Diaz' disappearance remains a mystery
By SHANNON CRABTREE scrabtree@leader-news.com

ROSEMARY DIAZ

For most today - Nov. 24 - is just another tick on the countdown to Christmas, but for one family it's another day to bow heads in prayer trying to find some thread of hope.

But it's been 17 years since a teenage daughter and sister to three disappeared from a Danevang store.

That's 6,205 days of not knowing; of grasping for the slightest hint things might be all right.

Rosemary Diaz, a 15-yearold El Campo High School honors student, formally became Wharton County's biggest mystery at 7:52 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 24, 1990, when the call for help came in.

Disappeared from the Danevang store then called Danes, Rosemary left behind her purse, a radio, a car and about $800 cash in the store's register as well as the exciting expectation of seeing her sister's newborn.

There were no signs of a struggle.

The only item out of place was a soda fountain which had been moved. Authorities also found a dent in a filing cabinet, but aren't certain that hadn't happened before.

About 7:30 p.m. she called family members urging then to travel the short distance from home to business to bring the baby.

Photo courtesy Wharton County Sheriff's Office The Scene This is an actual crime scene photo taken by the sheriff's department of the office of the Danevang store from which Rosemary Diaz disappeared on Nov. 24, 1990. Her purse can be seen on the floor to the right of the filing cabinet at center.

She told her family to hurry, mentioned someone was in the store and hung up.

That someone has never been identified and could be either the best witness in the case or the strongest suspect, authorities just don't know.

That brief "come see me" phone call is the last anyone ever heard from Rosemary.

A couple from Markham came in just moments later and couldn't find a clerk. After a few moments they became concerned and called for help.

It was 7:52 p.m.

At 8:09 p.m., Rosemary was officially listed as a missing person.

Within just a few minutes the highway was blockaded, but no suspicious vehicles were found.

When she vanished, Rosemary weighed 110 pounds and stood 5-feet-6-inches tall. She had shoulder-length brown hair and brown eyes.

She has a small quarter-inch scar on the left side of her forehead.

Authorities know exactly what she looked like that day and exactly what she was wearing.

A

Danevang man her family

refers to as "One-eyed Joe" took a Polaroid picture of Rosemary the day she disappeared. They don't know why.

That photo was found propped up on a back desk in the store.

Rosemary didn't smile for the camera.

Anyone with information about this case should call the Missing Persons Clearinghouse at 1-800-346-3243 or the West Wharton County Crime Stoppers at 543-TIPS.

A cash reward is available and callers don't have to give their name to collect.

Or information on the case can be provided to The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678 or the Wharton County Sheriff's Department at 543-1373 or 532-1550.