Five years after Kimberly Avila went missing from the Brownsville downtown area, the TV channel ID, or Investigations Discovery, will feature Avila’s story during Wednesday’s premiere of its “Disappeared” series.
Avila’s story will be featured at 9 p.m. on ID, which is channel 87 on Spectrum, channel 285 on DirecTV and can also be streamed on discovery+.
Avila, a transgender woman, disappeared from the downtown area around 2:30 a.m. on May, 13, 2017. Avila’s family and police have been searching for Avila since the disappearance but have been unable to locate Avila.
The Disappeared series shines a light on individuals who vanished seemingly without a trace, searching for answers about the missing in order to bring closure to their loved ones, ID said in a media release.
Avila’s family had been playing a game of Loteria the night the Avila went missing. Ivone Rodarte, Avila’s sister, dropped Avila off in the downtown area, and Avila has not been heard from since.
“It’s been 4 years since you disappeared, and we still don’t have answers. Four years of hurt, anguish, desperation, and pain. Not knowing where you are and not knowing what happened to you is the worst feeling ever,” Rodarte wrote on her Facebook page, on May 13, 2021. “Our lives changed forever since you disappeared. We’ve received support as well as let downs in searching for you. Wherever you might be just know that we will continue to fight for you Kimberly Avila until the end. We love you and miss you more than anyone can imagine. We need answers; we want answers; and we have faith we will have them. No one deserves to get hurt or be taken against their own will.”
Disappeared aired on Investigation Discovery from 2009 to 2018. Some episodes ended in heartbreaking discoveries, while a number of episodes helped bring missing persons home and others still provide visibility for new leads to be discovered, according to the media release.
Each episode of Disappeared begins immediately before the individual vanished and chronicles the search for clues hidden beneath seemingly everyday behavior that may indicate what happened to them. Presenting timely stories with urgency for the public to act, the families of the missing hope the series will elevate their loved one’s story and help decipher the truth of what really happened to them.
At the end of each episode, information for the local police departments is shared in the event that a viewer has fresh leads or new information to share.
