Home to the communities of Avenida Guadalupe, Collins Garden, Prospect Hill, and San Juan Gardens, it hosts large amounts of San Antonio’s population. The city of San Antonio itself declared West Side a “significant part of San Antonio’s center for Hispanic culture” due to both its cultural history and beautiful art. The brick buildings are covered in beautiful artwork, which is popular with both tourists and other residents. Cars drive by, cherishing the parade of gorgeous murals like an endless art museum.
Someone was always out and about, rarely would someone be found walking the streets alone. With these characteristics, it’s the last place where anyone expected someone to disappear. However, on October 26th, 2006, that is exactly what happened.
It was a fresh Thursday afternoon and the lively streets of West Side were as active as ever. People were just finishing up work and wanted to make it off of the highway before the dreaded rush hour. However, one pedestrian noticed the strange sight in the middle of 19th Street. Near its intersection with Arizona Avenue, a cellular phone lay abandoned on the asphalt. Its silver casing reflected the rays of the radiant midday sun and captured a passing woman’s attention. What was it doing in the middle of a busy road? It seemed untouched, so it couldn’t have been in the busy West Side streets for long.
Once no cars were approaching, the woman dashed into the street and intercepted the device. Once she returned to the safety of the sidewalk, the cell phone rang. Startled, the woman answered the call.
“..Hello…Jennifer?” A man’s panicked voice rang out.
The woman told him she wasn’t the cell phone’s owner and she had simply found it on the street. “..I’m sorry, is everything okay?” she asked.
Everything was not okay. Neither knew the phone call would commence one of San Antonio’s biggest mysteries–the vanishing of Jennifer Apreciado. After nearly 15 years, the question of what became of Jennifer still has yet to be answered. However, the clues painted a grim array of possibilities.
Earlier that day, 17-year-old Jennifer Apreciado was at her boyfriend’s house. The two both lived in Westside and had been dating for quite a while.
Despite only being 17, Jennifer seemed ready for the responsibilities of adulthood. Her boyfriend knew her to be fiercely independent, but she also developed a strong sense of caution. She called family members, friends, or her boyfriend whenever she felt uneasy about her surroundings. Sometimes she would ask for advice, and other times, she just needed someone to talk to.
At around 3 pm, Jennifer told her boyfriend she was going to head out. When leaving her boyfriend’s house, her routine was to go to the bus stop near the intersection of Arizona Avenue and 19th street. She told her boyfriend that today was no different, and after one last goodbye, Jennifer walked out the door. As her boyfriend watched her dark hair blowing in the wind, he had no idea he would be the last person to see her before she vanished.
A few minutes later, her boyfriend’s phone rang. It was Jennifer. Her shaky voice informed him of something utterly terrifying–someone in a car was following her to the bus stop. The car traveled slow enough to make Jennifer uncomfortable. She explained that it circled twice around the block near the bus stop to keep up with her. Her boyfriend never confirmed if she described the car’s make, model, and driver.
Jennifer’s boyfriend tried to calm her down, perhaps the driver was an undercover cop canvassing the neighborhood or a harmless drifter. Besides, the street Jennifer took the bus stop was known to be busy, surely no one would try to harm her in front of numerous bystanders. Jennifer, still uneasy, said she would call him back and hung up.
Jennifer’s boyfriend had to have kept his phone close to him. The bus stop was not a long walk from his house, so his girlfriend should call back within a matter of minutes to inform him of her safe arrival. However, one minute turned to ten, ten turned to thirty, and soon enough, an hour passed. Her boyfriend tried calling her again, maybe she made it to the bus stop and forgotten to call him back? The first few rings went unanswered, but someone picked up towards the end. It wasn’t Jennifer, it was a pedestrian who had found her cell phone lying in the middle of the street.
With the beep of a concluded phone call, Jennifer entered oblivion. She never went through on her promise to call her boyfriend back. Neither of them knew that the phone call would be the last recorded communication Jennifer would have before she disappeared. October 26th, 2006 marked day one of 15 years and counting mystery.
The details of the investigation into Jennifer’s disappearance by the San Antonio Police Department have been secretive. The identity of who reported her missing and the day the report was filed were kept from the public. The identity of Jennifer’s boyfriend is unknown to the public. Is he a possible person of interest? Regarding Jennifer’s complaints of being followed by a car, police confirmed they have no information concerning the description of both the vehicle and its driver.
Despite the lack of released information, one thing is clear: Jennifer Apreciado has been missing for nearly fifteen years.
The events before Jennifer’s disappearance insinuate her being the victim of an abduction. Additionally, the location of her cell phone in the street suggested she fought back against her potential kidnapper. However, the neighborhood of her disappearance was known to be busy. If she was abducted, notably during the afternoon, how did no one see or hear anything? While it is possible (and in some cases, recorded) for bystanders to not interrupt a kidnapping out of fear or shock, many witnesses go to the police afterward.
If anyone saw something on October 26, 2006, they have yet to come forward. While the SAPD never stated whether they suspected foul play in Jennifer’s disappearance, many assume she did not go missing on her own accord.
In January of 2019, Sheiladawn Fitch, a licensed private investigator, said that she had taken up the case. Despite the SAPD’s lack of progress, Fitch remains optimistic that it is not too late to discover what happened to Jennifer.
“You have to remember though it was like 3 p.m. and [West Side]’s a busy neighborhood. If [Jennifer] was walking down the street, somebody had to have seen her so somebody knows something,” Fitch told WOAI.
Fifteen years later, the fight to bring Jennifer Apreciado back home continues. While it’s hard to fathom decade-and-a-half long absence, those who had the privilege of knowing her hope closure is just around the corner.
If you have any information regarding Jennifer Apreciado’s disappearance, please call the San Antonio police department at 210–207–7660.
