SAN ANTONIO – The family and coworkers of a mother who has been missing for four months gathered Sunday in honor of her 31st birthday.
The celebration took place at St. Francis Nursing Home, where Cecilia Huertas Gallegos worked right up until she disappeared.
“We thought it would be better to come here to San Antonio where she was living and working,” said Mireya Lopez, Gallegos’s sister. “We wanted her coworkers to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ and for wherever she is at, to know we are still searching for her.”
Gallegos was last seen Sunday, July 7, on home surveillance video entering her home on Southwick Road but she was never seen leaving. Reyes Gallegos, her husband, was later arrested for filing false police report the next day. He was also seen with a chainsaw and cleaning supplies.
“Ever since that day, we haven’t had peace,” Lopez said. “We have been searching day and night. It is hard. It is tough. Especially for her kids who ask for her daily. It is tough and not knowing one lead that takes us to her.”
Lopez said the family is beyond frustrated with how slow the investigation is going.
“I just believe not much has been done in the case,” Lopez said. “They are searching for more evidence. There are certain things they have on the case and then things they need more to push forward. It just has been four months, and nothing has changed. I am afraid the case may go cold.”
She said they are fearing the worst as far as Gallegos’s welfare and whereabouts also.
“We wished she was still here with us, but everything tells us she is no longer here,” Lopez said. “That we are only searching for her remains.”
Lopez said she loved her job and her coworkers just as much. She said they are devastated.
“She loved her patients,” Lopez said. “She used to dye their hair. Read them books and talk to them and all of that. She was really nice to her patients. Her coworkers do miss her a lot. They say they miss her going through the hallways screaming and being with the patients and running with the patients. They miss her a lot.”
Lopez said it tough celebrating Gallegos’s birthday without her, but she hopes this reminds the public to speak out if they know anything that could help investigators with this case sooner rather than later.
As of now, Reyes Gallegos is still in the Bexar County Jail for filing a false police report. His bond was set at $75,000.
“If he is watching this, I would tell him to please speak up,” Lopez said. “That all the evidence points to him. To do it for his kids. We want closure for our family and we just want to bring her back home.”