AURORA, Colo. (KDVR) — A woman with cerebral palsy who has been missing since July 30 no longer has her vehicle, the Aurora Police Department reported.
Felicia Martinez, 38, was last seen in the 25000 block of East Lake Place almost two months ago. She may be with a heavy set white man with red hair who goes by the name “Lucky Puppy.”
“Felicia is one of the people with the hugest hearts,” her sister Sonia Martinez told FOX31.
Felicia is a daughter, a sister and a mother. She is a diehard Rockies fan and normally celebrates her birthday at the game each year.
“I wish that we were there today with her because it is her birthday,” her sister Noelia Clingman said.
Felicia’s daughter, Madelyn, says she last saw her mother on July 31. The two visited and talked.
“A few hours later she left and then no one heard from her,” Madelyn Martinez said.
Her family says her disappearance is completely out of character. They say there have been no leads or clues as to her whereabouts. Her phone has been off for weeks and on Sunday, Denver Police discovered her vehicle abandoned.
“The car was stripped. I mean steering column, ignition, broken windows, the inside stripped,” her mother Gail Martinez said. “She can’t get around without her car.”
According to the Martinez family, they have been fighting for Thursday’s Colorado Bureau of Investigations alert for weeks.
“It’s just been trying to get the authorities to take it seriously,” Gail Martinez said. “They seem to think that all adults can do what they want and adults deserve their privacy but you know there are some adults that bad things happen to and the longer this goes on the more afraid of that I get.”
The family has posted fliers, filed reports with authorities, checked hospitals, shelters and jails and even started a Facebook page to try and spread the word about Felicia’s disappearance. However, they say everything kept hitting a dead end.
“There’s two different databases that are very large that could help us provide more resources and she’s not on there. We can’t get them to approve those lists,” Sonia said. “It’s been almost two months of us just anything we try being told no.”
Prior to Thursday evening’s CBI alert being issued, the Martinez family says the interview with FOX31 Thursday afternoon was the first real bit of news coverage about Felicia’s case.
“I remember just seeing a 15 second photo of my mom and then every day in the morning before I go to school I watch the news and it’s this one person getting all the popularity and other people only getting 15 seconds to be told that they’re missing,” Madelyn said.
She is referring to the nationwide coverage of the Gabby Petito case.
“I don’t understand the disparity in reporting on this. Our family is not rich. We’re not famous,” Sonia said. “My biggest question is, is why is there such a disparity? Why is it that this one case gets around the clock coverage and we can’t even get somebody to check a box to say okay you’re in a national registry.”
She said it was “infuriating” to see round-the-clock coverage of Petito’s case while Felicia’s case barely received any notice.
Following a FOX31 inquiry to Aurora Police regarding the status of Felicia Martinez’s case, the Martinez family says a detective called and spoke to them about issuing a CBI alert. Within four hours of FOX31 contacting APD, the CBI alert was issued to all news outlets in the region.
According to APD, “The Developmental Disabilities Alert was issued tonight because she is no longer in possession of her vehicle. This is very concerning to us due to physical mobility issues. She was entered as a missing person into the CBI and FBI databases (CCIC/NCIC) since she was reported missing to the Aurora Police Department.”
Martinez uses leg braces and a cane to walk and has a speech impediment, APD said. She is 5 feet, 3 inches tall and weighs 150 pounds. She had pink and purple hair at the time of her disappearance but her original color is brown.
Authorities ask anyone who sees her to call 911 or APD at 303-627-3100.