The Search for Bianca

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A Description of Bianca and Her Life in 2004

We have confirmed through multiple sources that Bianca's real first name is "Daniela." Her last name may either be "Costa" or "Sousa," or some variation that is also a common Brazilian surname. She is somewhat short, petite, and very pretty. Here are the details:

Darker complexioned Brazilian with tan lines
Approximately 5 feet 3 inches tall
Small /slender to medium build. Somewhat of a "pixie."
Approximately 27 years old at the present time. Estimated birth years: 1979 - 1982
Straight, shoulder length, jet black hair and brown eyes.
Attractive, intelligent, very affectionate, discrete. Excellent English ability with slight, pleasant accent. Articulate in her native Portuguese. Loves language and learning.
Moved to the United States in 1999 or 2000. Native of Rio de Janeiro.
Among her siblings is a younger brother who graduated from a Rio de Janeiro area high school in December 2004. She is the oldest child in her family.

She danced briefly at Club Alex's in Stoughton, Massachusetts before joining The Other Side in Fitchburg in November 2003. It was obvious Bianca enjoyed her role as an exotic dancer. She once remarked that she would like to start her own club some day. But on more than one occasion, Nadia, the dance supervisor, commented that Bianca did not like dancing at the larger clubs (such as Club Alex's). From my own conversations with her, I had received the same impression.

She moved to Framingham in late June 2004. She may have resided previously in Brighton, Westboro, or both. (Prior to the move, she had told me she lived in Westboro.) Before her disappearance, she had mentioned to at least three people - including me - that she may be taking a new day job that was also located in Framingham.
Her Framingham landlady is the mother of her ex-boyfriend, also a Brazilian. They have/had a close relationship. (She refered to her as her "American Mom.") Bianca never mentioned the name of her ex-boyfriend or his mother in any of our conversations. Since a real estate commitment tends to anchor a person geographically, there is a good chance her "American Mom" still resides in Framingham. But Bianca had also mentioned that her ex-boyfriend moved back to Brazil for six months after they broke up. So we really can't say for sure.

For several weeks that most likely concluded in July 2004, Bianca held a training position at Galaxy Insurance, a Russian owned agency on Commonwealth Avenue in Brighton. It wasn't until June of 2005 that we finally determined and received confirmation that this is the agency where she had worked.
At the time of her disappearance, she was driving a 2-door convertible, quite possibly a Chrysler Lebaron GTC from the early to mid '90's. Both convertible top and body were light tan in color. (It is not a very common vehicle. In Nadia's words, "You can't mistaken that car.")
Much to her admitted regret, she does (or did) have a smoking habit, thanks in part to high school peer pressure in Brazil. The brand she used is Capri 120's Menthol, Super Slims, Lights (a very long woman's cigarette). Ironically, the Massachusetts Workplace Smoking Ban went into effect the Monday after she left and would have eliminated the social reinforcement for her to smoke at the club. (I had made a quiet commitment to myself to help her quit over time through whatever natural means worked.)

Efforts from July to December 2004

During the early months, the search passed through several phases. When one plan of action appeared not to have worked (at least for the time being), two or three more ideas seemed to arise to take its place. In the first few weeks, the focus was on the insurance agencies of Brighton, with hopes of finding her at her day job.

At that time, I had also contacted a private investigation firm in Westboro by letter but never received a response. Apparently, they had gone out of business. The opportunity to hire an active, Massachusetts based private investigator did not fall into place until early January 2005. I wish it could have been sooner.

In August and September 2004, my emphasis turned to the introspective and the spiritual. There was so much I didn't know. The night of July 3rd still felt like a colossal, spontaneous rejection and that I was to blame for her quitting the club. There was still the hope that she would return, but that was also beginning to fade. I wasted some money, for sure, but I also conducted some beautiful, detailed rituals during that period. They were full of love and symbolism. I also researched and completed an immigration plan during those months.

From late September to mid October 2004, I explored the possibility that Bianca was dancing at one of the other clubs in the region. From what we knew about her, we could not envision her going this long without resuming her dance career. After a couple visits to her original club - Alex's - I discovered another Brazilian "Bianca" at Hurricane Betty's in Worcester. But that was as close as we got. By late October and November, I was concluding that she was not dancing, and had most likely retreated to living and working in Framingham. In late June 2004, Bianca had mentioned the possibility of moving on to another day job that was right in Framingham. By June 2005, at least two other individuals had confirmed she told each of them - independently - the same thing. This explains the heavy emphasis on Framingham in general and the Brazilian media and business community in all of our publicity efforts that began in late October and November of 2004.

In December 2004, I had this web site up and running under its own domain and the illustration on the home page was completed by Monaco Graphics. We began to feel very strongly that Bianca had returned to Brazil at the urging of her family. We also began to line up some help from two individuals with private investigation licenses. Finally, we discovered an ally who shared a good deal of valuable information with us over the next few months.

A summary of developments from December 2004 to May 2005 can be found in the Breaking News Archive. Developments from June 2005 to the present are summarized in our email newsletters.

Insurance agencies on Washington Street in the center of Brighton, Massachusetts Scenes that bring bittersweet memories of the earliest days of the search.

At the time, I was using the results of a highly inadequate Internet resource of local auto insurance agencies. Bianca had told me that her agency was "owned by Russians" and her commute brought her up Commonwealth Avenue. But finding a way to explore the Russian aspect through the Internet took almost a year, and it appeared that a MetroWest commuter could still use Commonwealth Avenue to arrive at one of these agencies. There are actually close to 30 insurance agencies in Brighton or on its borders, but my first search only brought up Patnode Insurance, whose building appears in the left photo. When it became evident that Patnode was not her agency, we focused on Brighton Insurance (right) and Platinum Insurance (center).

More details from the earliest days of the search can be found in the "My Experience of Bianca" essay.

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Page updated July 18, 2008