St. Augustine Girl Still Missing After 35 years

St. Augustine, FL - the case of a missing 12 year old girl from Florida continues to haunt many people, including her searching family decades later. But hope remains that she’ll be recovered one day.

Martha Jean Lambert was said to always wear a smile, a smile that hid a slight determination. The seventh grader appeared confident but was said to be wary of the world around her. She had the look of a survivor, a child ready to take on this cruel world. Many think she wasn’t.

Martha disappeared without an absolute trace during the night of November 27th 1985 from her street known as Kerri-Lynn Road in St. Augustine. No one knows where she went or even how she disappeared.

What we do know is that Martha started her day off at Ketterlinus Junior High School where she was a student. Martha wanted to be liked at the time of her disappearance but she didn’t have a large amount of a friends, just a few. She was said to be a good student with a high IQ but her school grades were poor at the time she disappeared.

The school served as a 7th and 8th grade center at the time Martha was a student. This occurred after a horrific fire that destroyed a large portion of the school in 1981. The school dismissed at 5:30 pm and Martha was known to take the school bus to her home on Kerri-Lynn Road which is nine minutes away. Martha went to a friends house after school.

Martha’s friend told police the girl stayed until 7:30 pm before leaving to walk to her mobile home, alone. It was the day before thanksgiving of 1985, Martha was particularly excited that day because she would be spending thanksgiving at her grandmother, Anna Jones residence. She would be with the rest of her family.

Her mother, Margaret Ann Lambert, and Martha went to a social gathering at a neighbors house at some point after she returned home. She was still wearing a matching two piece bathing suite at 8:00 pm. She may have also been wearing a short sleeved summer dress.

The day had been pleasantly mild that day and there wasn’t any bad weather whatsoever. At some point during the evening, Martha told her mother “Mom, I’m going over, I’ll be back in 5 minutes.” She left the gathering and went to her own house where she found her father, Howard Lambert, cooking dinner.

Martha asked when the food would be ready. It’s unclear what exactly happened after this. It’s possible Martha had dinner with her brother, David Lambert, before going out once again. David told police he asked where she was going but she said “It’s none of your concern” and left.

Martha never returned to the gathering. When Margaret noticed this, she went out looking for Martha. She noticed that the girl was no where in the immediate area and went up to the trailer to search. She noticed David came out of the trailer laughing. When she asked him why he was laughing, he wouldn’t tell her. She later said this always bothered her under the circumstances.

No one could find Martha and after much searching, her family contacted the St. John’s County Sheriffs Office to report her missing. Sheriffs deputies arrived at 3:00 am to take the family’s report. They questioned the family and neighbors who all gave statements about the night.

Neighbors reported seeing Martha walking west on Kerri-Lynn Road during the night shortly before she disappeared. Others said they saw a suspicious green vehicle in the area at the time the girl was walking. The vehicle was said to be a Van and it was being driven by two men at the time.

Investigators were unable to locate the vehicle and condemned the lead. Most police at the time believed the girl had simply run away from home and classified her as a juvenile runaway. Martha’s life at the time was not exactly picture perfect like most would think.

Her home was said to be filled with anger and dysfunction. Howard was an alcoholic and he was frequently angry. Alan Godby was a neighbor of the Lambert family when Martha disappeared in 1985. He still lives on Kerri-Lynn Road and lived about two houses away from Martha.

He recalls often hearing Howard Lambert yelling from the Lambert trailer. Other neighbors also recalled that as well. There was also reported child abuse which resulted in Martha and her brothers spending time in the foster care. Her two brothers also previously ran away from home.

Alan told police in a 2004 interview that Martha was unhappy being at home. But her aunt, Cheryl Elliot, and Anna Jones both said Martha wouldn’t have run off. She was said to be happy with her family in 1985. She was also excited for thanksgiving as said above.

Shortly after Martha was reported missing, Margaret received a phone call from an unidentified female. The person on the other end said “Mom, I’m O.K.” But according to Margaret, the girl did not sound like her missing daughter.

Investigators searched areas near her residence and even searched the backwoods of the Lambert trailer two days after Martha went missing. Nothing was found and there were never any reported sightings of Lambert in the local area after she went missing.

Margaret also said that she and her daughter had a very close relationship at the time of her disappearance. She even said “we were not only mother and daughter, we were best friends.”

Margaret was convinced from the start that her daughter was abducted by someone she didn’t know and was taken from the area. Martha’s case was officially labeled as a stranger abduction by early 1986. News papers during these times displayed the photos and information of missing children. It was the infancy in the recognition of missing children.

Just a year before Martha went missing, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children came to life. The organization is dedicated to helping find missing children and help to prevent the sexual exploitation of children. Martha’s case is one of the oldest cases in the database today.

The center labeled Martha’s case as a “Non-Family Abduction” which means a child was taken by someone he or she isn’t related too. Martha’s photograph and information was put in Floridian newspapers from January to March of 1986. Other newspapers showed Martha’s photograph with missing kids from other states as well.

Despite the circulation of Martha’s photograph, she was never found and her abductor(s) were never located either. Investigators weren’t completely convinced the girl had simply been taken by a stranger. For many years, they believed someone she knew had been the one to cause her disappearance.

Margaret even stated that Martha knew not to get into anyones vehicle without her permission. Martha also knew a large number of her neighbors so she could’ve sought them for help if someone was trying to abduct her. She was also said to be a “force to be reckoned with.”

Martha’s family was questioned but none of them were considered suspects, all expect one. On the same night she was reported missing, investigators questioned her brother David about his sisters disappearance. He gave inconsistent stories of events.

David first told investigators he saw his sister enter a black vehicle which drove away. Authorities said the story didn’t hold up. He then told investigators that he saw Martha walking towards State Road 207, she may have been heading to the Lil’Champs Convenience store nearby.

Investigators couldn’t confirm nor deny his stories but he was considered a possible suspect for many years. Investigators also named several other people as suspects in Martha’s disappearance but they never had any evidence to make an arrest in the case.

In 2000, David was arrested for attempting to pass a back check. During the interrogation, he told police he had something he needed to get of his chest. He told them that he was responsible for his little sisters death 15 years earlier. He told them that her remains were buried in a coquina mine known as “the pitts” that was located just off Holmes Boulevard.

With this information, police went and searched the mine shaft for any evidence relating to Martha’s disappearance but found nothing. They couldn’t charge him at the time because her body was not recovered. This wouldn’t be his first confession to being involved.

In the summer of 2009, investigators reopened the investigation into the Lambert case in hopes of finally solving the case. They re-interviewed family members and neighbors. They were pointed to David once again by neighbors. This time, he had yet again another “story.”

This time, David told investigators that he and Martha fled the Lambert trailer that day after their parents got into a heated argument. Margaret apparently burned the turkey and Howard became furious. To escape the chaos, David took Martha and left the trailer home.

David said he and Martha went to the Lil’Champs convenience store where Martha spent a little over $4. They then went to the abandoned Florida Memorial college to play. David said at some point Martha left the college campus to go elsewhere and play.

He said he looked for her on the entire campus but was unable find her and returned home. He later changed his story and admitted to accidentally killing Martha. He told investigators that while on the campus, a fight between him and Martha arose over the money. He said Martha punched him across the face and in response he pushed her.

David said he pushed Martha so hard that she fell backwards and hit her head on a piece of metal protruding from the ground. When he realized what happened, David picked his sister up and noticed a large hole in the back of her head with blood coming out. He said he screamed out for help but that no one heard him.

David claimed he buried his sister in a three foot makeshift grave that he dug with a broken road sign. He said he returned home. David told investigators that he buried his sister because he feared his parents would kill him if they found out what he had done to Martha. Investigators believed his confession and searched the abandoned college campus following his confession.

The college had since been leveled and rebuilt after an operation in the mid-1990s. This might’ve scattered any remains, if there were any. Investigators stated they believed the confession because he was emotional while talking about it.

Margaret, however, refused to believe a word her son had to say. She came to the spotlight and told the media that her son was probably admitting to the crime to gain attention from it. She also believes the confession was coerced by the sheriffs office so they could close the case.

In January of 2010, David recanted his confession and stated it was a lie. He said he only told authorities what they wanted to hear so they could close the case. In a video confession, you can also notice how forceful the sheriffs detectives were on Margaret in telling her that Martha was dead and that David killed her.

David’s story of how Martha disappeared does not fit with the original set of circumstances or any witness statements. Her family believes the girl was abducted by a stranger and killed on the same day she disappeared. Margaret even maintained that a killer was still on the loose.

David also maintained he was at home all night when his sister disappeared. Many people who knew him have said that he could never have hurt his sister and that his strange behavior at the time of Martha’s disappearance simply stemmed from the devastation of her being missing.

Margaret also brought up the possibility that her son was scared to talk about what really might’ve happened to Martha because he had been threatened by the people who abducted her daughter. The theory was never substantiated though.

David and Raymond were both heartbroken when their little sister never came home that night and Raymond was even quoted as saying “I hope Martha comes home soon, I hope they find her.” Margaret said they were sort of lost without their little sister after she became missing. She was the peacekeeper between them.

David was said to be the most affected by his sisters disappearance. He was reportedly protective of his little sister at the time she went missing. In an interview in 2000, David said he and Martha were very close and that he often partied after the disappearance to try and forget what had happened. But it never worked.

Martha’s disappearance is said to have destroyed her family. Fighting between Howard and Margaret increased until they got a divorce in 1987. Margaret said he was “too much into alcohol.” She moved away from St. Augustine in 1990. She said she wanted to start fresh and like to think of her daughter as staying with a relative.

She also wanted to give her two sons some independence. She moved to Danville, Illinois for some years. David and Raymond remained in Florida. Howard Lambert stayed in the trailer on Kerri-Lynn Road until he passed away in the mid-1990s.

Margaret has since passed away as well. Raymond, David, and her extended family continue to hope for her return. Raymond is currently trying to raise a $2,000 reward for information leading to his little sisters whereabouts. Her family remains convinced that the girl was abducted and some hold onto hope she’s still living.

Martha’s disappearance remains an active case in online crime information databases. In early 2019, Margaret submitted a DNA sample which can be used to identify Martha should she turn up in the future or her remains. Her case was closed by the sheriffs office in 2009 following David’s confession. He maintains he was not involved in the case.

If you have any information regarding Martha Jean Lambert or the identity of anyone responsible for her disappearance, please contact the St. John’s County Sheriffs Office at 904-824-8304 or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678.