Philadelphia & Middletown, Pennsylvania | June–July 1986
Tanya Moore and Tina Rodriguez did almost everything together.
They lived together.
They worked together.
They were best friends.
And in the end, they were taken from this world together.
Tanya Moore was 31 years old.
Soft-spoken, spiritual, and reserved, she was born Jonathan Streeter in the Germantown section of Philadelphia. Those who knew her described her as quiet and kind.
Tina Rodriguez was 27 years old.
Born Faustino Rodriguez and raised in Camden, New Jersey, she was known as outgoing, outspoken, and someone who longed to be loved and accepted.
Though they had different personalities, they shared an unbreakable bond.
The Last Time They Were Seen
The two women were well known along Philadelphia’s 13th Street corridor, an area known locally as “The Stroll.”
They had endured prejudice, violence, and the challenges of simply living as themselves.
But nothing could have prepared them for what happened on the night of June 30, 1986.
Witnesses saw Tanya and Tina get into a light-colored van with two unidentified men.
To those watching, it appeared to be a double date.
Neither woman was ever seen alive again.
A Horrific Discovery
Three days later, during the early morning hours of July 3, 1986, a passerby noticed flames burning in a baseball field in Middletown, Pennsylvania.
At approximately 12:31 a.m., first responders arrived to a horrific scene.
The bodies of two women had been brutally mutilated, dismembered, and set on fire.
They were later identified as Tanya Moore and Tina Rodriguez.
Despite the brutality of the crime, investigators were unable to identify the killers.
No arrests were made.
No suspects were ever publicly named.
An Investigation That Stalled
In 1999, the investigation took another turn.
A man connected to an unrelated homicide claimed he had information about the murders.
His attorney negotiated a proffer agreement, granting him immunity in exchange for information he provided to investigators.
The details of what he disclosed have never been made public, and the agreement prevented that information from being used to prosecute anyone.
Nearly four decades have passed.
The people responsible for murdering Tanya Moore and Tina Rodriguez have never been held accountable.
Their lives mattered.
Their story deserves to be remembered.
Their families deserve answers.
Anyone with information regarding the murders of Tanya Moore and Tina Rodriguez is urged to contact the Middletown Police Department.
© The Vivid Faces of the Vanished
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