Ten Thanksgivings. Hundreds of pounds of food. Thousands of flyers. And still no answers.
Mia Casteing organized her first Thanksgiving meal giveaway in Atlantic City in 2012 to spread the word about her missing sister, hoping someone with information would come forward.
By that point, 22-year-old Franchesca Alvarado had been missing for eight months. That March, she had accompanied an older neighborhood friend and his children to Atlantic City for the night. When they returned to Philly, Franchesca was not with them.
The police investigation went nowhere. Meanwhile, Mia canvassed Atlantic City with Franchesca’s missing flyers for months with no leads. The Thanksgiving food distribution was a way for Mia to bring more attention to the case, but also to feel close to her sister on Franchesca’s favorite holiday in the place where she was last seen alive.
Mia never imagined that her first giveaway would spark an annual tradition that feeds 70-90 families, but has yielded no clues as to what happened to Franchesca, whose nickname was Cheka. Continuing the practice is a way for her to feel a little less helpless as she faces yet another holiday season with so many unanswered questions.
The New Jersey State Police consider the case cold, and officials have said they’ve exhausted all of the leads.
Franchesca was a single mom to her 3-year-old daughter, Janiah, and a student at the Community College of Philadelphia. For years, she had lived with Mia and her children. But two or three months before her disappearance, Franchesca and her daughter moved into a house in Hunting Park with a roommate in order to have more space.
On Saturday, March 17, 2012, Franchesca secured a babysitter for her daughter and went to Atlantic City with Tracy Williams and his children.
Franchesca left the hotel room at Resorts around 2 a.m., telling Williams she was going for a walk. She never returned. There was no record of anyone going in or out of the hotel room after Franchesca left, until the next morning, when Williams and his kids checked out and returned to Philadelphia.
Mia was expecting Franchesca to return home on Sunday. She couldn’t reach her by phone, so Mia went to the house that Franchesca shared with a roommate and pounded on the door.
Finally, on Monday night, she spoke to the roommate, who told Mia that Franchesca was staying in Atlantic City for two weeks. Mia was alarmed and suspicious. She knew that wasn’t true, so she filed a missing person report.
In August 2013, answers as to what happened to Franchesca started emerging. A fisherman found skeletal remains inside a black high-top sneaker that had washed ashore at Corson’s Inlet State Park in Atlantic City. DNA testing proved the remains to be Franchesca’s. Several months later, her femur was found, then her tibia in 2015.
In 2016, Franchesca’s family decided that it was time to lay her to rest. They buried her bones at Greenmount Cemetery in the same plot as their mother, who died when Franchesca was 9.
Mia is preparing for the next Thanksgiving food giveaway, which many families in Atlantic City have come to rely on. She is looking for volunteers who can help give out food and other donations from about 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. on Thanksgiving. She is also accepting donations, and especially needs men’s coats.
“It’s a great feeling to be able to help people in honor of Franchesca,” Mia said. “You can’t lose.”
Those interested in volunteering or donating can contact Mia via Instagram @mamamia_605 or visit https://www.facebook.com/FindaCheka/ for more information.
Anyone with information on Franchesca’s disappearance is asked to contact New Jersey State Police at 609-882-2000.
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