The Valley’s Forgotten: The search never stops

IMPERIAL COUNTY, Calif.- A cold case can sit unsolved for years, even decades, but prosecutors say they never stop looking for answers. Take the disappearance of 22-year-old Penny Gammar Holt in Westmoreland.

This is a case that has haunted District Attorney George Marquez.

"She went missing in approximately 1987," Marquez said in an interview with KYMA.

"We do suspect that she was murdered. She was going to take a trip to visit her parents and her family up north. She never got there, and she never went home either," he said.

Marquez still holds out hope that this case can be cracked in his lifetime for the family's sake.

He said, "Just remember, to anybody who's listening right now, her family members, the people who are still alive, there's, there's a lot of people who loved her, and they deserve to have closure in this case."

Holt's sister Fonda Borque recalls the night Penny went missing.

"My mom never heard from her again. That she was headed to go see my parents," she told KYMA.

Penny's husband filed a missing persons report on July 7th. On July 8th, he filed for divorce.

"A missing report. He had a lawyer with him. He lawyered up. The next day, he filed for divorce, and then he moved out of the house within 3 days," Borque said.

On July 10th, Penny's husband moved out of the home the couple shared. In October of that same year, Penny's car was found in Mexicali with her purse, money, and wallet in the front seat.

"My dad don't even want me talking to you. He's afraid for my life," she said shaking her head.

Borque said she's been trying for years to get Penny's story out to the public, but the case files and missing persons report on the national database keep disappearing.

"I had my sister on names, you know, the missing. I've had to get 3 different case numbers because they keep saying there's no case on her every time they get in touch with Westmorland police people," she explained.

And we looked. There is no record of Penny Gemar Holt on the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.

And just like the other families who are looking for justice, Penny's family wants closure.

"At least someone would reopen the case. That's all I wish. I wish they would reopen it and, you know, just have it start in the motion again and get it going," Borque pleaded.

For investigators, these cases are more than files stored in a cabinet. They represent real people with real families searching for justice. While these cases sit unsolved, law enforcement says the possibility of an arrest never goes away.

"There's always hope that a, a cold case can be solved," Marquez reflected.

Throughout this series, we have heard from investigators, prosecutors, public defenders, family members who have spent years waiting for answers. This has been The Valley's Forgotten.