Family of missing Chelsea man fear they may never find him

CHELSEA, Mass. — “We just want to find out the truth so we can bring my nephew home,” said Marlyn Rosa.

She and her family have not heard from her nephew, Juan Santiago, in nearly eight weeks.

His disappearance has Rosa fearing the worst, that he was a victim of foul play.

“We know the outcome of finding my nephew is not good. And we are beginning, as a family to accept that,” said Rosa.

Santiago is 35-years-old and a native of Chelsea, Massachusetts.

Recently, Santiago and his girlfriend moved to San Antonio, Texas so he could find work and the two could start a new life.

But on Sunday June 20th, Santiago’s girlfriend called his family, telling them Santiago was gone.

“After she made that one call, we started questioning her about what had happened,” said Rosa. “She said, ‘He left, he left with no shoes on, he took my wallet, my purse and he left, and we don’t know where he’s at.’ Then she called back and said, ‘I need 500 dollars,’ crying, hysterical.”

For days, Santiago's family made calls and even traveled to San Antonio.

Two weeks later, they obtained a disturbing 911 call Santiago made to San Antonio Police from his hotel room just before he vanished.

This is an edited portion:

Santiago: I’ve got a situation where I live at.

911: Yes sir.

Santiago: If you could track the phone down from where it’s at right now, you’ll know where I’m at. The situation is, you know, I had somebody, you know, come here and try to rob me and all kind of things. Please can you send somebody here?

911: Yes sir.

“As a family listening to that, it’s heartbreaking,” said Rosa.

Now this case is taking another tragic turn.

Santiago’s girlfriend returned to Massachusetts last week, intending to speak with Chelsea police.

But over the weekend, she suddenly died in the hospital.

Santiago’s family suspects she took her own life.

“It leaves us with zero information. It has shut us completely out,” said Rosa. “We know we’re not bringing him home alive, but we want to bring him home so we can give him his final burial.”

No one has any idea what happened to Juan Santiago or where he is right now.

If you can help, call Chelsea Police.

Cox Media Group