TORRES
by CYNDY SLOVAK-BARTON
A 20-year-old Latino was reported missing from the Slaughter Lane H-E-B parking lot Friday, and his cousin, Kyle resident Melissa Golat, is asking for help.
Joshua Torres of McAllen was last seen on Friday, wearing a gray T-shirt with cargo shorts and black sandals. Torres is 5’4” tall, 120 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. He has a small scar over his left eyebrow and a tattoo of a six-point star on the right side of his chest.
On Friday, Torres and his mother, Sandra Llanos, along with his one-year-old son and other family members, traveled to Austin to attend a graduation ceremony for his brother. Before the ceremony, the family picked up food at McDonald’s on Slaughter Lane for the one-year-old. They parked under a shade tree in the parking lot to eat.
According to Llanos, Joshua Torres had been troubled the previous few days, showing some early signs of mental illness. Llanos, a nurse,
said she noticed her son had not slept or eaten for several days, and that he was saying things while still in McAllen that did not make sense.
“He told me, ‘Mom, we’ve gotta leave ... there’s something in this house.’” He then spent Thursday night in the car rather than sleep in the house, which he told his mother “was dangerous.”
On Friday around 2 p.m., Torres told his mother that he didn’t feel comfortable in shorts and wanted to change into camoflage pants. He left his wallet and cell phone in the car and walked to the grocery store.
After waiting 10 minutes, his mother became worried. A family friend went into the H-E-B and asked someone to check on Torres inside the restroom. The man returned, saying no one was in the restroom. Police were called and they found no evidence of Torres in the H-E-B on footage from the store cameras.
Police were notified of Torres’ disappearance on Friday and a missing persons bulletin has since been issued.
“He was confused. Something triggered in his mind and made him run,” Llanos said. “He wasn’t stable.”
Torres graduated from Nikki Rowe High School in McAllen and then attended South Texas College to study computers. He is a computer technician in McAllen.
“He’s a quiet guy,” Llanos said. “He loves the outdoors, takes walks ... He has never done this before; he has never run away.”
Golat or Llanos are asking anyone who might have seen Torres to please contact DPS or call 512-744-8123 or 956-207-7960.
