Immigrant rights advocacy group FIEL has joined an El Paso family’s search for 24-year-old Sydney Marquez, who disappeared two weeks ago while visiting friends in southwest Houston.
On Tuesday morning, spokespeople with FIEL, Immigrant Families and Students in the Fight, joined the Marquez family at FIEL headquarters in Houston to urge anyone with information to come forward, regardless of immigration status.
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Sydney Marquez was last seen around midnight on Dec. 11 in southwest Houston.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: El Paso family pleads for help finding missing 24-year-old last seen in southwest Houston
According to investigators, surveillance video shows her walking away after leaving a friend’s car running in the street near the 9100 block of Bellaire Boulevard.
Witnesses later told her father she may have boarded a northbound METRO bus at the intersection of Gessner Road and Harwin Drive.
“The Marquez family still has many questions,” Cesar Espinosa, executive director of FIEL, said in a statement. “Like many families we work with, they are desperate for answers and feel as though their pleas are falling on deaf ears.”
Description of Sydney Marquez
According to the Houston Police Department, Sydney is:
- 5 feet 4 inches tall
- Approximately 120 pounds
- Short reddish-brown hair
- Brown eyes
- Wears glasses
- Has a four-leaf clover tattoo on her left wrist
In an interview with KPRC 2, Sydney’s father, Raul Marquez, said his daughter lives and works in El Paso and had traveled to Houston to visit friends.
He believes she may have been experiencing a mental health episode at the time she disappeared.
“She was diagnosed with late-onset bipolar disorder with a bit of schizophrenia,” Marquez said. “Over the last two or three months, we saw changes in her behavior.”
Marquez has stressed the importance of surveillance video from that bus Sydney might have boarded, calling it critical to understanding what happened next.
“That footage is a matter of life and death,” he said. “It’s the last solid evidence we have.”
METRO Police confirmed this week that the requested bus video has been successfully retrieved and turned over to the Houston Police Department, which is leading the investigation. METRO Police say they continue to assist HPD as the search continues.
Texas EquuSearch is also helping look for Sydney. Founder Tim Miller says time remains a major concern.
“She’s a young woman who was walking late at night in an area she didn’t know,” Miller said. “We just want to get her home safe.”
In an emotional message, her father addressed his daughter directly.
“Sydney, you need to come home now,” Marquez said. “We miss you. We love you. Christmas is around the corner.”
Anyone with information about Sydney Marquez’s whereabouts is urged to contact the Houston Police Department Missing Persons Division at (832) 394-1840 or Texas EquuSearch at (281) 309-9500.