Two members of an Alabama family who went missing from their home under suspicious circumstances were under an immigration deportation order at the time, according to police.
Aurelia Choc Cac, 40, and her two children — 17-year-old Niurka Zuleta and 2-year-old Anthony Garcia Choc — were last seen at their Mobile County, Ala., home on Friday, Jan. 30.
The Mobile County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that there were signs of a struggle inside the residence, and investigators believe the family was taken against their will.
A 911 call from a concerned neighbor is offering additional details about the moments leading up to the disappearance.
In call records obtained by FOX10, a neighbor is heard telling dispatchers that Cac had a “crazy ex-boyfriend,” who he claimed had been on the run for at least eight months. (The neighbor is identified as Maurice Simmons in a NBC 15 report.)
The neighbor said he spoke with Cac, who is from Guatemala, on Friday evening and she did not suggest she was planning to leave.
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Sheriff Paul Burch said responding officers found blood throughout the house and cash left behind, NBC 15 reported.
“There was obviously some kind of struggle, based on the scene,” Burch said, per FOX 10. He added that there were “clothes throughout the bedroom that appeared to be dumped out and hampers missing.”
Burch also said a mattress was missing, while a box spring remained — something he described as “unusual,” according to NBC 15.
The neighbor also told the outlet that he was alarmed the family appeared to have left their phones behind.
Cac’s oldest daughter has also publicly pleaded for their safe return.
“Whoever did this, please bring my little brother home,” Lorena said, per NBC 15. “I’m waiting for them to come home with the little baby.”
Burch said Cac and Niurka were issued final deportation orders in April.
Authorities said they interviewed a person they initially identified as a person of interest but later cleared him, according to an updated statement from the sheriff’s office on Monday. No other persons of interest have been named.
Cac is described as 5 feet tall, weighing 140 lbs., with black hair. She was last seen in a maroon jacket and tan joggers.
Niurka is 5 feet 1 inch tall, weighs 100 lbs. and has black hair. She was last seen wearing a black top and a pair of plaid pants.
Anthony weighs 30 lbs., has black hair and was last seen in a cartoon character hoodie and blue jeans.