<<Odessa police have been looking for a homeless veteran for three years. It was this month, back in 2016 that Richard Neria’s nephew reported him missing. There are still a lot of questions surrounding his case including questions about a convicted murderer who lived nearby. Either way, his family and friends are still holding out hope that someone knows something.
Raul Franco is Richard Neria’s nephew. “That’s one of my wishes, all the family. We want closure,” said Franco. “My uncle was a very intelligent man, he was in the Navy for a short stint. He was loved by everybody, he’d give his shirt off his back to anybody”.
He had a surgery on his nose because he had cancer, so his distinguished mark was that he didn’t have a nose,” said Franco. “He was just a quiet man, always kind and said thank you,” said Chris Cooper, Salvation Army Odessa, Shelter Manager. The Salvation Army in Odessa was where he was last seen on April 25th of 2016. He came here a few times a week to have dinner.
The investigation revealed that Neria also travels back and forth from Odessa and El Paso. There’s a possibility he can be at either location,” said Steve LeSueur, Odessa Police Department. Franco confirms Neria has family in El Paso as well.. >>
<<But family and friends also say Neria was terrified of a woman. “He was scared for his life actually,” said Franco. “It was this young lady that he was hanging out with a lot. He called her one of his drinking buddies and he was really afraid of this girl,” said a friend of the missing man. “He was afraid this girl wjp was going to try and hurt him one day. I think that may be one of the worst case scenarios I put together in my head.”
Family and friends can’t confirm the identity of that woman. It’s only hear say of who she is.>>
Medical Conditions Neria suffers from dementia. He was diagnosed with skin cancer shortly before his disappearance and had part of his nose removed as a result.
Distinguishing Characteristics Hispanic male. Gray hair, brown eyes. Part of Neria's nose was amputated due to cancer.
Details of Disappearance
Neria was last seen at the Salvation Army shelter in the 800 block of east 11th Street in Odessa, Texas on April 25, 2016.
He had lived as a homeless person in the area for years and had no family locally; his closest relatives live in El Paso, Texas, nearly 300 miles away, and so he sometimes traveled back and forth between Odessa and El Paso. He came to the Salvation Army shelter in Odessa several times a week for their free dinners.
Neria has never been heard from again. His disappearance wasn't reported until May 9. Few details are available in his case. He is a military veteran.
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