A YOUNG lady told her brother she was delighted to celebrate his college graduation before disappearing without a trace, according to her grieving family.
Madeline Pantoja, 21, was dumped off at her Midland, Texas apartment by a close friend on May 10 before disappearing, leaving behind her dog, smartphone, and keys.
The next day, Madeline’s buddy notified her family that she was not responding to messages or phone calls and had not been seen since approximately 11 p.m. the night before.
The brother of the missing woman arrived at the apartment complex and knocked on the door, but no one responded.
According to the family, her neighbors heard a loud dispute about 1 a.m. the night before, while surveillance tape recorded a pickup vehicle pulling away from the house.
Madeline’s anguished brother Christian Pantoja told The Sun exclusively that her absence is out of character since she would never leave her puppy unsupervised.
“She was doing perfect,” he said, pointing to an excited conversation the two had days before she went missing.
“It was Wednesday when she disappeared and on Saturday was my graduation from Tech. We were texting on how excited we were for us to celebrate that day.
“And when we found out that she was missing… [it] broke my heart.
“She loves her dog very much. It’s like a daughter to her. So it’s extremely irregular for her to just leave everything behind.”
The Midland Police Department has not named a suspect or deemed Madeline’s disappearance suspicious.
“I would understand not calling or not giving information out to the public to keep everything secure,” he said.
“However, they never contacted the parents for around three days of her missing until people got upset and they started realizing ‘We need to contact the parents.'”
Now, six days after her disappearance, he’s desperate for any information.
The US Sun has contacted MPD for an update on the probe.
Madeline’s father, speaking via a translator, characterized his daughter as a “very independent young lady” who is “responsible.”
He told NBC station KWES-TV that she would never leave her possessions and pet puppy unnoticed.
“They’ve said that they’re trying and I am sure that they are trying. However, there’s no leads or nothing,” Christian said.
“We’ve gone to lands over there just empty lots looking, we’ve had people we don’t know searching with their drones,” said Ruby Urias, who was translating for Roberto Pantoja.
“We’ve had people offer horses to us so that we can search.
“All he wants is to find his daughter.”
