Franchesca “Cheka” Alvarado Went on a Weekend Trip — Only One of Them Came Back
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ➝ Atlantic City, New Jersey — March 17, 2012
Franchesca “Cheka” Alvarado was 22 years old, a mother, sister, and young woman whose family says she would never have simply walked away from her life.
On March 17, 2012, Cheka left Philadelphia for a weekend trip to Atlantic City with an older male acquaintance, Tracey Williams Sr.
Williams returned to Philadelphia.
Cheka did not.
Cheka Suddenly Disappears
Her sisters, Tina and Frances, immediately knew something was wrong. Cheka’s daily phone calls stopped. Her daughter remained with a babysitter. Her apartment was untouched, her phone was off, and both her cell phone and laptop disappeared with her.
Her family searched relentlessly.
They flooded social media with Cheka’s photograph, distributed flyers, checked hospitals and shelters, and continued pressing authorities for answers.
For more than a year, they had none.
A Sneaker Is Found in the Water
In August 2013, a fisherman at Corson’s Inlet State Park in Ocean City, New Jersey, spotted an Adidas sneaker floating in the water.
Inside the sneaker was a human foot.
Additional searches of the area recovered a femur and tibia nearby.
Cheka’s sisters recognized the sneaker. The remains were later identified as belonging to Franchesca Alvarado.
After more than a year of searching, her family finally knew that Cheka was not coming home.
But finding part of her body created an even more disturbing question:
What happened to Cheka?
More Than a Decade Without Answers
Cheka’s family has never been given a definitive cause of death.
Police questioned Tracey Williams Sr., the man who traveled with Cheka to Atlantic City, as well as Cheka’s former roommate. No arrests were made, and no suspects were publicly named.
More than a decade later, her murder remains unsolved.
Cheka left Philadelphia for what was supposed to be a weekend trip. The man who accompanied her returned home, while Cheka vanished.
More than a year later, pieces of her remains began washing ashore.
Her family finally learned where part of Cheka had ended up.
They are still waiting to learn how she got there — and who was responsible.
Anyone with information about the murder of Franchesca “Cheka” Alvarado is asked to contact the New Jersey State Police Major Crime South Unit at 609-882-2000, extension 3353.
© The Vivid Faces of the Vanished