extra patrols in the area looking for her,
walking the streets in the area she was last known.
There was no police presence that Bonnie can even remember
it for that time. Law enforcement attempted to speak with
Alfredo at this point because they did have a list
(17:14):
of people known people that their mother had provided, which
Alfredo wasn't on that list. But they eventually made it
to Alfredo based on all the connections, but he disappeared
for a little bit. He was kind of mia. They
didn't really know where he was, couldn't get a hold
of him, couldn't find him. When they did get a
hold of him, he was allegedly visiting family outside of town,
(17:34):
and when they finally brought him in for questioning, he
changed his story that he was locally in that area
with a cousin helping him move or do something super
random and not at all what the original discussion was.
The investigation was slow and relatively nonexistent. In fact, it
(17:56):
wasn't until a new detective took over in two thousand
and four, two thousand and five, after the previous detective
was fired because he was in a relationship with Susan
Holy crap. So it wasn't until a new detective took
over that many of the pieces started coming together.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
When two thousand and four public searches were held for
her remains. Now, I don't know how they got to
this point where they now assumed that she's no longer alive.
She went from a runaway to something in two thousand
and four happening possibly with the new detective, where now
they do not believe she's alive.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
The case that they were building, which is what ultimately
what we're going to talk about with Alfredo in a
little bit, I think they were starting to piece together
the puzzle, or put together the puzzle pieces of Alfredo's
not a good dude. Something could have happened if no
one has seen her, something had to have happened at
this point, so they eventually shifted from runaway to missing
person to oh gosh, what is really going on here?
Speaker 1 (18:56):
Yeah, there's probably some foul play situations going on. East
In two thousand and four, their police are starting to
search for her, and that is with the help of
an organization called Closs Kids Foundation. They were stepping in
to assist, so volunteers combed through the area. They had
cadaver dogs. They were searching for any trace of Danielle.
(19:20):
Of course, nothing was found though, because this is three
years later and they really don't know what they're doing
at this point, the Class Kids Foundation set up an
entire office in the Pensacola area to help search for
the missing kids of that area. They felt like this
was an area that they needed to set up shop
(19:42):
in to help out, and Danielle's case was one of
the ones that they were there helping for. If you
don't know about Class Kids Foundation, definitely go to the website.
They have done some amazing things for so many missing
children all across the United States. In two thousand and seven.
Alfredo Sanchez was charged with providing false information to police
(20:06):
about his whereabouts when Danielle disappeared. So Alfredo stated he
hadn't seen Danielle for two to three weeks before she
ever even went missing, which was not true. They had
various witnesses who stated she was with him the night
she went missing. We've got people at the park. Then
there was people at the first party, people at the
(20:27):
second party that all said Danielle was there with Alfredo.
So he's lying through his teeth about that situation. So
they do actually arrest him for these false statements. And
it wasn't just that he's there with Alfredo, meaning like
they saw them having a conversation at the tree or
whatever in the park. It's they were like.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
Levey Dovey kissing, like clearly together in a relationship.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
Yes, he also said. He also told police that he
happened to be with another woman that night, that he
was not even with Danielle. Was his probably one of
his stories. However, that woman came forward and told authorities
Alfredo had asked her to be his alibi for that night.
Dear lord, why do you need an alibi if you
(21:18):
did nothing wrong? Sorry, not sorry, because you don't ask
someone to be your alibi if you were doing nothing
wrong exactly. So he wasn't and hasn't been directly implicated
in her disappearance. But he was convicted of multiple sex
crimes against miners, including other underage girls that he had exploited,
(21:40):
not including Danielle because he was arrested and convicted of
things with her as far as him having sex with
her when she's clearly underage, but there was also other
girls that he had done this to as well. He
was sentenced to forty five years in prison, fifteen years
(22:01):
for each count to be served consecutively, and he is
still in prison to this day for those charges.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
Danielle, like you said, was one of those victims. A
second brave woman came forward and told her story. I'm
not going to use her name for her privacy, but
she started a relationship with Alfredo when she was fifteen
years old. Alfredo had even met her parents, came to
her parents' house, introduced himself as Alfredo. She said, this
(22:31):
is my boyfriend, and he's nineteen years old. And when
the parents were like, hold on, bro, you don't look nineteen.
Alfredo is twenty three, twenty four at this time, Bro,
you don't look like you're nineteen years old? Can I
see your ID? He presented an ID that said he
was nineteen years old. Now, whether that's it's obviously not
his real idea, unless it was an expired one, an
(22:52):
old one, or maybe is using his brother's ID. I
don't know.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
I was gonna say.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
He presented an ID stating he was nineteen years old.
And while those parents were still like this is a
bit strange, Like they watched movies at their house under
like their watchful chaperoning. So like, maybe he is nineteen,
because what twenty four year old dud's gonna say it
gonna hang out with someone's parents except to win her,
(23:20):
you know, respect the parents' respect, to be able to
get her away from them, to groom them, like all
of the nefarious things that these predators will do to
young women and young men. So one day, this same
brave woman was attending a birthday party for a friend
at a hotel. She didn't tell Alfredo that she was
going to this party, but Alfredo and his brother showed
(23:43):
up anyway and essentially dragged her out of the hotel.
They took her back to Alfredo's house where he was
She was there for a little bit of time. There's
some things she talks about, like she gets put into
a room with some of his cousins. Then they switch
vehicles and he takes her in a different vehicle and
drives out to these woods in the woods. He was
(24:04):
visibly high, like really high on something. She's not even
I don't think she ever said what he was high on.
But he leaned his seat back, the seat back, took
a nap, woke up, raped her, and then proceeded to
do this process several more times. So you take a
little nap, wake up raper again, take a nap, wake
up raper again, over and over. He then threatened her.
(24:25):
She did become pregnant, and he threatened her saying that
he would send her to his family in Texas. So
this is multiple people now that he multiple underage girls
that he has done this too, and the mind games
and grooming that he was doing is just unreal. So
I don't know this girl, I don't even know her name,
(24:47):
but her bravery and coming forward and showing her story,
sharing her story to help get Alfredo behind bars is
just like absolutely commendable, and it makes me believe that
these that came forward for this case are not the
only ones. You don't start with this behavior exactly.
Speaker 1 (25:04):
That girl is so brave to be that young and
that manipulated by a grown freaking man in the horrific
Oh my gosh, horrific. So that Robert Bassett, guy whose
home was the last place Danielle was seen, so obviously
(25:25):
I said, he denied any involvement in her disappearance. However,
his extensive criminal record painted a concerning picture. In twenty ten,
nine years after Danielle's disappeared, law enforcement actually were able
to conduct a search on Robert's property. They pumped out
(25:46):
a septic tank behind the house. Unfortunately, no evidence was found.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
I know that this was one of two rumored places
that Alfredo allegedly disposed of Danielle's body. And I don't
recall if it was Alfredo that said it or if
it was Robert that said it snarkily. Is that a
word snarkily that had popped off and said it at
some point, But they said that, oh, Danielle's body is
not It wasn't at Robert's house. It was at another
(26:14):
locally known area called the Hog Farm, which is like
a pig farm, but they call it the hog farm.
As of today, this farm has never been searched, which
is terrifying because I think that a lot of people
know what can happen when hogs in a wildlife are introduced,
and if Danielle was there, the chances of finding evidence
(26:38):
of that would be slim. Now twenty three years later,
almost twenty four years later, but it has never been searched.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
Wow. Yeah, like you said, I don't think they would
be able to find anything. Oh, that's horrific too. As
the years pass, police began to suspect Danielle was actually
a victim of foul play. By two and twelve, investigators
were covered human remains off a dirt road near Sanchez's home,
(27:06):
but they were determined not to be Danielle's. Her mother, Susan,
was unwavering in her belief that her daughter had not
run away and that she knew exactly who was responsible. Tragically,
Susan did pass away in October of twenty twenty. She
never really knew what happened to her daughter, and honestly,
Bonnie has been the one orchestrating everything since her sister disappeared.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
Bonnie is learning new things about Danielle's disappearance every single day.
She learned that her mom had been trafficking Danielle and
a sex work. In twenty nineteen, Bonnie began getting calls
from people who told her that her mom had tried
to extort them out of money to help fuel her addiction.
There were plenty of people that had seen Danielle and
Alfredo in a relationship kissing in public, and no one
(27:53):
reported it because her mom perpetrated it.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
Today, more than twenty years later, Danielle's sister, Bonnie is
leading the charge to keep Danielle's memory alive. She has
taken to TikTok, using social media to call for renewed
attention to the case and urging a fresh investigation. Danielle's
story is not just a tragedy, but it's also a
call to action. We need to protect children like Danielle
(28:20):
from predators like Alfredo and Robert. We need to ensure
that missing children's cases are taken seriously from the start.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
While both Robert and Alfredo are currently incarcerated, Robert is
slated to be released this year. Bonnie is trying to
bring as much attention to Danielle's story as possible. She's
wanting law enforcement to go talk to all of the
people pertinent to the investigation. Again, people have evolved, they
were in their early twenties then or younger. Loyalties have changed.
(28:50):
How often do you see it that allegiances have shifted
and people are ready to talk or.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
Well those are and especially in situation where there's drug
dealers and traffickers, those people fall out all the time
over anything small. So it's not like they have these
great bonds and will be together forever type.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
Of thing exactly. And those who were at that party
twenty three years ago, they've grown up, but they were
also old enough to remember what they saw. They weren't
children like babies or anything like that. They can remember
likely what happened that night. If something happened, and they
could share that information, it's time to talk. Danielle was
(29:31):
not his only victim. That's been proven. Three people came
forward at least for his one trial. How many more
outside of that have been hurt by this man as well?
So this brings us to our advocacy piece. We're starting
strong with the flyer campaign and we're going to ask
individuals in the area to write letters to the Sheriff's
office requesting that they requestion the suspects and individuals pertinent
(29:55):
to the case. Share Danielle's story. Follow Bonnie. She's amazing
and determined to find Danielle. She that girl cranks out
some content about Danielle every single day, and I'm so
honored to have stumbled upon her TikTok the way we did,
because she is just She's doing amazing things out there.
I have linked all of her socials in the show notes,
(30:15):
and it's her belief that Danielle is deceased. All she
is asked for is to be is for Danielle to
be returned to her.
Speaker 1 (30:23):
So if you have any information about the disappearance of
Danielle Bell, please contact the Scambia County Sheriff's Office at
eight five zero four three six nine six three zero.
Even the smallest detail could be the key to finally
bringing Danielle home. And if you want to help families
like the Bells, consider supporting organizations that advocate for missing children,
(30:48):
such as the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
or the Closs Kids Foundation. Danielle Bell was a bright,
beautiful young girl with the future ahead of her. She
deserves so much more than what possibly happened to her.
It has been over two decades, but our family has
(31:10):
not given up Pulp. Neither will we.
Speaker 2 (31:17):
We want to thank Bonnie for allowing us to share
Danielle's story and to join her pursuit of justice. This
episode was research, written, and produced by us. Please consider
leaving us a five star review wherever you get your podcasts.
As always, follow us on all social media. Help us
navigate advocacy by sharing with a friend, joining our Patreon,
(31:40):
or supporting our mission. Learn more about the podcast Advocacy
con or nonprofit Impact Advocacy Foundation at Navigating Advocacy dot
com
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