Cellastine Wade -- Missing Since April 26th, 1968 from New Jersey

Details from NamUs**: Cellastine was last seen by her family in Jersey City NJ, approximately 1967-1968, where she disappeared after work. Her family never heard from her again.

Missing Person: Cellastine Wade
Last-contact date: April 26th, 1968
The area where the MP was last seen: Jersey City, New Jersey
Link to government source: #MP77996

VITAL DETAILS

Ethnicity: Black
Sex: Female
Age at time of disappearance: 18 years old
Birthdate: between April 27th, 1949 and April 26th, 1950; might be November 30th, 1949

• The range is calculated using the missing person's age on the date of her disappearance.

Hair: Black
Eyes: Black
Scar: None indicated
Height/weight: 5-foot-3 to 5-foot-6 and 95 to 110 pounds
BMI*: Cellastine Wade was in the normal range for BMI.

• Please, Google-search BMI if you aren't familiar with the phrase. I think it's an important tool to be aware of when working on missing person cases.

Cellastine Wade, a missing person, was last heard from on April 26th, 1968 when she was 18 years old.
She has now been missing for 53 years as of the original publication date of this blog post.

One detail, in this case, is that she went missing in 1968 and yet her profile was not uploaded to NamUs until February 2021. That's an enormous gap and it can't be ignored. It's possible that she is among the known Jane Does of America already. However, there is not a lot to go on for cross-referencing her case to Jane Does. She could match up to many with the details that have been provided.

This promises to be a difficult case for Websleuths or amateur investigators. The missing person did not have any articles or items associated with her in the missing person's reports that I consulted.

I was not able to find her in Ancestry easily. Nor did her exact name produce any hits in Newspapers.com. I did find a couple people that I thought might have been relatives, however, I'm not certain as to that status either. I think this case takes on new life for Websleuths or amateur investigators if a family member that knows details of Cellastine opens up about them.

For lack of details on this case, I decided to use Grok for information (X's AI tool/March 6th, 2025). The bot admits that there are sparse details available on this case. I decided to use the cross-out feature to eliminate things that I didn't like while still leaving it readable to the reader. So note, that the crossouts are added details.

"Long-Shot Lead:

• • Cellastine Wade may have been connected to an unidentified workplace incident or transient population tied to Jersey City’s industrial scene in 1968.
  • Potentially linked to a Jane Doe case in a neighboring state.
• Basis:
  • NamUs states she was last seen “by family after work” on April 26, 1968.
  • Jersey City in 1968: a hub of factories, warehouses, and shipping (e.g., textile mills, chemical plants, Colgate’s waterfront facility).
  • Cellastine, 18, from a working-class background (1950 census: 629 Grand Street), likely worked a low-wage job nearby.
  • “After work” might hint at more than a casual detail—possible trouble (accident, predator, or spontaneous decision) tied to her workplace or commute.
  • No foul play noted; JCPD may have assumed voluntary departure.
  • Photo’s survival (via NamUs API) suggests family insisted something was wrong.
• The Stretch:
  • Jersey City’s location near highways (e.g., Route 1/9 to Holland Tunnel) and rail lines made vanishing—or being taken—across state lines feasible.
  • Long-shot angle: check unidentified remains from 1968–1970 in nearby states (New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio) where transient workers/runaways surfaced.
  • Example: Jane Doe found 1969 in Columbia County, NY (120 miles north)—young Black woman, 16–20, no origin, speculated on Websleuths as a Cellastine match.
  • No DNA/dental link yet, but timing and “after work” clue could fit if she hitched a ride or was trafficked post-shift.
• Why It’s a Long Shot:
  • No evidence pins her to a specific job or confirms she left Jersey City.
  • JCPD likely limited investigation to local inquiries in ‘68—cold case inertia and under-resourcing typical for a Black teen’s disappearance then.
  • Photo shows family persistence, but no 1968 workplace records (e.g., factory logs) or witnesses make it a needle-in-a-haystack scenario.
  • Jersey City’s industrial churn produced many missing persons—some ending as unidentified Does elsewhere.

If these kinds of mysteries intrigue you, then you can find more like them at Websleuths.com.

Author: Shane Lambert (UncoolNegated on Websleuths)

All articles are subject to editing after the original posting.

Shane Lambert (UncoolNegated on Websleuths) is not a Private Investigator, however, he is currently studying to be one as of March 2021.

Website hashtag: #MPCSL

*For BMI values, I use the UPPER or HIGHER ranges that are given for height and weight.
**Text might be paraphrased. If taken verbatim, then grammar or spelling errors are not necessarily corrected from original sources.
Disclaimer: Whenever possible, government sources are preferred for getting the details of a missing person's case. However, any source that the article writer deems reputable may be used.