Florida Mom’s Disappearance Called ‘Highly Suspicious’
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Ryan McVay/Thinkstock(MIRAMAR, Fla.) — The estranged husband of a Florida mother of three who vanished nearly a week ago called her disappearance “unusual” after she did not pick up their children from him at the scheduled time.
Vilet Torrez, 38, seemed to have vanished without a trace, police said. The Miramar, Fla., woman’s car was found in her driveway. None of her personal belongings were inside.
Torrez’s husband, whom she separated from two months ago after 15 years of marriage, said he had the couple’s three children for the weekend.
“That Friday night she said, ‘Make sure the kids call me’ and she told my little girl to call her,” Cid Torrez told ABC News. The couple have three children Vilet, 12, Cid Jr., 7, and Marcus, 4.
Torrez said his wife had a new boyfriend whom he had met and had been “around” since she was reported missing. It was unknown whether the person Vilet Torrez went to dinner with on Friday was her new date.
Over the weekend, she failed to show up for her work at a bathroom remodeling store.
When the devoted mother did not pick up her children on Sunday at 7 p.m., Torrez said he became worried. He left Vilet a voicemail before calling her mother and reporting her missing to police.
Police have few clues, but called the mother of three’s disappearance “highly suspicious.”
“She basically just disappeared,” said Tania Rues, spokesperson for the Miramar Police Department. “We talked to co-workers who said she is very reliable and responsible. For her to go a day without speaking to her kids is unlikely as well.”
Rues said it was too early to speculate whether foul play was involved, since the case was opened on Monday.
Torrez’s father and brother held a press conference Wednesday and pleaded for her return.
“We’re destroyed,” her brother, Javier Blanco, 32, said, according to the Florida Sun-Sentinel. “I’m extremely worried. If your sister, your brother, your close relative, all of sudden vanishes into thin air, you’re distraught.”
Cid Torrez has been caring for his children since his wife’s disappearance.
“I’m emotional,” he said. “She was wonderful. She took her time with the kids. She is a good mother.”
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