PHOENIX — Where is Michelle “Elle” Rose Bernstein-Schultz?
The 37-year-old daughter, sister and mother of two vanished 365 days ago.
Phoenix police said she was last seen near 40th Street and Greenway Road, but a year after her disappearance, there aren’t any signs of what happened to her, and no one has been arrested in her case.
“I have to have hope,” Michelle’s mother, Patricia Yaloz told 12News with tears in her eyes. “I need to be able to continue living to find her, I want to think that she’s OK.”
June 29, 2022, 4:03 p.m.
Michelle was 36 years old when she disappeared on Wednesday, June 29, 2022.
Her family learned she had worked from home that day and got off a little early because she wasn’t feeling well, Daniella Smith, Michelle’s only sister told 12News.
“I found a friend that she was texting with that entire day, back and forth,” Daniella said. “The friend said that the text exchange ended very abruptly, they were in a middle of a conversation, and she never replied.”
The last message Michelle sent the friend was at 4:03 p.m. That is the last time anyone heard from her again, the sister said.
“I don’t understand why a year later, nobody has seen her,” Michelle’s mother said. “No camera has taken a picture of her, no witnesses. It doesn’t make sense.”
365 days missing
Michelle was living with her boyfriend in his Phoenix apartment near 40th Street and Greenway Road when she vanished. When she moved in they had been together for a year and a half, her family said.
The boyfriend informed Michelle's mother she was missing by sending her a text message.
On June 30 at 2:38 p.m. Michelle’s boyfriend wrote “Just as you know, Elle hasn’t been seen or heard from since yesterday. She’s considered a missing person.”
Yaloz said she asked the boyfriend to call her, but he didn’t. When she called him, he didn’t answer.
“I called the police, and they told me that he had filed a report that morning and they had gone and interviewed him,” the mother said. “I tried to call the boyfriend again, he didn’t answer until that night.”
Michelle’s mother said she asked the boyfriend if the pair had fought, and he said no. When she asked him what had happened, he said Michelle had texted him the day before and told him she wasn’t feeling well.
“That when he came home from work, she wanted him to spend the night in the living room and not to disturb her,” Yaloz said. “On the 30th, when he went to the bedroom, he realized that she hadn’t been there.”
What he did find in the apartment were Michelle’s keys, phone, credit cards, driver’s license and car. Even her dog, Ava, which the family said she took everywhere, was there.
On July 2, Phoenix police tweeted Michelle was last seen near her apartment on June 29. They did not indicate whether they believed foul play was involved in her disappearance.
When 12News reporter Adriana Loya tried to speak with Michelle's boyfriend about her disappearance, he hung up the call after she identified herself.
One year after Michelle was reported missing, police told 12News the case remains open. They did not answer questions if there were any suspects or persons of interest.
“I can’t imagine that she would have left on her own,” Patricia said. “Not voluntarily.”
Daniella said her sister was also expecting a settlement check after she was rear-ended in a car crash. The day after the boyfriend reported Michelle missing, the attorney called them letting them know the check was ready. The sister said the check is still at the lawyer’s office.
“If she was going to leave on her own, it makes sense to me that she would have cashed the check and taken that money,” Daniella said. “But she didn’t, she left all her belonging behind. That’s unlike her.”
“A person full of life”
Old photographs highlighting “the good times” now adorn Yaloz’s doorway.
One of them, taken about 30 years ago, holds a special place in her heart. Yaloz is in the middle and her two daughters, Daniella and Michelle are by her side. The picture was taken shortly after they moved from Queens, New York to the Valley.
“We went to have a picnic in the mountains,” the mother remembers. “I used to go hiking with Michelle, quite a bit. [The picture] is very representative of the person that she later became, because she used to go hiking all the time.”
The family said Michelle loved the outdoors. She usually drove to different parts of the Valley to go hiking and took her dog Ava with her.
Michelle had been divorced twice and had a son from each marriage. The children live with their fathers.
“She loved them dearly,” Smith said. “It’s tough because they are growing and don’t have their mom with them.”
The family said the 37-year-old loved to make jokes, liked to get up early and had a big heart.
Yaloz said her younger daughter was thoughtful and “knew [her] very well. That was always reflected in the cards she wrote for my birthday and Mother’s Day.”
“She was a person full of life,” Michelle’s sister said. “Very bubbly and was always asking who was the funniest.”
A plea for help
As the days go by, Michelle’s family doesn’t lose hope they will find her.
They have conducted their own searches and printed and posted flyers near the area where she was last seen.
On Feb. 22, the family set up a $10,000 cash reward for any information that leads them to Michelle or that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or people responsible for her disappearance.
“There’s nothing else for us to do but try to be hopeful and pray that somehow she’ll come back or at least know what happened to her,” Smith said. “If you know anything, please come forward.”
Michelle is 5’6” tall, about 170 pounds, and has short black hair. According to police, she was last seen wearing a black face mask and gray sandals with fluorescent green accents.
Anyone with information on this case should contact the Phoenix Police Department or Silent Witness at 480(WITNESS) or 480(TESTIGO)
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