Zita Cecilia Gutierrez
Missing since August 22, 1980 from Bethesda, Montgomery County, Maryland.
Classification: Endangered Missing

Vital Statistics

• Date Of Birth: October 23, 1956
• Age at Time of Disappearance: 24 years old
• Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'0; 110 lbs.
• Distinguishing Characteristics: Hispanic female. Black hair; brown eyes.
• Dentals: Not available. Slight separation between upper front teeth
• AKA: Cecilia

Circumstances of Disappearance
Gutierrez was last seen leaving the Kenwood Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland on August 22, 1980.
The Montgomery College student from Rockville  was working two summer jobs to pay for her education. She had a position at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda and had been working for about a week as a cocktail waitress at Kenwood Country Club, also in Bethesda. After finishing her shift at Kenwood one night, Gutierrez left to meet her fiance and some friends at a local nightclub.
Gutierrez has not been seen since.

On August 23, 1980, the day after her disappearance, her 1971 "Dodge Challenger" was found in a parking lot adjacent to a bus stop near NIH.
Gutierrez was supposed to pick up a friend near NIH by 21:30 on August 22, 1980. Although a coworker saw her car leaving the country club shortly after she checked out of work at 21:25, he could not confirm whether she was in it. Authorities believe Zita thought that she would meet that friend at the bus stop at NIH, but her friend was waiting at a different bus stop farther from the facility.

Her fiance, an Iranian student visiting from Pennsylvania, thought Gutierrez’s car may have broken down. He picked up Gutierrez’s friend and they tried to find Gutierrez, but after an unsuccessful search they called police at 2.00 .
Police did not find any evidence of a struggle in the vicinity where her car was found.
Gutierrez is a native of Ecuador who had come to the United States five years previously.

Investigators
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:

Montgomery County Police Department
Major Crimes
240-773-5070

Agency Case Number: RD# W 039 422

NCIC Number: M-072984567
Please refer to this number when contacting any agency with information regarding this case.

Source Information:
NCMA
Washington Post
Gazette.Net 8/31/05