Missing
Leonard Bernard Branzuela
Branzuela, approximately 1993
Date and time person was reported missing : 06/26/1993
Missing location (approx) :
San Francisco, California
Missing classification : Lost/Injured Missing
Gender : Male
Ethnicity :
Hispanic
DOB : 12/22/1960 (60)
Age at the time of disappearance: 32 years old
Height / Weight : 5'6, 150 pounds
Distinguishing characteristics, birthmarks, tattoos
: Hispanic male. Black hair, brown eyes. Branzuela's nickname is Lennie.
Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : Branzuela was a wrestling coach at Lowell High School in 1993. He had been a championship wrestler and almost qualified to compete in the Olympics in 1988. He got a haircut on the morning of June 26 and afterwards went to the apartment of his mother, Maria Martinez, at 17th and Mission in San Francisco, California. She was not home at the time.
Branzuela went to a nearby Mexican restaurant and had lunch, then went back to Martinez's apartment, but she had not returned so he waited for her at the restaurant for some time.
Later that day, Branzuela apparently took the 22-Fillmore bus to the Marina Green, on the edge of the San Francisco bay about a mile east of the Golden Gate Bridge. He as last seen on the bridge. His wallet, containing a list of telephone numbers, was later found on the bridge's east sidewalk, and someone saw a body floating in the water. Authorities believe that he taken his life by jumping from the bridge.
Eighteen days passed before Branzuela's family was notified of his presumed death. Martinez accused the bridge's manAge at the time of disappearance: ment of negligence. She claimed that barriers or other deterrents should have been erected to prevent suicides. She sued the bridge manAge at the time of disappearance: ment for the wrongful death of her son, but the suit was dismissed.
Branzuela's remains have never been recovered and his case continues to be classified as that of a missing person.
Other information and links : ncy
San Francisco Police Department
415-553-0123
September 2021 updates and sources
California Attorney General's Office
CNN
The Doe Network
The San Francisco Chronicle
Porchlight for the Missing and Unidentified
The Santa Maria Times
6 October 12, 2004. March 14, 2019; Distinguishing characteristics, birthmarks, tattoos
: updated.
Interactive Missing Person Search Map
