Overview

Official last seen date: August 15, 2004
Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Age when missing: 38
NamUs case: MP13166
Status: Missing

Susan was last seen at the Milwaukee home where she was staying with her grandmother and three teenage sons. On the morning of her 38th birthday, she reportedly bathed, got dressed and left the house on foot. Her son Niko remembered that the family had planned to play basketball before she suddenly left. Most of Susan’s belongings remained behind.

Although August 15, 2004, remains Susan’s official missing date, police subsequently received reports of possible sightings of her in Milwaukee. Those accounts have not publicly established what ultimately happened to her.

Detailed Case Breakdown

Susan D. Nunez: Milwaukee Mother Missing Since Her 38th Birthday in 2004

Susan D. Nunez was 38 years old when she disappeared from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on August 15, 2004 — her birthday. More than two decades later, her whereabouts remain unknown, and her case continues to be listed as an active missing-person case by the Wisconsin Department of Justice.

Brief Case Summary

Official last seen date: August 15, 2004
Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Age when missing: 38
NamUs case: MP13166
Status: Missing

Susan was last seen at the Milwaukee home where she was staying with her grandmother and three teenage sons. On the morning of her 38th birthday, she reportedly bathed, got dressed and left the house on foot. Her son Niko remembered that the family had planned to play basketball before she suddenly left. Most of Susan’s belongings remained behind.

Although August 15, 2004, remains Susan’s official missing date, police subsequently received reports of possible sightings of her in Milwaukee. Those accounts have not publicly established what ultimately happened to her.

The Disappearance of Susan Nunez

Susan Nunez lived on Milwaukee’s south side with her three teenage sons and her grandmother at the time she disappeared. According to Milwaukee police reports later obtained by Media Milwaukee through an open-records request, her home was only a few blocks west of the Walker’s Point neighborhood.

Her disappearance occurred on August 15, 2004, the morning of her 38th birthday.

Her sister told investigators that the morning initially appeared ordinary. Susan woke up, took a bath, dressed and walked out. Her son Niko, who was 14 at the time, later recalled that the family was going to play basketball before his mother left the house.

Susan reportedly left most of her possessions behind.

Despite disappearing in August, Susan was not reported missing to the Milwaukee Police Department until October 13, 2004, according to the police records obtained by Media Milwaukee.

Susan’s Life Before She Went Missing

Susan was a mother of three sons. Her son Niko described her as outgoing, hardworking and devoted to her children. He remembered his mother cooking for the family and learning how to prepare Mexican and Cuban dishes despite having limited money.

There was also a more difficult side to Susan’s life.

Police reports and family interviews described her as struggling with crack cocaine use before she disappeared. Family members told investigators that her appearance and hygiene had declined and that she had sometimes been seen bruised or battered in the weeks before August 15.

Wisconsin Missing Persons Advocacy has also reported that Susan frequented neighborhood taverns and sometimes accepted rides from strangers, although she had previously returned home.

Those circumstances are part of Susan’s history, but they do not establish why she disappeared or what happened to her.

Reports That Susan Was Seen After August 2004

One of the most significant aspects of Susan’s case is that August 15 may not have been the last time anyone saw her.

According to the police records reviewed by Media Milwaukee, family members began reporting possible sightings of Susan at Milwaukee locations associated with drug activity in 2005. Her son said there were reports that she had been seen with a black eye and with her hair cut short.

A security guard at a restaurant in Milwaukee’s Walker’s Point neighborhood also reported seeing a woman believed to be Susan arrive with two men. According to the police file, she appeared physically unwell, and the men allegedly acted intimidatingly when the guard attempted to speak with her.

Investigators later identified the two men described in connection with that report. Media Milwaukee withheld their names because neither had been publicly charged in connection with Susan’s disappearance. Police records reportedly indicated that both had lived next to Susan’s grandmother’s residence, and one had been evicted shortly before Susan disappeared.

Additional alleged sightings involving the men were reported in subsequent years.

These accounts should be treated as reported sightings rather than confirmed sightings. Wisconsin authorities continue to use August 15, 2004, as Susan’s official missing date.

Former Relationships Examined by Investigators

Police also investigated people Susan had dated.

Media Milwaukee referred to one former boyfriend only as “J” because he has not been arrested or publicly accused of causing Susan’s disappearance.

Police records indicate that the relationship had been troubled. During the summer of 2004, “J” had reportedly been arrested following a domestic dispute involving Susan. After his release, he told investigators that Susan had been evicted from a residence and had moved with her sons into her grandmother’s home.

Investigators did not obtain a detailed statement from him until 2009.

According to the account he gave police, shortly before Susan disappeared she saw him flirting with another woman at a bar. He claimed Susan subsequently told a roommate that they would not see her again, collected some belongings and left. He told investigators that he never saw her again.

Susan’s police file also references another former boyfriend, identified by Media Milwaukee only as “P.” A relative reportedly encountered a man believed to be “P” in late 2007 or early 2008. According to the relative, the man claimed he had been receiving telephone calls from Susan. Police attempted to locate him at an auto-repair business, but employees said nobody using the names investigators were given worked there.

Neither man has been publicly identified as a suspect in Susan’s disappearance.

Mysterious Telephone Calls

Susan’s family also received unusual telephone calls after she disappeared.

According to the police file, Susan’s sister-in-law received a call from an unidentified Hispanic man after the family began distributing missing-person posters. The caller allegedly claimed Susan was alive and that he knew where she was. No publicly reported breakthrough resulted from the call.

Susan’s grandmother separately reported receiving calls from a man who repeatedly asked to speak with Susan.

Neither series of calls appears to have produced a publicly disclosed explanation for Susan’s disappearance.

Investigation Slowed

According to Media Milwaukee’s review of the case, little significant investigative progress was documented after approximately 2010.

Susan’s son told the publication that Milwaukee police had continued contacting family members seeking information, but he believed investigators needed to focus more heavily on locating his mother. He said the last police contact with his family that he recalled occurred in 2018.

Niko has said that he believes his mother is deceased. That is his personal belief, however, and authorities have not publicly established that Susan died or classified the case as a homicide.

Latest Publicly Available Investigation Information

A major new public examination of Susan’s disappearance appeared in December 2024, when Media Milwaukee published an investigation produced through the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Journalism, Advertising and Media Studies program.

The reporting team spent approximately three months examining multiple unresolved missing-person cases. For Susan’s case, reporters interviewed her son and obtained her Milwaukee Police Department file through an open-records request. Milwaukee police released the file but declined to answer the journalists’ specific questions about Susan’s investigation.

The reporting brought previously obscure investigative details back into public view, including later reported sightings, interviews with former partners, unexplained telephone calls to Susan’s relatives and investigators’ attempts to identify people who may have had contact with her.

No arrest, confirmed discovery of Susan, or publicly announced resolution resulted from that reporting.

As of the most recently available Wisconsin Department of Justice listing, Susan D. Nunez remains listed as a missing adult. The state continues to identify August 15, 2004, as her missing date and Milwaukee as her last known location.

What Does Susan Nunez Look Like?

Susan is Hispanic/Latina with brown eyes and brown hair. At the time of her disappearance, she was approximately 4 feet 11 inches tall and weighed about 100 pounds. Her hair was described as brown and approximately shoulder length.

She was 38 years old when she disappeared.

The Questions That Remain

More than two decades after Susan disappeared, several fundamental questions remain unanswered.

Did Susan voluntarily leave Milwaukee or her previous life behind? Were the reported sightings after August 2004 actually Susan? Who made the unexplained calls to her family? Did someone she knew have information about where she went? And, most importantly, where is Susan now?

The evidence publicly available does not provide definitive answers.

What is known is that Susan Nunez disappeared from Milwaukee in 2004, leaving three sons and other relatives without an explanation. Her name remains in Wisconsin’s missing-person records, and NamUs case MP13166 remains associated with her disappearance.

Anyone with information that could help determine what happened to Susan should contact the Milwaukee Police Department or the Wisconsin Clearinghouse for Missing & Exploited Children & Adults.