HARLINGEN — The search for Ernesto Gonzales, a missing attorney from Harlingen, is not over.
Gonzales has become the topic of conversation again after many people have seen his picture on a billboard.
The billboard is part of the Harlingen Police Department’s latest campaign in hopes that the person or persons with knowledge in the cases of Gonzales and Nahomi Rodriguez will make that important step to come forward and call.
In the case of Gonzales, he has been missing for more than a year. He has not been seen since his sister reported him missing on July 18, 2017.
Nahomi, a 19-year-old from San Benito, was last seen alive on July 17, 2016. He body was later found in a canal east of Rio Hondo.
Police are still trying to find out who killed her.
The night Nahomi went missing, a McDonald’s surveillance camera captured her inside the restaurant drive-through window filling a cup with soda.
She was last seen wearing her McDonald’s uniform — black shirt, black pants and a black cap.
She appeared to leave in a gray colored SUV with a man she knew after she told her mother she had a ride home. She never made it.
There is currently a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for her disappearance and death.
Harlingen police are hoping to receive one phone call to help crack these cases.
“Please make that call for Nahomi, or Ernesto,” Police Chief Jeffry Adickes said.
One of the Gonzales billboards can be seen heading west on Expressway 83.
The Harlingen Police Department ordered the billboard recently seeking information to help find Gonzales.
Hiss son EJ Gonzales posted a photo on Facebook yesterday of the large sign with his father’s photo, asking people to call Harlingen Crime Stoppers with information to help find his father.
On the Harlingen Police Department Facebook page police posted a direct message yesterday to Gonzales’ son stating they are still working to find his dad.
Police have been searching for Gonzales after his sister reported him missing on July 18, 2017.
“A number of detectives in our major crimes unit, organized crimes unit, and other members of the Harlingen Police Department have spent and continue to spend countless hours dedicated to resolution of Nahomi Rodriguez’s death as well as Ernesto Gonzalez’s missing person case,” Adickes said.
According to reports, police have tried to track his whereabouts through the use of credit card transaction records and telephone records.
Despite requests, police are not releasing any further information regarding the case.
“We as well as our partners in the Cameron County District Attorney’s Office, the Texas Rangers, the FBI, and other state and federal agencies remain committed to justice, and to them both,” Adickes said.
Five days before he went missing, Gonzales filed for a protective order against five extended family members.
Gonzales stated in court papers that he did not feel safe, alleging he had been threatened by two male extended family members.
The explanation he states in court papers involves the care of his mother and complaints he filed with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.
“I have had to carry an unloaded pistol in my truck hidden because I fear for my life,” Gonzales stated in an affidavit.
INFO BOX
The Harlingen Police Department reminds citizens to report any information on these cases or suspicious activity.
Harlingen Police Area Detectives Division at (956) 216-5510
Harlingen Area Crime Stoppers at (956) 425-8477.
The Harlingen Police Department at (956) 216-5401
