Modesto mom was allegedly kidnapped a year ago. Her family is still waiting for answers
It’s been a year since anyone has seen or heard from Susana Torres, the young mother of two who allegedly was kidnapped by her estranged husband last April.
Loved ones rallied April 10 at the intersection of Hatch and Crows Landing roads to honor Torres and bring more awareness to her case on the anniversary of her disappearance. They wore white, chanted for justice and carried signs with Torres’ face.
The scene was almost identical to rallies the family held a year ago when she vanished, a reminder that not much at all has changed in the case since then.
“It’s kind of hard because it seems like it was just yesterday and now it’s a year,” Torres’ cousin Yazmin Cruz said.
Torres, whose 30th birthday was in October, went missing around 5:30 p.m. April 11, 2021. Investigators believe she was kidnapped at gunpoint by her estranged husband, Javier Chavez, outside Richy’s Mini Mart in west Modesto.
She had just spent that Sunday with her family and stopped at the store on her way home. Surveillance footage from the store that evening appears to show Chavez holding an object at Torres as she gets into a light-colored sedan. Her two sons also were in the car, but they were dropped off at Chavez’s parents’ house before Chavez fled.
Chavez, 42, is the father of Torres’ younger son. Torres had taken out a restraining order granting her full custody of the 3-year-old just days before the kidnapping, and she was supposed to go before a judge April 12 in hopes the injunction would be more permanent.
She previously had alleged the relationship with Chavez was abusive, writing in court documents that she was scared for the safety of herself and the two boys.
“I can’t even do my makeup or get ready if he is not with me,” Torres wrote. “He is so wrong.”
Witnesses may help solve case
The Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department continues to investigate Torres’ disappearance, but many of the leads have run out, Sgt. Tom Letras said April 8.
“This is one of those difficult cases,” he said. “It’s one of those ones that kind of sticks with you because they both just vanished.”
The department was at a disadvantage from the start, Letras said, because investigators believe Chavez already was crossing into Mexico by the time law enforcement was notified that Torres had been taken.
Chavez is likely still in Mexico, but investigators have been unable to find him. They once pinpointed his location near the Tijuana International Airport, just over the U.S./Mexico border, but he has since moved.
Investigators do not know whether Torres is alive, but Letras said the case is much more difficult because there is no physical evidence either way.
“It’s obviously concerning that in a year’s time, she hasn’t been able to contact law enforcement or the family or anybody,” he said.
There are about 450 miles alone in that initial journey between Modesto and Tijuana airport. Investigators searched a body of water in Southern California where GPS located Chavez for a short period of time but did not find any remains.
Not knowing where to search does make the case more difficult, but Letras said the fact her body hasn’t been found could be a sign she’s still alive.
For the case to progress, investigators now believe they may need to find and question Chavez or be contacted by a breakthrough witness. Letras said he believes Chavez has spoken with someone about what he did, and that person coming forward could help bring closure to the families.
“I believe this case will ultimately get solved,” Letras said. “It’s just a matter of the time it takes to finally track down Mr. Chavez or somebody that knows something.”
‘I want her to know to come back’
For Cruz, hope does not come as easy.
She said the family still doesn’t know much about where detectives are in the case, which has been a concern from the start. Cruz was recently called to identify a picture of a purse belonging to Torres, but she said she’s not even sure if this was a recent discovery or one from earlier on in the investigation.
“I feel like it’s going to be one of those cases that never gets solved,” she said. “I don’t think it’s going to get better, honestly.”
Cruz now has custody of Torres’ 9-year-old son, while the younger boy mainly lives with his paternal grandparents. There’s a strained relationship between the sets of guardians, making it even more difficult for Cruz to cope.
The 9-year-old said living without his mom the past year has made him feel sad. “I want her to know to come back,” he said.
Celia Salto, Torres’ mother, has traveled back and forth between Modesto and her home in Mexico a couple of times since her daughter disappeared. She spoke to The Bee in Spanish, which Cruz helped translate.
Salto said her daughter always was happy and content until the months leading up to her kidnapping. She said Torres began to grow distant as her relationship with Chavez grew worse.
Salto hopes Torres is found alive and that Chavez does the right thing and brings her back. “Especially because it’s been a year,” she said.
Anyone with information in this case should contact Detective Summerton at 209-525-7032.
This story was originally published April 12, 2022 at 7:00 AM.
