Disappearance of Jolissa Fuentes: Missing Selma woman's best friend Javie was SHOT DEAD last year
SELMA, CALIFORNIA: The search for Jolissa Fuentes has become a criminal investigation, three weeks after the 22-year-old woman from Selma went missing from a gas station. Fuentes was last seen at a Selma gas station around 4 am on August 7, about 16 miles south of Fresno, surveillance footage revealed. Nobody has heard from her since.
Jolissa's family believes she may have driven out to a rural area east of Selma, where there are orchards and vineyards. Jolissa, they believe, spent time there sometimes clearing her head after her best friend, Javie, tragically died last year. "Javie was murdered," Jolissa's sister, Irene Fuentes, told MEAWW. "He got into a fist fight at a party and the other person pulled a gun out and shot him. Jolissa and Javie knew each other from school and he was in his early 20s when he was killed."
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The disappearance of Jolissa Fuentes: Mother believes she's alive but is 'victim of a crime'
"I don't think there's a connection between Javie's murder and Jolissa's disappearance. The person who shot him was arrested the next day and has been in jail ever since. Jolissa was sad of course. He was her best friend. But I think she was handling it the best she could. She wasn't suicidal or anything," she added.
Of Jolissa's disappearance, Irene said, "I have no clue what happened. I wish I did, but I don't. I have a lot of different theories in my head. I have even wondered if she had a stalker, but I don't know. I think she was just out really late and something bad happened."
Fuentes disappeared while she was out getting snacks. Adventures With Purpose (AWP) recently confirmed that there was no trace of Fuentes in Selma's lakes, which is the area where her phone was traced to the last time. Fuentes left a party to go home, stopping at a gas station for a snack. Irene said, "I spoke to her at 12 am, a few hours before she went missing. I video called her on Facebook and she answered and told me she was with her friends and would call me later."
Selma Police Chief Rudy Alcaraz said police were going to find Fuentes no matter what it takes. However, both Irene and Jolissa's mother, Norma Nunez, earlier have expressed their doubts over whether the authorities are doing enough. Meanwhile, Internet sleuths have come together to form a Facebook group called 'Find Jolissa Fuentes', where they have been sharing clues, ideas, and praying for Fuentes' safe return.