Missing Person Photos
A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are unknown. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, death in a location where they cannot be found (such as at sea), or many other reasons. In most parts of the world, a missing person will usually be found quickly. While criminal abductions are some of the most widely reported missing person cases, these account for only 2 to 5 percent of missing children in Europe.
By contrast, some missing person cases remain unresolved for many years. Laws related to these cases are often complex since, in many jurisdictions, relatives and third parties may not deal with a person's assets until their death is considered proven by law and a formal death certificate issued. The situation, uncertainties, and lack of closure or a funeral resulting when a person goes missing may be extremely painful with long-lasting effects on family and friends.
A number of organizations seek to connect, share best practices, and disseminate information and images of missing children to improve the effectiveness of missing children investigations, including the International Commission on Missing Persons, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), as well as national organizations, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in the US, Missing People in the UK, Child Focus in Belgium, and The Smile of the Child in Greece.
Resources for Missing Persons
According to current statistics, 4,000 people in the United States go missing every day.
Sometimes a child suddenly vanishes from the bus stop or the local park or even from their own yard or bedroom. Or a teenager doesn�t return home after a walk to the neighborhood grocery store or a bike ride or a party with friends.
Other times, an adult is mysteriously absent from their job or neighbors haven�t seen them for several days, and family and friends haven�t heard from them either.
Missing Person Photos
Cecilia Urena Huerta Gallegos
Cecilia, date, approximate 2019; Reyes Gallegos
Date Missing 07/07/2019
Missing From
San Antonio, Texas
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Female
Race
Hispanic
Date of Birth 11/17/1988 (33)
Age 30 years old
Height and Weight 5'1, 120 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description Possibly a necklace with a cross.
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Hispanic female. Black hair, brown eyes.
Details of Disappearance Cecilia was last seen at her residence in the 5600 block of Southwick Road in the west side of San Antonio, Texas. Her husband, Reyes Gallegos, called 911 from their home on the morning of July 8 to say they had gotten into an argument about infidelity and she had cut him with a knife. When police arrived on the scene, he had visible injuries to his face, a large scratch mark on his chest consistent with fingernails, and a superficial cut on his right index finger.
Cecilia wasn't there; Reyes said she'd told him she was leaving the family and left with an unidentified man who had been waiting outside in a car. She has never been heard from again. She left all her belongings behind, including her cellular phone and both the couple's vehicles. Her credit cards have not been used since she went missing.
A photo of Reyes is posted with this summary. Nearly two months after Cecilia went missing, he was arrested and charge with filing a false report. Police had found surveillance footage from July 8 went missing of the interior and exterior of the family's home, and the recordings didn't match the story Reyes told on the 911 call.
No fight between him and Cecilia could be seen. In fact, the recordings didn't show Cecilia at all on July 8; the footage showed her arriving home shortly after 7:30 p.m. on July 7, going into the couple's bedroom about fifteen minutes later, and never coming back out. Her image was never shown on camera again.
At 2:08 a.m. on the morning of July 8, the video surveillance system was turned off, and it wasn't turned back on until 3:44. After Reyes turned it back on, the cameras recorded him coming and going from the house four times in his white Chevrolet Tahoe. Three of the trips were short, between two and eleven minutes each. The fourth was over two hours; he left at 6:27 a.m. and didn't return until 8:48.
After he returned from this trip, Reyes unloaded two shovels, a chainsaw, trash bags and cleaning supplies from his car. His shirt was wet, possibly from sweat. He took a shower and then called the police with the story about the argument and Cecilia cutting him.
At the time of her disappearance, Cecilia worked as a certified nursing assistant at the St. Francis Nursing Home. Her shift on July 7 was not supposed to end until 11:00 p.m. Her husband, however, came to pick her up at 6:40, over four hours early.
Surveillance footage at the nursing home showed them talking, and Cecilia appeared to be uncomfortable; Reyes came up very close to her and she stepped back away and up against the wall. Cecilia told the head nurse she had to go home and check on her children, and left 7:20 p.m.
The family's children, who were between the ages of six and fourteen, were home when Cecilia arrived home that day, and heard their parents arguing. One of the children said she heard screaming and covered her ears to block out the side. Reyes made the children stay in their bedroom. The week after their mother went missing, child protective authorities removed them from Reyes's care and placed them in the custody of Cecilia's sister.
The day after Reyes was arrested on the false report charge, he was arrested a second time for assault causing bodily injury. This charge was unrelated to Cecilia's disappearance; Reyes allegedly punched a male friend in the face on June 22, a few weeks before his wife went missing. Reyes pleaded guilty to filing a false report and was sentenced to six months in jail, with credit for time served awaiting trial. The assault was dismissed in January 2020 because a key witness did not appear in court to testify.
In August 2021, Reyes was arrested on suspicion of Cecilia's murder. Police stated the against him was made up of "small pieces" of evidence they gathered and put together, but haven't released much information about it. Reyes is awaiting trial in his wife's presumed death.
According to Cecilia's sister, Cecilia and her husband were having marital problems and Cecilia had called her brother to say she was afraid something bad was going to happen to her. She was saving money because she wanted to move out and get an alarm system for her new residence, as she was concerned about her personal safety.
Cecilia also told a friend that Reyes was violent and he should be questioned if she were to go missing. Cecilia's sister stated Reyes was controlling and wouldn't let people visit his wife. The family's neighbors stated they kept to themselves, even locking their gate to keep people out of their yard.
Although Cecilia's body has not been located, foul play is suspected in her due to the circumstances involved.
Investigating Agency
San Antonio Police Department
210-207-7660
Other
NamUs
Inside Edition
KSAT
News West 9
Crime Online
WHAS 11
The San Antonio Express-News
Websleuths
Missing Person Photos
A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are unknown. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, death in a location where they cannot be found (such as at sea), or many other reasons. In most parts of the world, a missing person will usually be found quickly. While criminal abductions are some of the most widely reported missing person cases, these account for only 2 to 5 percent of missing children in Europe.
By contrast, some missing person cases remain unresolved for many years. Laws related to these cases are often complex since, in many jurisdictions, relatives and third parties may not deal with a person's assets until their death is considered proven by law and a formal death certificate issued. The situation, uncertainties, and lack of closure or a funeral resulting when a person goes missing may be extremely painful with long-lasting effects on family and friends.
A number of organizations seek to connect, share best practices, and disseminate information and images of missing children to improve the effectiveness of missing children investigations, including the International Commission on Missing Persons, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), as well as national organizations, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in the US, Missing People in the UK, Child Focus in Belgium, and The Smile of the Child in Greece.
Resources for Missing Persons
According to current statistics, 4,000 people in the United States go missing every day.
Sometimes a child suddenly vanishes from the bus stop or the local park or even from their own yard or bedroom. Or a teenager doesn�t return home after a walk to the neighborhood grocery store or a bike ride or a party with friends.
Other times, an adult is mysteriously absent from their job or neighbors haven�t seen them for several days, and family and friends haven�t heard from them either.
Missing Person Photos
