A valley family is still holding out hope of finding their missing loved one even though it's been a year since 20-year-old Antonio “Tony” Villegas Jr. disappeared.
His last call was to 911 stating he was being chased near Butterfly Park in south Mission on August 21, 2011.
Police found his truck in the area but have still yet to find Villegas.
"I can still see him sleeping here, I come in here take his pillow, and can smell him every now and then," Tony’s mother Janie Villegas said walking into Tony’s room.
The room looks just the way it did the day Tony disappeared, a blanket on his bed, his trophies and medals on the wall.
“If I move it and Tony comes home he isn't going to like that I moved his room around,” Villegas said. “It just reminds me he is coming home. I have to think that to keep myself going as well."
The last time Janie saw her son was Mother's Day 2011.
"I was in Brownsville, he went to see me and brought me a rose. And I still have that rose. And I think he will be here another Mother’s Day and have more roses for me and I have to continue thinking like that,” Villegas said with tears in her eyes.
Every Sunday night friends and family gather in her home for prayer.
"We get together and have a rosary and pray for Tony and his captures and ask God to help us,” Villegas said. “God gives me this strength to have this attitude and you have to for your kid's sake. I just feel tony is alive and he will be back."
She still keeps a candle lit in his room.
"I know that God has a plan and I don't understand it right now but I will, I’m good, patiently waiting," Villegas said.
There are still a lot of unanswered questions to the case.
"We don't know why this happened. Or how it happened and we don't know where he may be," Villeagas said.
The police are not actively searching but Mission Police Chief Martin Garza agrees he may still be out there.
“The body of Mr. Villegas has not been found therefore there is always some percentage of hope that he is with someone and could still be alive,” Garza said.
If you have any information that may help in the investigation call Mission Police 580-TIPS.
To commemorate the one year anniversary of the disappearance the family will hold another prayer Tuesday night in their home.
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