Overview

Date last seen: July 10, 1988
Last known location: Anchorage, Alaska

Main Circumstances

• Magdelena (also spelled Magdalena) Borkoski Perez disappeared after leaving home to pick up her 4-year-old son from a McDonald’s at East 36th Avenue and Old Seward Highway.
• She never arrived at the meeting location.
• Her gray 1985 Plymouth Colt was later found abandoned in the parking garage at Anchorage International Airport.
• Investigators found no evidence she boarded a flight.
• Anchorage Police believe she was the victim of homicide, but her body has never been recovered.

Detailed Case Breakdown

Magdelena (Borkoski) Perez Disappearance (1988): The Unsolved Anchorage Case

Brief Summary

Date last seen: July 10, 1988
Last known location: Anchorage, Alaska

Main Circumstances

• Magdelena (also spelled Magdalena) Borkoski Perez disappeared after leaving home to pick up her 4-year-old son from a McDonald’s at East 36th Avenue and Old Seward Highway.
• She never arrived at the meeting location.
• Her gray 1985 Plymouth Colt was later found abandoned in the parking garage at Anchorage International Airport.
• Investigators found no evidence she boarded a flight.
• Anchorage Police believe she was the victim of homicide, but her body has never been recovered.

Magdelena (Borkoski) Perez: A 1988 Missing Person Case Believed to Be Homicide

On the evening of July 10, 1988, 33-year-old Magdelena (Magdalena) Borkoski Perez vanished in Anchorage, Alaska under circumstances investigators now believe involved foul play.

Perez had arranged to meet her former husband at a McDonald’s restaurant located near East 36th Avenue and Old Seward Highway so she could pick up their four-year-old son. According to investigators, she left her residence around 10:00 p.m. but never arrived at the restaurant. After realizing she was missing, family members contacted authorities, prompting an immediate investigation.

Police soon located Perez’s gray 1985 Plymouth Colt parked on the third level of the parking garage at Anchorage International Airport. Investigators searched airline passenger manifests but found no evidence that she boarded a flight under either the Perez or Borkoski surname, eliminating one of the earliest theories surrounding her disappearance.

At the time she disappeared, Perez was attending college full time while raising her young son. Friends and family reported no indication that she intended to voluntarily leave her life behind, and investigators have long maintained that her disappearance was suspicious. Over time, the case transitioned from a missing person investigation to one believed to involve homicide, despite the absence of recovered remains.

Authorities have never publicly identified a suspect or disclosed evidence pointing to a specific individual. The lack of physical evidence and the passage of decades have made the investigation particularly difficult. Nevertheless, Anchorage Police continue to classify the case as an active unsolved investigation.

The case has remained in the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) under case MP26417, allowing investigators nationwide to compare unidentified remains and pursue potential leads.

Latest Investigation Information

As of the most recent publicly available updates:

• The case remains open with the Anchorage Police Department.
• Investigators continue to believe foul play was involved.
• No arrests have been announced.
• Perez has never been located, and her remains have not been recovered.
• Law enforcement continues to request information from anyone who may have knowledge about her disappearance.

Although more than three decades have passed, cold case investigators continue to encourage witnesses or anyone with previously overlooked information to come forward, as advances in forensic science and renewed investigative review have helped solve other long-unsolved missing person cases.