Opinion: Fifty-two years later, a father's mysterious disappearance in San Diego is solved [Opinion]
That day, one of his father’s friends spoke to his mother, trying to explain that Jose had been involved in an accident and may have been struck by a car while walking. “My Dad’s friend said he saw the ambulance come but couldn’t approach them,” he recalled. “They were undocumented and feared deportation.” Nobody knew the details of what happened to him after that.
When I met Jose Jr. in Escondido in 2016, he shared the details about his father’s disappearance with me. I thought it was the saddest story. I wanted so much to help this family find some answers. So I started doing research. I searched high and low. I put an inquiry into the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office, but there was nothing.and to my disbelief I stumbled upon an archived article in the Daily Times Advocate from March 1970.
During his first meeting with the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office, Jose Jr. was not able to positively identify the Mexican national as his father from the autopsy photo. He didn’t remember his dad having facial hair, and the man in the photo looked too skinny. He was so young the last time he saw his father that it was a bit difficult to remember details. A second meeting with more family members was arranged, and Jose Jr.’s siblings also could not make a positive identification.
My research found that the California Highway Patrol report from 1970 was limited. The man had been struck by an oncoming vehicle on a long stretch of Old Highway 395 with conflicting statements about the driver of the vehicle. There was mention of pieces of paper in the victim’s pockets with addresses on them that were handed over to the Mexican Consulate. It turns out those pieces of paper had gone missing.
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