By Antonio
Planas
The disappearance of a young Latina from California, who was last seen on security camera footage at a grocery store more than three weeks ago, has since escalated into a criminal investigation, according to local police.
Jolissa Fuentes, 22, was reported missing by her family on Aug. 7, according to the Selma Police Department.
Jolissa Fuentes. Selma Police Department / via NBC News
She was last seen at 4 a.m. on camera footage from the AM/PM store in Selma, about 15 miles southeast of Fresno.
Police say Fuentes got into his silver 2011 Hyundai Accent and drove west.
Since then, his digital trail - information that could lead to his whereabouts from his cellphone, social media or bank records - has been almost non-existent, according to authorities.
"It's very rare for a 22-year-old girl to not have a fingerprint," Police Chief Rudy Alcaraz told reporters last week.
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"She's been missing for a long time, and it's not normal behavior for her," Alcaraz said, "so we're treating this as a criminal matter."
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When her disappearance was reported, her information entered a national database of missing persons, Alcaraz explained to NBC News on Monday.
If the police were to contact her and she wanted her family not to know her whereabouts, the authorities could at least tell her relatives that she is okay, she said.
But "that has not happened," she stressed.
Although most of the search has been conducted in Fresno County, authorities have received leads that place it "as far as New Mexico."
"We have left the county several times," Alcaraz said.
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Investigators were initially able to trace his cellphone data to the town of Sanger, not far away, Alcaraz said, searching the Avocado Lake and Pine Flat Lake areas.
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Alcaraz said last week that the Fresno County Sheriff's Office has conducted a 15-hour search by helicopter, 20 hours on major highways, several dozen more churning through different rivers, Alcaraz listed.
Fuentes' mother, Norma Nunez, said Monday that her family has not given up hope of finding her alive.
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“We keep going out looking.
We are studying the possibility of hiring a private investigator.
We're not going to stop until he's home with us,” said Nunez, 44, of Fresno.
Her daughter used to often visit the Avocado Lake and Pine Flat Lake areas to seek "peace of mind," she explained.
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Volunteers from the Adventurers with Purpose dive team are also involved in the search, according to Fresno NBC affiliate station KSEE.
The group is credited with finding missing 16-year-old Kiely Rodni's submerged vehicle, inside which was the teenager's body, in a Northern California lake.
Doug Bishop, a member of Purpose Driven Adventurers, told KSEE last week that divers have ruled out Avocado Lake, but will continue to search Pine Flat Lake and other areas.
