The family of a missing father who hasn’t been seen in 16 days is seeking the public’s help in finding him.
Juan Antonio Garcia’s family has placed flyers in the area where he was last seen and is asking the public to contact the Brownsville Police Department if they have any information on his whereabouts.
The flyer reads, “Juan Antonio Garcia 68 yrs old with dementia. Last seen 24 Lindale Dr., Boca Chica and Paredes Line Rd…. Any information contact Brownsville PD,” and provides the police department’s phone number.
Garcia’s family contacted Brownsville PD, and the department put out a missing person’s alert on Jan. 14, asking the public to contact authorities if they have seen him.
No one has come forward.
The flyers have been placed up and down Lindale Drive in hopes that someone may have information on Garcia’s whereabouts.
“There are no updates at this time,” Investigator Martin Sandoval, spokesman for the Brownsville PD, said Monday morning. “Nobody has any idea where he is at. For someone just to vanish it’s amazing that nobody,” has come forward to state they had spotted him.
Although the detective handling the case along with the department’s patrol officers have been searching for Garcia, they have been unable to locate him.
Brownsville PD cannot put out a Silver Alert on Garcia because he doesn’t have a doctor’s note that states he suffers from dementia, Sandoval said, in an earlier interview.
According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, which issues the alerts, the following criteria must be met in order for one to be issued:
>> Is the missing person 65 years of age or older or been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease?;
>> Does the senior citizen have a diagnosed impaired mental condition, and does the senior citizen’s disappearance pose a credible threat to the senior citizen’s health and safety? (Law enforcement shall require the family or legal guardian of the missing senior citizen to provide documentation from a medical or mental health professional of the senior citizen’s condition);
>> Is it confirmed that an investigation has taken place verifying that the senior citizen’s disappearance is due to his/her impaired mental condition, and alternative reasons for the senior citizen’s disappearance have been ruled out?;
>> Is the Silver Alert request within 72 hours of the senior citizen’s disappearance?;
>> Is there sufficient information available to disseminate to the public that could assist in locating the senior citizen? (Highway signs will be activated only if accurate vehicle information is available and it is confirmed that the senior citizen was driving the vehicle at the time of the disappearance).
Brownsville police urge anyone who has seen Garcia to call Brownsville PD at (956) 548-7000.
