The family of Jose Guerrero, a 21-year-old father of one from Virginia, said this week that they found a trail of blood leading from his abandoned vehicle to nearby woods.
Mr Guerrero has not been seen since December 21 when he told his girlfriend Sheila Perez that he was leaving their residence in Woodbridge, Virginia, and expected to be back in five to ten minutes. He never returned. Mr Guerrero and Ms Perez have a ten-month-old child together.
Ms Perez reported Mr Guerrero missing, but First Sgt. Jonathan Perok of the Prince William County Police Department told NBC News that police initially did not have reason to believe that he was in danger.
That changed last Friday when family members found Mr Guerrero’s Hyundai abandoned less than two miles from his home with a significant amount of blood in the backseat and a trail of blood leading into the woods less than two miles from his home.
Since then, the search for Mr Guerrero has intensified.
“We have since worked this case nonstop through the weekend and currently,” Mr Perok wrote in his statement. “We’ve conducted numerous searches, and have followed up on multiple leads that have not yielded his location. What we need right now is information and cooperation which we have not fully been getting from those connected to Jose.”
Ms Perez, in turn, has blamed the police department for failing to take her missing person report seriously in the critical hours after she first made it. She said that law enforcement authorities originally believed that Mr Guerrero had run away or was not actually missing despite the suspicious circumstances of his disappearance.
Mr Guerrero’s family members and friends are continuing to search the area for clues about his whereabouts, while the law enforcement investigation also continues.
“Our message is and continues to be asking for anyone with information to come forward,” Mr Perok wrote.
