Sheila Martines’ Chilling SouthCoast Abduction a Mystery 35 Years Later

It has been over 35 years since a passer-by found Providence, Rhode Island, TV host Sheila Martines in the trunk of her rented Mercedes Benz 190 off a dirt road in Rehoboth, Massachusetts.

Martines, born Sheila Sheehan in 1956 in Westwood, was co-host of PM Magazine on WJAR from 1979-1988.

Ken Ross wrote for UPI on April 16, 1988, that Martinez said she was "abducted at knifepoint by an unknown assailant" from a rest stop on I-195 in Seekonk two days earlier on April 14. Martines claimed the man beat her and threatened her with the knife.

Martines, who was engaged to be married to former Bristol County District Attorney Ronald A. Pina at the time, said the man who abducted her forced her to drive 20 miles to Dighton, where he locked her in the trunk of the car before fleeing. She was reportedly in the trunk for 18 hours before being detected. Police reports indicated that the car keys were in the ignition when Martinez was freed from the trunk.

Charges were never filed in connection with the alleged abduction.

After marrying Pina, Martines, known then as Sheila Martines Pina, left WJAR and joined the Southeastern Massachusetts Convention and Visitors Bureau as director of tourism for Bristol County.

According to The Herald News, multiple alcohol abuse-related arrests resulted in Martines Pina wearing an ankle bracelet and serving five months of a 2 1/2-year jail sentence. She was "in and out of jail for alleged probation violations," the paper reported.

Martines Pina, who, before joining PM Magazine in 1979 worked as an anchor and reporter for WNBH radio in New Bedford, was found dead on the morning of Feb. 5, 2014, in the Dartmouth home she shared with her husband.

The Associated Press reported a coroner's report determined Martinez Pina died of "chronic alcohol abuse." She was 58.

Ronald A. Pina died in April 2020 following a long illness. He was 75.