TAMPA, Fla. – A Tampa attorney wants to take a look at the documents in the disappearance of Sabrina Aisenberg. A judge found the Hillsbororough County Sheriff’s Office in contempt for a slow handover of the files. 

Sabrina Aisenberg vanished from her crib on November 24, 1997 when she was 5 months old.

Sabrina Aisenberg vanished from her crib on November 24, 1997, when she was 5 months old.

The mystery surrounding Sabrina Aisenberg’s disappearance continues almost 28 years later, and after all that time, there are still a lot of questions for Attorney Mike Trentalange. 

He said, “The judge at the time made the comment this isn’t going to last forever, at some point, this will be public record and that stuck with me.”

During a hearing Wednesday in a Hillsborough County courtroom, he fought for the public records again. 

“I made a public records request in 2019 and was told it was an ongoing investigation,” Trentalange said. “I made one in 2021, same story. Finally, at some point it becomes no longer tenable.”

He wants to look at the documents related to the cold case disappearance of Sabrina. He said his friend was Barry Cohen, the prominent Tampa attorney who represented the Aisenberg family. Cohen passed away from cancer in 2018.

Related: Tampa remembers prominent local attorney, Barry Cohen

The backstory:

Sabrina Aisenberger disappeared from her crib when she was just five months old. Her mother previously said she last saw the little girl when she checked on her around midnight on November 24th, 1997.

An age-progression photo of Sabrina on Marlene Aisenberg's phone.

An age-progression photo of Sabrina on Marlene Aisenberg’s phone. 

RELATED: What happened to Sabrina Aisenberg? Baby’s disappearance still a mystery after 25 years

We spoke with her in 2022 about that night. 

Marlene Aisenberg said, “It’s a process, it’s something we live through every day still, and we will continue to live through it until she’s home with us.”

The sheriff’s office had a deadline from the court to allow Trentalange to look at the documents on October 9th, but the judge said there were delays. 

Judge Cheryl Thomas of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Court said, “I’m finding the sheriff’s office in contempt because they didn’t comply with the mandate. But, I found it hasn’t been willful because they have produced documents, they just have not completed them in a timely fashion.”

The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office argued they were trying, but there’s a lot of work involved. 

“Wanted to make sure we were complying, but doing it to the best of our ability to do so legally and lawfully,” Jill Harris, legal counsel for the sheriff’s office, said. 

She called on a homicide sergeant and the supervisor of records to discuss what exactly goes into a case like this. 

“We have a chain of custody we have to be cognizant of because at any point there could be new information or a new lead that may become available that requires us to present this case.” Sgt. Mike Blair explained. 

Zachary Leon added, “I must read the report to determine which redactions apply. Once reviewed, there’s another process where the other supervisor reviews the record and applies the redactions I determined should apply.”

Attorney Trentalange said with a case this old, the public records could help with new leads. 

“By revealing it to the public, we may actually solve this case if the public learns some information that was previously kept from it,” he said.

And the judge agreed with him. 

“There needs to be a process in place for inspections, even if it doesn’t result in production, but the petitioner is correct,” Judge Thomas explained. 

What’s next:

She mandated Trentalange have the chance to see the caseload on October 28th and October 29th for eight hours each day.

Age-progression images of Sabrina Aisenberg courtesy of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. 

Sabrina Aisenberg would be 28 years old. Her family, who moved to Maryland, still holds onto hope she is still alive. They have their DNA on several familiar genetic websites.

Anyone with information on the disappearance of Sabrina Aisenberg is asked to contact the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office at 813-247-8200 or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678.

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The Source: FOX 13 gathered information for this story from a hearing inside a Hillsborough County courtroom and an interview with an attorney calling for the case files.

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