Missing Angelica Sandoval, 21 yrs. old disappears 2/23/11 unloading laundry from car

[Sister Iroz]

[The Monte Vista Police Department is working with its Alamosa counterpart in a widening search for an Alamosa woman, missing since Feb. 23.

Police Chief Rick Needham said his officers have been following up on leads emerging from this community and worked especially hard the first day Angelica Sandoval was reported missing.

As time passes —it’s been a week today — concerns rise, and Needham said his officers will continue to seek the young woman in and around Monte Vista.

“Hopefully, they find her and, hopefully, she’s okay,â€￾ Needham said of the task force now seeking Sandoval and other authorities involved in the search.

Police have a set procedure when a person is reported missing, and they are following that procedure with the search for Sandoval.

“Every case is different, but there are procedures in place that fit all cases,â€￾ said Acting Alamosa Police Chief Robert Jackson, who said 10 to 20 leads per day have come in and followed up on.

Sandoval has not been seen since last Wednesday evening when she returned home from a laundromat and carried one load of laundry, her cell phone, and her one-year-old daughter into the house before going back to her car to get more laundry and her purse.

After she did not immediately return to the house, her brother reportedly went outside to check on her. Her purse was lying on the floor of her car and the car door was open. Sandoval was gone.

A young woman with love in her heart, especially for her young daughter, Sandoval had been posting on her Facebook wall regularly until 7:45 a.m. Feb. 23.

Jackson said one of the first acts undertaken in a missing persons case is to interview friends and family and follow up on all leads, but those have proven negative so far.

Before Sandoval had been missing 24 hours the APD had formed a task force of four of their most experienced officers, led by former Monte Vista Police Lt. Duane Oakes, now a lieutenant with the Alamosa P.D.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has been in on the case since day one and Jackson said they have begun to ratchet up their efforts.

Two FBI agents were in Alamosa March 25 and returned Tuesday.

Jackson said there have been lots of tips called in to CrimeStoppers, and all leads are still being followed. “So far none of the tips have been helpful, but you never know,â€￾ he said. “The next one could be the one.â€￾

Police do not know if there is a connection, but Sandoval had been subpoenaed to testify today, Wednesday, March 2, against Jose Luiz Meraz, who allegedly broke into her home last year and is currently in the Alamosa County Detention Center.

Meraz is originally from Mexico and some leads have taken officers in that direction, but “It’s just one other thing we are looking at,â€￾ Jackson said.

The father of Sandoval’s young daughter is in prison.

Sandoval’s family is hoping she will be returned to them unharmed, and they are searching on their own.

[...]

Because Sandoval disappeared without her cell phone and purse, and left behind a sick baby, her family is convinced she was kidnapped.

[...]

http://www.montevistajournal.com/v2_news_articles.php?heading=0&story_id=2714&page=72

Sandoval is a Hispanic woman, 4 feet 11 inches tall and weighs 105 pounds. She has several tattoos including a butterfly on her right shoulder, a lariat on her shoulder, paw prints on her ribs and the words "sad girl" written on her knuckles. She also has a piercing in her bottom lip.

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/27054095/detail.html

 

[Tits McGee]

Doesn't sound like this is going to end well.

 

[Nell]

That is so sad. I feel bad for the baby. I bet her brother blames himself, and he shouldn't.

 

[AngelFire]

Wow how scary. Poor baby will not have a momma now.

 

[Dakota]

The news one southern Colorado family has been waiting to hear, still hasn’t come.

The Sandoval family is marking the somber anniversary; six months since they last saw their loved one, six months of unanswered questions. And now they are asking for your help to find her.

There is still no sign of Angelica Sandoval. She is a young mother from Alamosa who seemingly vanished from her home on February 23.
[...]

“I feel lost sometimes, I feel sad, I feel helpless. Even guilty sometimes because I went back to work now,” said Angelica’s mother Michelle Sandoval.

Michelle just got back from a retreat in Nebraska for parents of missing children. She says the retreat provided her with a number of tools and resources in their search for Angelica. It also offers a support system. During the time there, she created a poster board displaying dozens of pictures of Angelica, from when she was born, to the day she went missing. The retreat is helping Michelle cope with her daughter’s disappearance, by offering both hope and reality.

“It was real hard because I made my own little fantasy that she was just away, that she was coming home. And then you get out there and you see parents who have been missing their kids for like six years, nine years. So that made it real for me,” said Michelle.

The family tells 11 News it’s incredibly hard to hold onto hope, especially after six months, but they are doing it. They continue posting missing person posters in several states with the hope that someone will recognize Angelica’s face.
[...]

Alamosa investigators tell 11 News they are still calling the disappearance suspicious. That’s because Angelica went missing one week before she was supposed to testify in a criminal hearing.

Angelica was supposed to testify against Jose Luis Meraz, a Mexican National with a long rap sheet. He’s also accused of breaking into her home, tying her up and robbing her last year. Those charges were dropped. Meraz currently remains in jail on unrelated charges, and was in jail at the time of Angelica’s disappearance.

Federal agents are still assisting in the case. Alamosa investigators say they are working on every lead they get, and don’t plan on closing the case anytime soon.

http://www.kktv.com/news/headlines/Missing_Womans_Family_Needs_Your_Help_128945723.ht ml

From the Steve Wilkos Show (may 2011):

[video=youtube;lxkVtcwQrH4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxkVtcwQrH4[/video]

 

[nannyd]

It's like her mother said. Someone knows something. Someone needs to SAY something. That baby needs her mother.

I can't help but think that this was done by someone who didn't know her or someone who had bad feelings for her b/c no one who knew her would deliberately take her away from her family, especially that little baby, for so long.

I truly hope that she comes home, and she comes home alive. The longer she's away, the less likely it is that she's alive, unfortunately. That poor family. So much love. The shame is that there is so much hate and bad in the world that would harm a young mother this way.

 

[LDhummingbird]

If she was about to testify against this guy, my money's on him having associates do something to make her disappear, sadly. Twisted as it may be I'm glad she got the baby in the house before she was snatched.

 

[christiana]

http://www.kktv.com/home/headlines/Missing-Mothers-Family-Makes-Plea-for-Answers--301169261.html

Grandma believes she is alive. Grandpa, not so much