PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — We’re following new clues in the mysterious disappearance of a young girl in Palm Beach County more than four decades ago.
For 41 years now, detectives and loved ones have worked tirelessly to find Christy Luna, and anyone with information about when she vanished from Greenacres on Memorial Day weekend 1984.
WATCH: The continued search for Christy Luna
This time of year, around the anniversary of the disappearance, is exceptionally difficult for Luna’s family. Luna was only 8 years old when she disappeared.
"It's difficult for everyone involved, but especially for Christy's family," said Jennifer, who runs a Facebook group dedicated to getting answers about what happened to Luna. Jennifer did not want her last name shared publicly.
This case has haunted the Greenacres community for decades, and all these years later, detectives tell us they are still actively following leads.
Despite her case still being unsolved, investigators believe she didn't make it far from home.
Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office Detective William Springer has been working on this case since Greenacres passed the case on to PBSO and the FBI.
"So far we've struck out," Springer said.
Springer is committed to getting justice.
"We'll follow up on any lead," Springer said. "Somebody calls in a tip, we'll follow it up."
He says a lack of evidence and witnesses has made solving this case nearly impossible.
“If we had someone who actually saw her being picked up, or if we had a crime scene," Springer said. "We don't have a body, we have no crime scene."
Just this month, Springer told WPTV about a call from a parole officer in Michigan with a tip — a registered sex offender had a photo of Luna on his phone.
"He claims he got the picture off the dark web," Springer said.
Detective Springer said Jerry Grof is now a person of interest. Springer said Grof could have a connection to Greenacres.
We learned about another potential path to answers. Jennifer, who has worked for nearly a decade to get answers, showed WPTV reporter Victor Jorges an old newspaper article. It was originally published in the Town Crier, a newspaper in Greenacres, about a girl named Christy who appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show in the 1990s, claiming she was abducted in Florida.
"If anyone is able to get the transcripts to the show from Oct. 23, 1991, so we could locate this young woman, that would be wonderful,” Jennifer said.
Jennifer also told us a man lured her into a park bathroom in Greenacres and sexually assaulted her the same day Christy disappeared.
"We're kind of leaning to believe that there may have been a ring,” Jennifer said.
Through tips that have come in, Jennifer believes that other children were harmed the same way— if this sounds like something that happened to you in Greenacres in the 80s, come forward.
"Nothing is small or insignificant," Jennifer said. "We know there are individuals who want to stay anonymous, and they can."
Time is running out for this family to get answers and closure as Christy's mother is battling cancer.
"You have a mother who’s been deprived of watching her daughter grow up, graduate from high school, go to college, get married, have kids," Springer said. "It was all taken away."
Forty-one years later, the questions are the same. What happened to Christy Luna? Who knows about it, and where are they now?
"After I'm gone, somebody else will be working the case. The sad part about it is that Jenny may not be here to see it. And that's what really upsetting," Springer said. "If somebody is out there, who knows about it, please come forward and tell us. Give the mother some peace before she passes on."
