Family Desperate for Answers After L.A. Man Vanishes Following Alleged Immigration Arrest

The family of a 44-year-old Mexican man who disappeared in early October is pleading for answers after witnesses say he was taken into custody by immigration agents in Los Angeles — a claim federal authorities deny.

Vicente Ventura Aguilar, who has been in the United States since around 2008 without legal status, was last seen on Oct. 7. That morning, he left home for a job interview and later met up with friends, according to relatives and local reports.

“We’re sad and worried,” his brother, Felipe Aguilar, told The Los Angeles Times about Vicente’s disappearance following his suspected arrest that Tuesday. “He’s my brother and we miss him here at home. He’s a very good person. We only hope to God that he’s alive.”

Surveillance footage reviewed by MS NOW reportedly shows Vicente smiling and dancing with a friend on a sidewalk outside a strip mall just minutes before masked agents arrived and began making arrests nearby. Vicente himself is not seen on the video being detained, but witnesses told The Times and MS NOW that immigration officials took people into custody shortly afterward.

A witness later told MS NOW that Vicente suffered a “medical emergency” while at an immigration checkpoint at the southern border.

“The whole family is worried, especially our mother in Mexico,” Felipe said. “We’re afraid that he’s dead.”

According to a friend who said he was detained alongside Vicente, the 44-year-old was first taken to B-18, a short-term holding facility located in a federal building in downtown Los Angeles, The Times reported.

The next day, a group of detainees — including Vicente — was transported toward the U.S.-Mexico border. Inside an immigration checkpoint, Vicente was seen shaking uncontrollably and losing consciousness before collapsing while wearing shackles, according to what Felipe and the family’s attorney told The Times.

Witnesses recalled that Vicente’s face was bleeding and that the other detainees were ordered out of the room as he was taken away for medical attention.

“His arms and legs were shaking really bad,” said one witness, who has since been deported to Mexico, in comments to MS NOW. “He looked like he was dying.”

The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that during Oct. 7 and Oct. 8, a total of 73 Mexican nationals were arrested in Los Angeles — but “none of them were Ventura Aguilar,” according to spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin.

“For the record, illegal aliens in detention have access to phones to contact family members and attorneys,” she added.

McLaughlin pointed to an online locator system families can use to search for detained migrants but did not answer questions about whether officials had searched for Vicente under other possible names, or whether they know his current whereabouts. She criticized what she called “baseless smears,” including accusations that ICE is “disappearing people.”

The case arises amid a broader wave of arrests and deportations under President Donald Trump’s promised immigration crackdown, a policy push that has triggered large-scale enforcement actions and divided public opinion.

Attorney Lindsay Toczylowski, co-founder of the Immigrant Defenders Law Center and representative for Vicente’s family, told The Times that she has repeatedly contacted DHS seeking information but has received no response.

“There’s only one agency that has answers,” she said. “Their refusal … says something about the lack of care and the cruelty of the moment right now for DHS.”

Loved ones and legal advocates have searched hospitals and contacted local law enforcement in an effort to file and follow up on a missing-person report, according to The Times and MS NOW. The family suspects Vicente may have used a different name when he was first detained, complicating efforts to track him.

Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove has joined the effort to locate Vicente, sending a letter to leaders at ICE, DHS and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. In the letter, she asked whether officials have checked for anyone matching Vicente’s physical description under alternate spellings or aliases, and sought details about any person who experienced a medical emergency in ICE custody around that time and whether that individual could be Vicente.

“No family should ever have to wonder whether their loved one has been lost — or worse — while in the custody of CBP or ICE,” Kamlager-Dove said in a statement.

Toczylowski was even more direct in her criticism.

“Mistakes get made,” she told The Times. “Right now, what we want to know is what mistakes were made here, and where is Vicente now?”