SAN ANTONIO – The mother of a 4-year-old boy has been missing for more than three months. Now, the missing woman’s mother and little boy’s grandmother believe she may have been killed.
Kate Vara’s mom, Valerie Mendoza, says her daughter was last seen on Aug. 6. The family, including 4-year-old James, celebrated Vara’s 27th birthday without her on Sept. 8.
“(James) is like, ‘Where is mom?’ Because we are having a birthday party for mom, and we’re doing something for mom, and mom is not here,” said Mendoza,
“(James) told me himself, ‘Mom is missing,’ and I said, ‘Yes baby, mom is missing,’ and he’s like, ‘where is mom,’ and I said, ‘I don’t know where mom is at, but we’re going to find her,” said Mendoza.
According to Mendoza, Vara had a substance abuse problem but was going to a clinic on the West Side of San Antonio to get treatment. Aug. 6 was the day of one of her appointments.
“She made it to her appointment. There was camera footage that she went and made it to her appointment and left, and then after that, no one has seen her since,” said Mendoza.
Mendoza says that things got confusing in the days following Vara’s disappearance. One of Vara’s friends said he had dropped her off at a random home on the West Side near where she lived on Aug. 9 around 1 a.m., but Vara had left her phone in his car.
“I’m like, well, why haven’t you returned it? I even asked him what she was wearing when he dropped her off, and he couldn’t even answer that to me. He would just go around in circles and say something else, and now no one can find him,” said Mendoza.
San Antonio has not named that man as a potential suspect. SAPD says there have been no updates in the case. However, Mendoza told us that SAPD’s Homicide Unit is now assisting the department’s Missing Persons Unit in Vara’s case.
“Do you believe that she’s still out there?” asked KSAT Reporter John Paul Barajas.
“I feel that she’s gone, with the stuff that people in Kate’s neighborhood saying, I feel she is gone, but regardless, I want her home,” said Mendoza.
Mendoza explained that people in the West Side neighborhood where Kate lives have started to speculate. For now, Mendoza has raised money for a $3,000 reward, hoping someone will come forward. She is trying to remain strong for James.
“It’s so hard because I never thought that this would be our life,” said Mendoza, “For the people that are responsible, I’m never going to stop looking, I’m not, I’m going to keep looking, and then when I do find her I’m going to get justice for her,” said Mendoza.
