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The parents of missing California woman Jolissa Fuentes say they are “heartbroken” by the lack of updates in the search for their daughter and what feels like little attention on the case in contrast to other missing persons cases.
Selma police initially said the 22-year-old was last seen on Aug. 7 at an AM/PM gas station in Selma, California, around 4 a.m., but Police Chief Rudy Alcaraz told Fox News Digital on Friday that they have footage of Fuentes driving by herself after that time.
“We picked her up on camera after that. However, we’re not going to relinquish that information, as we…have to kind of consider all avenues,” he said. “Right now, there’s nothing that is insinuating foul play, but, again, we don’t have much information.”
The Selma Police Department has partnered with the Fresno Sheriff’s Office to use some of their resources, such as helicopters, to assist with their search. Federal law enforcement officers are also involved, according to Alcaraz and Fuentes’ family. Still, they have received no definitive leads regarding the 22-year-old’s whereabouts in the two weeks since she vanished.
MISSING JOLISSA FUENTES’ FAMILY PLEADS FOR HELP: ‘WE THINK SOMEONE TOOK HER AGAINST HER WILL’
Jolissa Fuentes, 22, was last seen at an AM/PM gas station on Aug. 7 around 4 a.m. PT.
(Norma Nunez)
Her family believes she may have driven out to a rural area east of Selma, where there are orchards and vineyards, because Jolissa used to spend time there to clear her head after one of her best friends died last year. On the night she disappeared, she had come home from a party and stopped at her grandmother’s house to grab some cash and a bag before heading to the AM/PM. They say Jolissa has not contacted anyone and has not picked up her phone since she was last seen, which is extremely unusual for her.
Now, police are searching in the areas of Pine Flat Lake and Avocado Lake, Alcaraz said.
Meanwhile, Jolissa’s parents, Norma Nunez and Joey Fuentes get up each morning to conduct their own searches for their daughter, put up flyers and ask people in the areas where they search if they have surveillance cameras they can look at. They previously told Fox News Digital that they believe Jolissa was taken against her will.
They “don’t come back until dark,” Nunez said over the phone as she and her husband were actively searching for their daughter.
“What I don’t understand is, if you’ve got all these resources and other agencies involved — police say the FBI is getting involved — we should have something. These are some of our top, trained agencies in the United States, supposedly,” Joey Fuentes said.
“We’re doing all we can do. We don’t know what to do,” he continued, adding that he and his wife are trying to do everything they can to find their daughter without compromising law enforcement’s investigation into the case.
Alcaraz praised the family’s efforts to get information out about their missing daughter.
Jolissa Fuentes’ parents described her as courageous, sweet-hearted, disciplined and a ‘good girl.’
(Norma Aunee)
“The family’s done a wonderful job of putting information out about Jolissa. We are working with all of our state, local and federal agencies to try to get the best information and have done pretty much everything we can think of or has been suggested to us…to try and find Jolissa. We’re just hoping for more information that will lead us to her,” he said.
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The police chief added that the Selma PD will likely not release any new press releases on social media until there is a significant update in the case because they do not want to saturate the page to the point where people lose interest in Jolissa’s disappearance.
“We want to make sure that if we put something out, it’s because we have something new and a different direction to go in and more information,” Alcaraz said.
Fuentes drives a silver 2011 Hyundai Accent with the California license plate number 8MPU766.
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There is a $10,000 reward for information leading to the 22-year-old’s whereabouts. Nunez and her husband have also started a GoFundMe titled “Bring Jolissa Home Safe” to raise money for their search and possibly a private investigator.
The Selma Police Department is asking anyone with information about Fuentes’ whereabouts to contact Detective Richard Figueroa at 559-891-2243.
