Disclaimer: This blog post is for informational and entertainment purposes only, and it is not meant to cause harm to anyone connected with the case. Please do not contact, threaten, harm, malign, or otherwise intimidate those mentioned in the post. Please do not release any personal information of the people mentioned in this post, and do not join in attacks conducted by others. Per U.S. law, every person directly or indirectly connected with this case is innocent until proven guilty.

***Support True Crime Musings on Patreon! Patrons get early access to ad-free posts. Click here for more information. ***

***Please share this post! Your shares could bring Tinze home.***

Who was Tinze Lucinda Huels?

Tinze Lucinda Huels, better known as Lucinda, was born on April 6th, 1967. Very little information about her early life has been shared publicly. The only information I found was on this Reddit post.

According to the OP (who claimed to know the family), she was the oldest of three and was raised by her mother in Hillsborough, Florida. She became pregnant in 1981 at the age of 14. By April of 1982, she married the baby’s father, a 19-year-old man named Larry Huels. Their baby boy was born in 1982, who they named Tony. In 1984, they welcomed a daughter named Deanna, and the family resided in Hillsborough County.

She reportedly loved being a mom and caring for her children. Though she was known to occasionally party and smoke marijuana, it never got in the way of her caring for her children.

By the time of her disappearance, she was about to start a part-time job, as well as plan her son’s second birthday party. Unfortunately, she would disappear before she had a chance to do either.

Lucinda Huels’ Mysterious Disappearance in Tampa, Florida

The circumstances around Lucinda’s disappearance are unclear, and investigations have done little to uncover what really happened. What we do know is that on October 27th, 1984, Lucinda left her home to go to the laundromat; this was the last time her family saw her.

That evening, she went to the home of a female friend, and the two went out for drinks at the Char-Pal Lounge in Tampa. While she was there, Lucinda talked to a man named Larry Moore. He told her that he owned a sign making and cleaning business. He also offered her a job, and they agreed that she would start in two days. At some point, Lucinda’s friend left, leaving her with Moore. That was the last confirmed sighting of Tinze Lucinda Huels.

The next morning, Moore and another man were found asleep in their vehicle on the side of the road. The police came soon after, and both men were arrested for marijuana possession and carrying a concealed weapon.

Notably, Lucinda was not with them, and it’s unclear when she was reported missing.

Later that morning, her car was found in the Char-Pal Lounge parking lot. Inside the car was clean, folded laundry, but her keys were missing.

Two weeks after she disappeared, her purse was located in the men’s restroom at the Busch Garden Zoo Campground, which contained her cash, driver’s license, and marriage certificate. Despite finding her purse, there was no indication of her whereabouts at that point.

Was Lucinda a Victim of Serial Killer Bobby Joe Long?

One theory that authorities initially believed was that the serial killer Bobby Joe Long was involved. He was active in the Tampa area at the time, and he admitted to killing ten women during an eight-month period in 1984. However, he denied all involvement in Lucinda’s disappearance, and he was executed in 2019.

Lucinda’s case went cold for nearly a decade until a mysterious phone call would change everything.

The Amanda Dennis Hoax: A Heartbreaking False Reunion

In April 1992, Deanna received a call from a woman claiming to be Lucinda. The woman explained that she ran away in 1984 to escape the responsibilities of marriage and motherhood. Another source states that she claimed someone was chasing her, and she hitched a ride with a truck driver and fell asleep. When she woke up, she didn’t know where she was or how to get home. Since then, she had lived in Tennessee and Arkansas under the name Amanda.

Overjoyed, Larry and two of Lucinda’s sisters went to pick her up. According to a testimony from Tony Huel, Lucinda’s son,

I can remember it like it was yesterday. My aunt B lived next door, and that is where they arrived. We got a call saying that they were back and for us to head next door. My sister and I went running out the door and through the trail to my aunt’s house and there she was. We ran right into her arms. She grabbed a hold of us tightly as the tears of joy ran down our faces. It was a very happy day, our prayers had been answered.

But even amidst the joy, there were some doubts:

She looked identical to my mother; the only thing that did not match was her teeth. My mother had a gap in between her two front teeth, and she did not, she said she had a surgery from a car accident and they fixed her teeth. 

The family invited this woman to come home, and she lived with them. For a while, they believed that this was Lucinda. She looked very similar, and she knew details that only the real Lucinda would know.

Even still, the cops wanted proof that this was actually Lucinda, so the family was called in to do a blood test. And unfortunately, the woman who had lived with them for several months was not Lucinda. She was Amanda Dennis.

A couple came forward to the authorities, stating that this woman (Amanda Dennis) was their niece. Both of her parents reportedly died when she was young, and she had come to live with them. However, they claimed she had been very upset and hurt, so she ran away.

The family was heartbroken and confused. How could Amanda have known so many details about Lucinda? Did she cross paths with her at some point?

After Amanda was returned to her aunt and uncle, the case stalled once again, and there haven’t been any updates since. For her family, there have been few answers to the endless questions surrounding her disappearance. Her husband never remarried after she disappeared, and her children still hope for answers and justice. As of this writing, the disappearance of Lucinda Huels remains unsolved. 

Unanswered Questions and a Family Still Searching for Lucinda

The disappearance of Tinze Lucinda Huels is a tragic, mysterious, and frustrating case. At 17 years old, she had been through a lot. She had two children and was married by 1984. But from what little information is available, she loved her children and enjoyed being a mom.

That’s what makes her disappearance so mysterious. If she loved being a mom so much, why would she leave her kids? It’s a question her family and investigators have been asking for over 40 years.

One interesting angle of this case is Amanda Dennis. For unknown reasons, she posed as Lucinda. She knew so much about her life that for a time, it convinced her family that the case was closed.

But in a shocking twist, it wasn’t her. And we still don’t know what happened to Tinze Lucinda Huels.

One of the biggest questions in her case is how did Amanda know so much. Did she cross paths with Lucinda, as her family believes? Was she manipulated by someone else? Did she witness what happened to Lucinda? Or was she simply deeply unwell?

Unless Amanda or someone close to her comes forward, we’re unlikely to ever get concrete answers. But this adds yet another layer to a baffling case.

Unfortunately, there’s very little public information about her case, and not much has been said about the quality of her investigation. Given that her case has gone cold for over 40 years with no leads since the early 90s, it would be reasonable to assume that her case didn’t receive the attention it deserved. You could even argue that her case was overlooked due to her background.

Systemic Failures Behind Lucinda’s Disappearance

Lucinda was a 17-year-old Hispanic female. At the time of her disappearance, she was married and had two young children. While we don’t know about the state of her marriage, it’s clear that she had adult responsibilities at a time when most teens are still in school. This calls into question the supports (or lack thereof) that she was receiving at the time.

In that era, there were few protections for teenage mothers, particularly those in difficult or unstable relationships. There was more stigma around domestic violence and teen pregnancy than there is today. If a woman like Lucinda was experiencing domestic violence, she may not have had access to safe shelter or legal protection. It’s also possible she was under significant economic pressure, especially if she was relying on her husband or family for financial support. Poverty, limited educational opportunities, and lack of childcare are barriers that still affect young mothers today — but in 1984, the stigma was even stronger, and the resources even scarcer.

Another layer to this story is race and class. While Lucinda’s background isn’t always made clear in public records, we know that BIPOC women, as well as those with less education, are more likely to be underprotected, underreported, and underinvestigated. Media outlets often ignore these cases, choosing to focus on younger, wealthier white women in a phenomenon known as “Missing White Women’s Syndrome.” This bias can also appear in law enforcement, affecting the authorities’ attention and urgency. With the combination of these effects, it becomes clearer why Lucinda’s case might not have received the attention it deserved.

Behind the mystery and endless questions is a young woman.

A young woman doing her best to handle adult responsibilities.

A young woman who gave her all to being a mother.

A young woman who had hopes and dreams.

Lucinda’s case isn’t just about a disappearance. It’s about how society failed vulnerable women and continues to fail them today.

Her family deserves answers. She deserves justice. And we deserve to live in a world where the marginalized are supported, not forgotten.

***

If you’re looking for more information about the disappearance of Tinze Lucinda Huels, there’s not a lot of information. Without resources like The Charley Project, this post would not have been possible. The following sources helped me as I wrote this post:

• The Charley Project
• The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
• The Doe Network
• Fox 13 Investigates
• Tony Huels’ Testimony
• Whereabouts Still Unknown

If you have any information about the disappearance of Tinze Lucinda Huels, please contact the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office at 1-813-247-800. You can also contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678.

What do you think happened? Let me know in the comments.