The disappearance of Jolissa Fuentes: Mother believes she's alive but is 'victim of a crime'
SELMA, CALIFORNIA: Missing Selma woman Jolissa Fuentes' mother believes she is still alive but in danger. Search parties are not looking at the area where her cell phone last pinged. Fuentes was last seen on surveillance footage at a Selma, California, gas station around 4 am on August 7, about 16 miles south of Fresno. Nobody has heard from her since then and her worried mother, Norma Nunez, has been praying for her daughter's safe return. Fuentes, 22, disappeared while she was out getting snacks. Police have said that the case is being treated as a criminal matter.
"I definitely think she's a victim of a crime," Nunez told The US Sun. "I strongly believe someone has her. But I don't think she's dead. I don't feel that. Her grandma doesn't feel that. I think she's in trouble and she needs us to find her."
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Adventures With Purpose (AWP) recently confirmed that there was no trace of Fuentes in Selma's lakes, which is the area where her phone pinged the last time. "She's not in the water," Fuentes' mother said. "But now we're searching the area and the mountains between Sanger and Selma."
Fuentes left a party to go home, stopping at a gas station for a snack. She reportedly called her sister at 3.59 am, but she was asleep at the time. Fuentes again called her at 5.24 am and 5.25 am. This was reportedly her last known activity and her phone has gone silent ever since. Her vehicle has also not been found.
"I love all my kids more than one can imagine," Nunez previously told MEAWW. "Lissy (Jolissa) is my baby girl and she is the strongest and toughest of all my children. She is family-oriented and loves everyone dearly. Lissy lights up any room she enters. The last few days have been very tough and we just want her back home, where she belongs."
"Jolissa was at my sister-in-law's house the last time I spoke with her before she disappeared," Nunez recalled. "I believe she was telling me something about her brother. Lissy loved her brothers and sisters." Stressing how urgent it is to find Jolissa right now, Nunez said, "Please treat this case as if it was your own child. There is an urgency to find her. We are lost without her and we need her back at the earliest. Please help bring my baby home."
"Don’t stop praying, keep searching and thank you for your love and support," she said to all those who are helping in the search. "If someone knows something, please come forth. Jolissa must come home to her mom, we miss her very much." She added, "There is a $10,000 reward leading to her whereabouts."