San Luis Obispo County Sheriff, Podcast Renew Attention on 1980 Murders of Two Girls

About 50 years ago, two young girls, Teresa Flores and Martha Mezo, went missing in broad daylight from San Miguel. They were last seen walking near a market and bar. 

Twelve days and several searches later, the kindergarteners’ bodies were found in the Salinas River in San Luis Obispo County. 

The abduction and murder of five-year-old Teresa and four-year-old Martha in May 1980 shocked the community. Despite zeroing in on possible suspects, the case baffled investigators due to the lack of evidence and forensic limitations at the time. 

The case went cold and remained unsolved for decades. A recent podcast, however, revisited the case and brought it back into focus, the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office announced in a social media post on November 11, 2025. 

In 1980, two little kindergarten girls, Teresa Flores and Martha Mezo went missing from San Miguel in broad daylight.
Now, almost 50 years later, the podcast “Crime Junkie” is revisiting the unsolved murders case.
Last month, podcast producers interviewed Sheriff’s Cold Case… pic.twitter.com/SieXvK7bOz

— SLO County Sheriff (@SLOSheriff) November 10, 2025

“Last month, podcast producers interviewed Sheriff’s Cold Case Homicide Detective Clint Cole, highlighting his search for new clues and answers,” the Sheriff’s Office wrote on X. 

The hosts of the ‘Crime Junkie’ podcast walk listeners through the case, which was officially reopened in 2019. 

Martha and Teresa went missing on May 17, 1980, after they were dropped off at the post office on Mission Street by Teresa’s aunt. After making a pit stop at the bar, they were seen walking towards Martha’s house, but suddenly disappeared on the busy road. 

After the girls’ families reported them as missing, a massive search operation was launched. Their bodies were found on May 29, 1980, in a shallow grave, with ligatures around their necks. Some other pieces of evidence were also found but were later determined to be unrelated to the crime. 

The autopsies also did not offer any conclusive evidence. Despite a long list of local child predators, “bizarre clues,” and intriguing evidence, the case went cold in 1987, according to the podcast. 

The case is now being examined by Detective Cole, who successfully worked on another cold case involving a 19-year-old student who was killed in San Luis Obispo in 1996, the hosts said. 

Cole has returned to the original suspect list and collected new DNA samples from everyone linked to the case, even tracking some suspects down in prison, the hosts said. He has also sent some crucial pieces of evidence found at the scenes for forensic testing. 

The families of the two girls may not have received justice, but they are still holding on to hope and looking for the community’s support. Teresa’s sister, Christina Perez, has started a fundraising campaign to raise $25,000 for a reward and an additional $10,000 for a billboard to keep the case alive. 

Perez has raised $3,505 of the targeted $35,000 so far, according to the GoFundMe page. 

Detective Cole is determined to work on the case with urgency due to Perez’s terminal illness, the podcast hosts added.