NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas – Since his disappearance on Oct. 8, 2010, there has been no sign of Jonathan Groce, but his family believes he is still alive.
"I just can't feel like he's dead," his mother, Hilda Groce, said. "I just feel like he's out there somewhere."
Hilda Groce and Johnathan's girlfriend, Kristi Harding, were the last people to see him on Oct. 8. Jonathan Groce, a Cibolo resident, abandoned his car and it was found in New Braunfels the next day. Inside, investigators found a note and other compelling pieces of evidence that would suggest that Groce took his own life.
"The note had the following writing on it, 'I'm sorry. All the lies and what killed me. Tell the truth,'" said New Braunfels Police Department Lt. John Wells. "We also found an empty handgun case that was inside the car."
But with no body and no activity on Groce's bank accounts or credit cards, the department has no choice but to treat this as a missing persons case.
In the time leading up to the disappearance, Groce had just divorced his wife, Sonya, who was also the mother of his daughter, Kat. Groce's family said he began to run with the wrong crowd and dabbled in drugs.
The Comal County Crime Stoppers are offering a $5,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest and/or indictment of an individual or individuals who may have been involved in Groce's disappearance.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Comal County Crime Stoppers at 830-620-8477 or visit comalcrimestoppers.org.