'I will always be looking:' El Paso teens featured on missing children billboards
Jean Gabriel Benitez, then 16 years old, was last seen getting ready for school March 18, 2024, but when his mother arrived home, he was nowhere to be found.
More than a year later, his mother, Karina Roman, continues her search for her son, hoping he is safe and will return home. She pleads for the community to help find her son.
"About a year and two months ago, my son left the house and he never came back,' Roman said in Spanish as tears rolled down her face. 'We haven't heard anything. I left him in the morning as he was getting ready for school. I left to drop off my (other) son at school, when I came back, he wasn't at the house anymore.
"We just want him to come back. We just want to know if he is okay."
Benitez, who will turn 18 later this month, is one of two El Pasoans being highlighted on a monthlong digital billboard campaign. The billboards will be shown throughout El Paso in both English and Spanish.
They are being posted as part of National Missing Children's Day by the Texas Center for the Missing, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Clear Channel Outdoor, and the El Paso Police Department.
National Missing Children's Day is May 25.
The other missing El Pasoan being highlighted is Allison Garcia, now 17 years old. She left home Nov. 2, 2024, and never returned. Law enforcement authorities believed she could be in Mexico.
Roman and her family have been suffering in agony as they search for Benitez, a former ROTC student at William H. Burges High School. The family has no idea why he left, where he could be or who he is with.
"I love him very much," Roman said as she wiped away tears. "I have always been there for him and will always be there for him. I will always be looking for him. Doesn't matter what the situation was or whatever happened, my family and I just want to know that he is okay. We will be here if he needs anything. We will always be there for him."
More: Where is Angel Marie Avalos? Pregnant teen disappeared 5 years ago in El Paso County
Benitez, a 5 feet, 7 inches tall teen with brown eyes and brown hair, being featured on the billboards brings her hope that her son will be found and she can hug him again. She is pleading for the community's help to reunite her with her son.
'I feel a little more relieved that more people will be able to see him,' the heartbroken mother said as her younger son stood by her side. 'It is going to reach more people, and hopefully someone will see him or he himself will see it. It is very difficult. I am just hoping he is okay. Please if somebody knows something, reach out.
"If anybody knows anything about him, please let us know, because it has been a long time and a year of agony."
Missing-person bulletins in English and Spanish featuring Benitez and Garcia will be displayed about 1,000 times a day on billboards in El Paso for a month, said Eric Lucero, market manager for Clear Channel Outdoor. The billboard will be seen by 75 percent of El Pasoans traveling on Interstate 10 and other roads in the city, he added.
About 17 missing children over the past several years have been found through the annual billboard campaign in El Paso, Houston, Dallas and San Antonio, Lucero said. Missing children have been featured on billboards throughout Texas for more than a decade.
More: Missing El Paso woman found after deputies sought public's help
There were 44,783 people reported missing last year in Texas, with 31,864 being juveniles. In El Paso County, 1,109 juveniles and 280 adults were reported missing in 2024, the Texas Department of Public Safety Missing Persons Clearinghouse reported.
Anyone with information on Benitez or Garcia is urged to call the El Paso Police Department at 915-832-4400.
Aaron Martinez covers the criminal justice system for the El Paso Times. He may be reached at amartinez1@elpasotimes.com or on X/Twitter @AMartinezEPT.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso mother hopes missing children billboard will help find son
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