MARTHA JEAN LAMBERT - 12 yo (1985) - St. Augustine FL

The cold case of 12-year-old Martha Jean Lambert has been solved.
Investigators in St. Johns County say her older brother has confessed
to accidentally killing her.
In November 1985, investigators believed Lambert disappeared from her home on Kerri Lynn Road.
"Her brother was the last individual we knew of that had seen her,"
said Sgt. Chuck Mulligan, St. Johns County Sheriff's Office.
The department always suspected David Lambert knew the truth,
Mulligan said. "During that time there was an argument over a $20 bill."
He said that argument happened near the children's home at the
abandoned Florida Memorial College. All that is left now is a set of
archways and stairs at the corner of South Holmes Boulevard and West
Kings Avenue.


Mulligan said David Lambert was 14 years old at the time.
"He claims that Martha slapped him, and he shoved her off of him.
She fell back and struck her head on a piece of steel," said Mulligan.
Lambert told police his sister's head was impaled to the steel, killing her.
"He panicked and then explained that he simply buried her in a 3-foot grave shortly after she died," said Mulligan.
Once investigators learned the truth in September, they spent months
digging in nearby woods and used K-9s to find Martha's remains, he
said.
However, the abandoned college was torn down years ago, and the
woods have taken over since. Mulligan said finding Martha's body is a
practically impossible task now.
"Our belief is that the excavating done from that demolition several
years ago had probably scattered the remains or removed the remains of
Martha," said Mulligan.
No charges will be filed against David Lambert.
In a statement, the St. Johns County Sheriff's Department said,
"After reviewing the case with the State Attorney's Office it was
determined that the charge appropriate to fit the crime would be
manslaughter and that changes in the law since 1985 (statute of
limitations), the suspect's age at the time and other mitigating
circumstances, would preclude charges from being filed. The case has
been closed with resolution."
Mulligan said detectives eager to solve county cold cases reopened
the investigation several months ago. He adds that about five cold
cases have been resolved by detectives over the past two years.