Twenty four years after this girl vanished on Thanksgiving her brother made a disturbing confession
In a police interview room in Florida a young man Labor's over a confession his sister disappeared more than 24 years
Ago and officers are trying to close the case
Does David Lambert know more about the mystery than he's been letting on as?
Investigators edge closer to the truth a disturbing secret is apparently revealed
the story begins on November 27th
1985 when David and his sister Martha Jean are living with their parents Howard and Margaret in st.
Augustine a city on the northeast coast of Florida
Like many of their neighbors the Lambert's live in a trailer in a semi-rural area a few miles away from the area's popular beaches
at the time David was 14 while Martha Jean was 12 a
7th grader at the city's Keter Linus junior high school
She was of small stature weighing only 70 pounds. However according to David
She had a combative nature that made her a force to be reckoned with despite her slender frame
That day the Lambert's were getting ready to celebrate Thanksgiving
Unfortunately they burned the turkey and Howard reacted with anger
eager to escape their father's shouting David and Martha Jean left the trailer
And as they wandered around the neighborhood David gave his sister some money to spend in a local store
eventually David and Martha Jean arrived at the defunct
Florida Memorial College
By then the building had already been abandoned for several years and even though it was scattered with rubble and shards of glass
It was a popular place for the local youngsters to play in fact in a 2010 interview with the st.
Augustine record one detective described it as like a poor kids visiting
Sadly david and martha jeans adventure was about to take a tragic turn
According to david his sister had decided to leave the abandoned college and go somewhere else to play after that
She simply vanished and even though police launched an investigation
No trace of the girl could be found
Over the years several attempts were made to get to the bottom of martha jeans disappearance and right from the start
Detectives had suspected that david may have known more than he was letting on
But without any clear evidence to prove a crime had been committed. They were unable to take action against it
Meanwhile life in st. Augustine to be done
devastated by their daughter's disappearance
Margaret and Howard went their separate ways then
In the year 2000 David found himself in trouble with the police after allegedly
Attempting to write a bad check and when they picked him up
He reportedly made a bizarre confession in a 2010 interview with news website
Jacksonville comm st
Johns County detective Shawn theis revealed that David claimed to know what had happened to Martha Jean. I need to get this off my chest
Lambert is reported to have said I'm responsible for my sister's death
Apparently he went on to confess that he had buried Martha Jean in a local Coquina mine
but when police arrived at the mine to investigate they could find no trace of Martha jeans corpse and
In the absence of this vital evidence no charges were brought against David
Then in June 2010 Tice and another detective Howard Cole the third made a final attempt to solve the most lengthy
Missing-persons case that the county had ever known
initially Tyson Cole began their investigation by interviewing friends family members and neighbors
Who had lived near the Lambert's at the time of Martha Jane's disappearance?
Interestingly a number of them suggested that the officers should take a closer look at David's story
Finally in August 2010 Tyson Cole brought David into the interview and over the course of three sessions
He gradually confessed to his role in his sister's disappearance
apparently on that fateful day in
1985 Martha Jean had asked him for more money when they arrived at Florida Memorial college, but David had refused
According to David the belligerent Martha had lashed out and hit her brother
Retaliating David pushed her away, but the slight girl fell over backwards hitting her head on a piece of metal jutting out from the ground
Apparently it pierced her skull causing a fatal injury
However, indirectly David believed that he had been the cause of his sister's death
According to Tice's report David said that he had tried to help the girl at first
dee Lambert stated that when he lift Martha up there was a large hole in the back of her head and
Blood was pouring out. He wrote dee Lambert stated
He initially called out for help hoping that someone would be walking by and hear his cries
But when no one came David took matters into his own hands
Allegedly he used a broken road sign as a shovel to dig a makeshift grave
And when the detectives asked him why he'd not told his parents the truth. He told them that he'd been scared of their reaction in
Fact Tice believes that David was living in fear of Margaret a situation that continues to this day
He was terrified of his mama. He wrote still is
Eventually spurred on by a photograph of part of the gene that Tyson placed on the table
David wrote and signed a statement in it. He finally admitted to his role in his sister
Alongside the written statement David also drew a map for investigators
Identifying the plot upon which Florida Memorial College stood it allegedly showed where Martha Jean was buried
Julia team was sent out to investigate
But even though trained police dogs reacted to a certain spot the crew were unable to locate a body
However, Margaret has not been this easy to convince
According to her David has been known to invent stories in order to get attention and she does not believe his confession
Instead she believes that her daughter was kidnapped
Adding to the confusion David himself later withdrew his statement claiming that he had only told the officers when he believed they wanted to hear
Despite Margaret's protests the investigation into martha jeans disappearance has been closed
even though police believe him to be guilty david will not be facing any charges a
2010 press release from the Saint Johns County Sheriff's Office states
Changes in the law since 1985 statute of limitations the suspects age at the time and other mitigating
circumstances would preclude charges from being filed