Francesca and Michelle Martinez were twin sisters living in Patterson, New Jersey in the spring of 2000.

But that summer, both of them disappeared separately, and the police assumed they were runaways.

But after 25 years of no contact, we have to wonder, did something else happen?

I'm Charlie, and welcome to crime lines.

Hello and welcome to Day 5 of the 12 Days of Crime Lines, where I am covering 12 missing persons cases over the course of December.

And quick confession, as we are five of these in, the last couple are going to come out in early January.

It just is what it is.

It is the holiday season.

A lot's going on, which I'm sure

everyone can identify with, and I would rather take a little bit more time with these than try

to rush them out. And if you saw the back end of the schedule I made for myself at the beginning

of the month and how far into it I am, you would be embarrassed for me. So the two weeks I usually take off in the beginning

of January will actually just be overflow for these episodes. I'm sure maybe only 10 of you

actually pay attention to my schedule or care. I know I'm not the only podcast on your list.

So I do appreciate everyone listening to these extra episodes because you do have so

many other options out there. And some of these cases are ones that don't get a lot of coverage

and need more eyes on them. And that is certainly the case with today's episode. This is the case

of two missing teenagers who did not go missing at the same time, but rather from the same family.

Francesca and Michelle Martinez were fraternal twins. They were born on June 10, 1987, to Jose Martinez and Wanda Gassott.

In the year 2000, the girls were living with their mother, Wanda, and their other siblings in Patterson, New Jersey, while Jose had since moved back to his home in Puerto Rico.

And Wanda did have a boyfriend, Ippolito Miguel Cornille, and he lived either with them or at the very least he stayed over frequently.

The reporting's not very clear on

...