It has been 20 years since Sabrina Aisenberg vanished from her home, there is hope that a woman that contacted the family could be Sabrina. A young woman wrote to Marlene to say she had no photos or records to document the first five months of her life. The Aisenbergs arranged for a DNA test to be taken out in a private lab, the results are still unknown and are pending.
Missing & Exploited Children®
What happened to Sabrina Aisenberg?
Sabrina Aisenberg was a five-month-old infant that was kidnapped from her crib. She was born on the 27th June 1997, she has blue eyes and brown hair. She has several defining characteristics, they are marks in the shape of the letter “Y” below her right shoulder. Sabrina was last seen on the 24th November 1997.
According to Sabrina’s mother, Marlene Aisenberg, at around 6 AM on the 24th November she got up and went down to the kitchen. It was then Marlene noticed the laundry room door to the garage was open, she said after noticing the door wide open she ran straight to Sabrina’s crib ad she was gone. Marlene said that she “was hysterical” and called for her Sabrina’s dad saying: ‘Steve, Sabrina’s missing! Sabrina’s gone!’. They called the 911 call was placed at 6:42 AM, Marlene asked for the police and said: “My baby has been kidnapped.” The county Sheriffs arrived within minutes and found no signs of an intruder but the yellow blanket that Sabrina never left was also gone; the garage door had been left open and the interior door that gives entry into the house was unlocked.
Sabrina is Steve and Marlene’s third child, they had two other children (William and Monica). At the time of her disappearance the Aisenberg home was located in Valrico, Florida; there was one way in and one way out of the estate. After this incident the area became a crime scene with many people left terrified and shocked that a baby had gone missing from the area.
Detectives assessed the house and the circumstances, they were shocked by the dirty dishes, the children’s toys were all over the house but out of all that they found it interesting how there was hardly any photos of Sabrina in the house but lots of their other children. The investigators found the Aisenberg’s behaviour to be odd and their stories inconsistent. They had videos that Marlene took of Sabrina just a few days before she vanished and picked one to assess more. The video they reviewed showed Sabrina to have a bruise on her face and a patch of hair missing from her head; they then looked at child abuse for the pair, they were intensely questioned.
Marlene and Steve then became prime suspects, the deputies removed many items from their home including Sabrina’s bedding and crib. It was then sent for testing by the FBI. A few hours after their daughter was reported missing, Steve was seen laughing and joking around and a few days later the pair were seen smiling and giggling; this made the public suspicious as he had no signs of distress or to be upset. Why would they be smiling? Were they guilty?
With the public being suspicious, Steve and Marlene made a public appeal for Sabrina’s return.
Evidence from thousands of hours worth of audio recordings that the authorities secretly planted in the couple’s bedroom and kitchen. The couple recorded having a conversation about Steve killing Sabrina whilst on drugs. Marlene and Steve voluntarily took a polygraph test and Marlene’s came back inconclusive therefore, another test was taken, and it came back that she had failed. After the test the police became very intense with the questioning of Marlene, so the family hired lawyer Barry Cohen.
Steve and Marlene never faced any charges in connection with the disappearance of their daughter but charged them in a federal indictment with making false statements to the law enforcement. In 2001 all charges were dropped as the audio was told to be inaudible.
The last public break in the case was in 2008 when a police informant reportedly said his cellmate had told him he had retrieved a boat from the Aisenbergs as part of a plan to dispose of Sabrina’s body in Tampa Bay. This turned out to be false information.
Two years after the disappearance the family moved away from Florida and went to Steve’s childhood home in Bethesda, Maryland.
Today the Aisenbergs both work as real estate agents and have kept a bedroom ready for Sabrina’s hopeful return.
