Missing woman's family refusing to lose hope, continuing search
DALLAS - The family of a missing Pleasant Grove woman is refusing to give up their search for her.
Dallas police now consider 34 year old Marisol Espinosa endangered, upgraded from a missing person after evidence was recovered from her abandoned SUV. Investigators said Monday that homicide detectives will join investigators from the missing persons unit in the search.
Espinosa's relatives spent Monday continuing their search for the mother of three children, ages 3, 5 and 8 years old, and a longtime Dallas hairstylist who's been missing since last Tuesday morning. She was last seen by her boyfriend and the father of two of her children.
Dallas police were also searching the area on Monday, with the DPD helicopter aiding from above.
Faustino Valdez says she left for work like she usually did, but she never showed up. Her co-workers called police and mobilized groups, including clients from the North Park Center Tonyi & Guy salon where she worked for the last 15 years.
On Friday, Espinosa's cousin, Elias Trujillo, found her abandoned Chevy Tahoe in the rear of an apartment parking lot off Loop 12 and Pemberton Hill Road in South Dallas County, just three miles from her home.
"I'm not going to stop. I mean, I found the SUV now it's a matter of finding her. I feel that my luck with finding the SUV, now I'm just praying that with my luck again, I could find her," said Trujillo.
"I mean, we are looking everywhere and anywhere. The closest radius between her house and where the truck was found," said Mindy Trujillo.
Investigators found Espinosa's purse, phone case and other items in the abandoned Tahoe. And they're hoping they lead to the person responsible for her disappearance.
"I have hope and I do believe in miracles. So we're going to find her," said Trujillo's friend Tameka Thompson.
"She's a tough cookie and you know we're going to find her and we're going to bring her home. We love her, we miss her and we're not going to stop until we find her," said Thompson.
Even strangers, like Margie Stinson, felt compelled to help in the search.
"Our hearts were weighing heavy, you know. We're from Sulphur Springs and we wanted to make the trip to come out here to help the family and friends look for Marisol. If it was my child, I would want help as well," said Stinson.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Dallas Police Missing Person's Unit at 214-671-4268.