TX TX - Justin Urrutia, 41, intentionally drove off road disabling his vehicle, abandoned it & vanished, Sheffield, veh found 8 Nov 2023

[MAHBOOBOO]

SHEFFIELD, Texas — It's been nearly a week since Justin Joseph Urrutia went missing near mile marker 325 off I-10, close to the Sheffield area after leaving his vehicle in the pasture.

Chief Deputy Tulon Murphy says the sheriff's first got the call from a landowner near where Urrutia's vehicle was seen parked.

“The landowner, he called and reported there was a vehicle that was abandoned and it was left up halfway up a mountain," Chief Murphy said. "That was about ten-thirty or eleven o'clock in the morning is when all this was started. That was the initial call.”

Urrutia's car wasn't in the best shape thanks to the terrain and the weather, which were some of the reasons his car broke down. “The vehicle was right off the interstate by a couple hundred yards," Murphy said. "He actually broke down and drove through a gate, and tried to drive down a small mountain. He made it down the hill and made it up about halfway and then the vehicle was disabled because of the terrain."

When authorities searched the car, they found that a lot of his personal belongings were still inside the car. “His personal belongings were left in the vehicle, I believe there was a wallet in there and a phone in there," Murphy said. "It didn’t appear he took much with him.”

Meanwhile, when the authorities went to the family to ask questions, they discovered that he is currently taking medication for a mental illness.

Chief Deputy of Pecos County Sheriff's Office says a Pecos man 'broke down and drove through a gate' before disappearing

Chief Deputy Tulon Murphy says Justin Joseph Urrutia left many of his personal belongings in his car when he disappeared.

www.newswest9.com

Mr. Urrutia is 5'10", 150 lbs, has brown hair, blue eyes and deep dimples. Clothing type is unknown.

If sighted, report it to the Pecos County Sheriff's Office at 432-336-3521.

LE have been searching with ATVs, drones & a helicopter.

According to his last fb post (from 2015), he worked for Emerald Pools (appears to be a chain) in Sugarland (Houston) as a Salesman, although this particular location either is or was owned by a woman with the last name Urrutia. And opencorporates.com lists him as an officer with the company for a period of time.

I found the spot where he drove through the gate; this is heading East on the I-10 Service Rd just before the intersection of I-10 & Hwy 349, NW of Sheffield.

 

[charminglane]

dbm

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Justin lives in Sugar Land, Texas but had traveled to Seguin.

The Pecos County Sheriff’s Office believe Urrutia went missing near the 325-mile marker off of I-10. They say the search has continued but with no sign of Urrutia.

An extensive search of the rugged terrain by way of helicopter, drone, UTV and foot search has continued weather permitting since his disappearance. Pecos County Sheriff Perkins says during the course of their search, his investigators have been assisted by the DPS Aircraft Division out of Alpine, Texas Rangers, DPS CID, Texas Parks and Wildlife, along with private and local rancher and landowners Mr. and Mrs. Ed Lasater, as well as Continental Helicopters Inc., Kenn Kothman

https://seguintoday.com/2023/12/01/missing-houston-area-man-last-known-to-have-visited-seguin/

 

[Darling136]

Sheriff office post

https://www.facebook.com/PecosCountySO/posts/668618865377515

 

[imstilla.grandma]

"It’s very much like the Jason Landry missing case," Vicki said. "You know they found Jason’s wallet, they found Jason’s phone. There was an accident. It was in a rural area.”

Vicki said she had no idea how her son's car could've ended up way out there so she started doing some investigating. It turned out that there were charges made to his credit cards at gas stations in the Texas Hill Country area and San Antonio. His GPS even showed he went to an ice house in Seguin.

Confused with nowhere to turn, Vicki hired Colman Ryan, a private investigator, to help find her son. Ryan said he's hopeful because they have Justin's cellphone and his computer. Ryan said the best-case scenario is that he's able to recreate a digital map showing the route Justin took that night in November. Unfortunately, no surveillance video of Justin has surfaced.

"Time is of the essence," Ryan said. "Most video is around for a week, maybe two weeks. The more time that goes by the less chance you have of getting that evidence.”

Despite being missing for two months, Vicki said she's holding on to hope.

'Like the Jason Landry missing case' | Texas mom looking for answers after son missing for nearly 2 months

The mother of a Sugar Land man who has been missing since November is asking for help finding her son Justin Urrutia.

www.khou.com

 

[JTSmagic]

Doesn't seem like much has changed.

Article published Jan 19, 2024...
"Where is Justin? Disappearance of Sugar Land man still a mystery more than two months after he was last seen"

 

[Unsolved]

Wow I had to stop and stare at his picture - I know they're not connected, but for some reason he reminds me of Cornelius "Casey" Frederik Bokslag who went missing from Salt Lake City in 2022. It's strange how different cases can still ding your memory of others you looked at, isn't it?

Thinking about it though maybe it's really that I get the same sinking feeling with this one as with the Bokslag thread. It's hard to keep the faith when you're scared that it won't end well.

I noticed it said that "His GPS even showed he went to an ice house in Seguin". I pictured an actual ice company and didn't know an ice house in TX could be a bar and grill, convenience store, gas station, etc. until I looked it up:

"What makes a bar an ice house?
In some parts of Texas, especially from San Antonio and the Texas Hill Country down to the Mexican border, ice houses functioned as open-air bars, with the word "icehouse" becoming a colloquialism for an establishment that derives the majority of its income from the sale of cold beer."

Were there any cameras there? Did he meet someone/leave with someone? Hopefully the PI his Mom hired in the article above will be able to come up with something to help.

Many prayers to Justin's family that some news comes soon.

 

[Howl]

His GPS even showed he went to an ice house in Seguin.

Texas is a big place. Sheffield, where his car was found off I 10, is a touch under 300 miles west of Seguin and is, charitably, in the absolute middle of Trans-Pecos nowhere. It's rugged country, without a lot of ground cover. The photos on the police FB page posted by @Darling136 really give a good sense of the terrain. Overview of the Sheffield/I-10 below. Not a great place to go for a walk if one is disoriented.
This is so sad.

 

[Unalienable Rights]

Sugar Land mom takes missing son's case into her own hands and finds blood evidence in his car

Justin Urrutia, 41, hasn't been seen since November 2023. His mother has been desperate for answers, even hiring a private investigator.

www.khou.com

SUGAR LAND, Texas — For nearly three months now, Vicki Urrutia has been looking for her son Justin.

******
Vicki has been receiving little to no help from law enforcement. In fact, police returned Justin's car to Vicki, saying they didn't suspect any evidence of foul play. That was until Vicki and Colman Ryan, a private investigator, found some key evidence -- blood.
“Now that I see the blood, I know that it’s not a situation that he did this willingly," Vicki said.

*******
The Sugar Land Police Department took possession of Justin's vehicle Monday for processing.

******

 

[imstilla.grandma]

 

[MAHBOOBOO]

Case of missing Sugar Land man turning cold after deputies find no traces of blood in his vehicle

In January, Justin's mom said she and a private investigator found blood in Justin's car using a bottle of Luminol from Amazon.

www.khou.com

This article's a bit confusing.

Snipped for focus:
"The next morning, a ranch owner's fiancee noticed the vehicle on their property. It was parked against the ranch's gate.

"He (I'm guessing He means Justin's car) just went up to it and pressed against it until the chain broke," Ed Lasater, the ranch owner said.
In the more than three months that Justin has been missing, Lasater and his ranch hands haven't seen any other evidence of Justin on the 6,000-acre property."

The original report stated that Justin's car was a couple hundred yards from the interstate and that Jason had broken THROUGH the gate and drove down a hill and halfway up another. So this "parked against the ranch gate" bit is confusing.

"Vicki (Justin's mom) has credit card receipts that paint a timeline of the route Justin, or whoever was driving his car, took before it was left abandoned.

KHOU 11 reporter Matt Dougherty traveled the journey which led to a convenience store in Seguin, a 24-hour Subway sandwich shop, a Circle K and then to a pilot truck stop in San Antonio where no one remembered Justin or his car. After that, Sheriff Perkins said automatic license plate readers picked up the car in Kerrville, and then again in Fort Stockton."

Strange to travel all the way West to Fort Stockton and then come back East toward Sheffield. Fort Stockton isn't exactly a destination, the fort isn't much to look at. I can only assume that he was returning back home and was experiencing a manic episode. I personally think his body will be found out on that ranch some day and that's a shame.

Sheriff says they was no blood in the car. Vicki and her Private Investigator say they found blood in the car while using Luminol. So, if they had to use luminol to find it, I'm guessing it was a small amount. Even with black carpet, a large amount would show up. Unless the blood was on hard surfaces and somebody tried to wipe it down with a bleach solution. Vicki turned the car over to Sugarland PD (Justin's hometown West of Houston) and is awaiting information from them. She doesn't speculate on what happened to her son in the article.

The Sheriff thinks Justin disappeared of his own volition; but the article doesn't specify whether that means that Justin wandered out onto the ranch and died from self-harm or by accident or whether it means that he staged the car on the hill scene and is off living a clandestine life elsewhere.

 

[Howl]

I personally think his body will be found out on that ranch some day and that's a shame.

Yes, that's a very sad but possible scenario.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Police said there were no traces of blood seen in the car, but Urrutia's mom previously claimed a private investigator did find some while searching the vehicle

Texas Man’s Disappearance Goes Cold After Deputies Find No Blood in His Vehicle: ‘A True Mystery’

Justin Urrutia, a 41-year-old Texas man, remains unaccounted for more than three months after he disappeared.

people.com

 

[PommyMommy]

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

Circumstances of Disappearance Justin was last seen in Sugar land, Texas but vehicle was found crashed and abandoned on private property in Pecos County, Texas.

2023 Hyundai Santa Fe​

Style SUV
Color Blue
State Texas
License Plate TKY9160
Expiration Year 2024
Comments Vehicle was recovered abandoned in Pecos County, TX and returned to mother of missing person.

 

[daybreaking]

Still in NamUs, still missing.

From Oct 2024, Updated January 2025: One Year Later: The Unsolved Disappearance of Justin Urrutia