Martha Lambert’s brothers had previously run away from their Elkton, Florida, home in the northeast part of the state, approximately forty-five miles south of Jacksonville. When she had not come home on November 27, 1985, many thought the twelve-year-old had done the same.

 

Home was often more like hell for the Lambert children. They had a great relationship with their mother, but their father was an abusive alcoholic. Loud verbal arguments between Margaret and Howard Lambert were frequent. Howard was over forty years older than his wife and his ire often extended to his children, who had been placed in foster care on several occasions because of verbal abuse. Each time, however, they were returned home and each time the brothers ran away from home, they returned. With Martha, however, it proved a different story.

 

Police initially concurred that Martha Lambert had voluntarily left home but soon came to a different conclusion. Margaret believes her daughter was the victim of a random killing by an unknown person. Investigators, however, believe she was killed by someone from her own troubled home.

Martha Lambert

Neighbors recall Martha as a friendly and polite child, but also overly shy and more often than not dirty, frequently appearing to go several days without bathing.

Martha was excited after school let out on the afternoon of Wednesday, November 27, the beginning of the extended Thanksgiving weekend. She went to a friend’s home where she stayed until approximately 7:30 p.m. What happened afterward is still unclear.

Margaret grew concerned when Martha failed to return home by bedtime. After searching all night without success, she reported her daughter missing at 3:00 a.m. on the morning of November 28.

Police also had no luck as they found few clues in their search for Martha. When they questioned the Lambert family, Martha’s brother David, two years older than she, gave conflicting accounts regarding the last time he had seen his sister. He initially claimed Martha had left their home after dinner without saying where she was going and that he saw her walking toward State Road 207. Later, however, he claimed to have seen her entering a black vehicle.

No Martha

Martha’s disappearance remained cold for fifteen years before David Lambert was once again on center stage. After being arrested for writing a bad check in 2000, the twenty-nine-year-old dropped a bombshell.

Saying he needed to relieve his conscience, David told police he had accidentally killed Martha and buried her not far from the Lambert home in a Coquina Mine known as “The Pitts.” After authorities searched the mine but did not find Martha’s body, David was not charged with any crime in relation to his sister’s disappearance.

David Lambert

Nine years later, in September 2009, David again said he had accidentally killed his sister, but at a different locale. This time he claimed Martha’s death occurred as they were playing on the grounds of the abandoned Florida Memorial College near their home. David said he had given Martha some money but that she had become angry and attacked him after he refused to give her an additional $20. In response, David said he punched and pushed his sister, causing her to fall backwards and hit her head on a piece of metal. The impact killed her.

David claimed he panicked after no one answered his cries for help and buried his sister’s body on the grounds of the former college. He said he did not tell anyone what occurred because he feared his father would have killed him.

Cadaver dogs searched the site. Authorities say the dogs showed a noticeable “change in behavior” when sniffing the grounds where Florida Memorial College once stood. In the twenty-four years since Martha’s disappearance, however, the original buildings had been razed and replaced with several new structures. No trace of Martha’s remains were found and if David’s claims of burying her there are true, they likely never will be recovered.

Police believe David’s accounts of accidentally killing his sister, but prosecutors declined to charge him because, in addition to not having Martha’s body, David was a minor at the time of the alleged incident, and the statute of limitations for manslaughter crimes had expired.

David later recanted both of his confessions, saying he was led into them by police interrogators and that he only told authorities what they wanted to hear.

David Is Again Suspected

After Howard Lambert died, Margaret remarried and is now known as Margaret Pichon. She does not believe David killed Martha, saying her son is mentally incompetent, has suffered from lifelong emotional problems, and often makes up or sensationalizes stories to get attention.

She believes Martha was abducted by a stranger.

What Happened To Martha?

Martha Jean Lambert has been missing since November 27, 1985.

At the time of her disappearance, she was twelve-years-old, four feet tall, and weighed approximately seventy pounds. She had blonde hair and blue eyes. Martha’s upper front teeth were slightly protruded and she had birthmarks on the front of her right thigh and on her upper left chest.

Martha Lambert would today be fifty-years-old. If you have relating to her disappearance, please contact the St. Johns, Florida, County Sheriff’s Office at 904-824-8304.

Computer-Aged Image

To Approximately Age Thirty

SOURCES:

• Charley Project
• Doe Network
• Florida Times-Union
• National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
• St. Augustine Record