Police investigating the case of a missing 22-year-old woman in California are treating her disappearance as a “criminal matter” three weeks after she went missing.
Jolissa Fuentes, 22, of Selma, California, left a family gathering on Aug. 6 at around 3 a.m. to retrieve unspecified belongings at home. Around 4 a.m., she was last seen on camera at a convenience store just outside city limits, where she purchased some items and then drove away, alone, in her car. Her family reported her missing on Aug. 7.
Selma Chief of Police Rudy Alcaraz said during a news conference on Aug. 22 that the Fuentes family is adamant that this is not normal behavior for Jolissa.
“To this point, there is nothing overtly that leads us to believe that a criminal act occurred; however, Miss Fuentes has been gone a long time, and this is not normal behavior for Miss Fuentes, so we are treating this as a criminal matter,” Alcaraz said.
POLICE RELEASE LAST KNOWN IMAGE OF MISSING CALIFORNIA TEENAGER KIELY RODNI
Alcaraz said both Selma detectives and Fresco County’s Sheriff’s Department are ‘making our best efforts’ to create a prosecutorial case should one be necessary at the end of the investigation. Because of this, he said, he cannot comment on certain specific details such as her phone records and conversations had prior to her disappearance.
On Aug. 7, police were able to emergency ping her cellphone, Alcaraz said. Four days later, investigators discovered her phone was near Avocado Lake in the Pine Flat area, but the phone was no longer on or transmitting data.
When asked the likelihood of finding her after two weeks based on previous cases, he said it would be an enormous challenge finding Jolissa, as a 22-year-old with no digital data is extremely rare. He expects the worst but hopes for the best, he said.
“We’re going to find Ms. Fuentes,” the chief said. “I don’t know how long it’s going to take, but we’re going to find her.”
He added that it is not uncommon to find people a year to a year and a half later, and the police will continue to update Joann Banda, Jolissa’s aunt, once in the morning and once in the afternoon, with as much information as possible.
Family members present at the news conference complimented Alcaraz and his team for their work and stressed they are ready to help day and night to find Jolissa.
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Alcaraz said resources are spread across the city and state and referenced California police finding the body of 16-year-old Kiely Rodni, who went missing the same day as Fuentes after leaving a party on Aug. 6. Adventures With Purpose, the search and recovery team that found Rodni, announced shortly after that they would spend three days looking for Jolissa, NewsNation reported.
“You all being here, [Fuentes] family, everyone being here is exactly what we want,” Alcaraz said. “The more eyes that we have talking about Jolissa, the better off our odds are at finding … that’s all we want, is to find Ms. Fuentes.”
The Washington Examiner has reached out to the Selma Police Department for comment.
