BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — This Sunday, as many across the country celebrate Mother’s Day, one local family will spend it remembering the child they lost 36 years ago on May 10th, 1990. For them, the grief has never faded, and the search for justice has never stopped.
“Jessica is loved, we have not forgotten her. I have gone on with my life by the grace of God,” Nellie Mesa, Jessica's mother, said.
It’s a case that has stayed with Bakersfield for nearly four decades. On May 10th, 1990, 4-year-old Jessica Martinez was abducted while playing outside her apartment. 11 days later, her body was found in a cotton field. Now in 2026, her family is still searching for answers.
“Jessica… she had just turned 4, my only daughter. She loved me, loved her brothers dearly. I only had her for 4 years, but I still remember her… I can still hear her little voice,” Nellie Mesa said.
Jessica disappeared while playing outside her family’s apartment complex in Bakersfield. Her disappearance sparked a massive search effort that gained national attention. Now, 36 years later, her killer has never been found. “How is it that somebody can just take a child, do what they did, kill her, dump her out in a field... and get away with it? Just like that… who in the heck can do that and get away with it?” Nellie Mesa said.
Throughout the years, one name has continued to come up in the investigation, Christopher Lightsey. Lightsey lived in the same apartment complex as Jessica when she disappeared in 1990, and investigators have called him a person of interest in the case. Detectives say DNA found on Jessica’s shoes did not match Lightsey, but they have never fully ruled him out.
Lightsey is currently on death row for a separate 1993 murder case in Kern County, where he was convicted of killing a 76-year-old man.
Through the years, Nellie, Jessica’s mother, and her family have continued to push for answers. Taking part in victim's rights events and keeping Jessica’s memory alive. With Mother’s Day coming up, Nellie says the fight for justice never stops. “I am her mother… I am her voice. I get very nervous doing interviews like this… but if I don’t speak, how are we going to get justice for Jessica? That’s my job. And if I can’t speak out, then I’m not doing my job as a mother.”
While decades have passed since Jessica’s death, her family says they still believe someone out there knows what happened.
“I try and live a good life, I try and live a happy life… but I am sad. You just never get over the loss of a child,” Nellie Mesa said.
Bakersfield Police say Jessica Martinez’s case is still open and after 36 years, they’re urging anyone with even the smallest piece of information to come forward.
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