Vilet Torrez: Family of Missing Florida Mom Hopes Billboards Bring ‘Truth’ and ‘Justice’
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Ryan McVay/Thinkstock(MIRAMAR, Fla.) — After Miramar, Fla., police came up empty in searches of a missing woman’s home and vehicles and numerous dives in local bodies of water, the family of Vilet Torrez is hoping two new billboards will help solve the four-month-old mystery of what happened to the mother of three.
A surveillance video released by police that was recorded at 5:17 a.m., March 31, showed the missing mom inside her gated community, but what remains unclear is what happened in the crucial few minutes after Torrez was seen on the tape — that last time she was seen.
Torrez, 38, was not reported missing until April 2. Her estranged husband, Cid Torrez, who had moved out of the family home but was staying there the weekend she disappeared, has said he assumed she was staying with other people.
The couple had recently separated after 15 years of marriage.
Julie Spurlock-Blanco, Torrez’ sister-in-law, said she hoped the billboards would lead to “truth and justice” for Torrez and her family.
“There are such mixed emotions each time I pass Vilet’s billboard, which is only blocks from where I work,” Spurlock-Blanco said. “My first instinct is happiness to see Vilet’s face, but that happiness is quickly shadowed by the harsh reality of why her face is on a billboard.”
Police have executed search warrants on Vilet Torrez’ home and car, as well as on her estranged husband’s vehicle. Cid Torrez has also provided police with hair and saliva samples.
No suspects have been named, but the missing woman’s brother, Javier Blanco said he found Cid Torrez’ behavior suspicious.
“The one day he decides to sleep over, I can assure you it was a surprise to her, she was missing,” Blanco said.
Blanco said his brother-in-law was jealous and controlling, to the extent they worried about their sister’s safety.
“We had been fearing for her life for about a year already,” Blanco said. “Her family had been warning her, friends, marriage counselors. We were all urging her to get out, and she was [finally] transitioning her life.”
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