TX TX - Samuel Lee Hernandez, 46, El Paso, 19 July 1997

[TheArtfulDetective]

Samuel Lee Hernandez

• Case Classification: Endangered Missing
  Missing Since: July 19, 1997
  Location Last Seen: El Paso, El Paso County, Texas

Description:​

• Date of Birth: February 12, 1951
• Age: 46 years old
• Race: White/Hispanic
• Gender: Male
• Height: 5' 4" - 5' 5" (64 - 65 inches)
• Weight: 210 - 230 lbs
• Hair Color: Brown
• Eye Color: Brown
• Nickname/Alias: Sam; Joe.
• Distinguishing Marks/Features: Scar on the left side of his face near his eye. Red mark near right eye. His lip is twisted as a result of a stroke.
• Clothing & Jewelry: A pullover shirt, Levi's jeans, & athletic shoes.
• Identifiers: DNA available.
• Other: Medical - Hernandez is diabetic. He has seizures, and also problems with his back due to an injury. He is classified as disabled.

Circumstances of Disappearance:
Hernandez was last seen in El Paso, Texas on July 19, 1997. He called his family from a payphone and told them he was leaving El Paso and would be going home to Denver, Colorado. He did not tell them how he planned to travel that distance, but he never made it to Denver.

Foul play is possible in Hernandez's disappearance, but his wife believes he could be alive and in hiding. She received a call from his sister in 2000 saying that Hernandez was living in a tent in Utah and he wanted to talk with his wife and sons. The phone call with his family never took place because his sons did not want to speak to him.

Hernandez's wife stated he kept in contact with his sister and used her address in Utah to receive his Social Security disability check, but she supposedly lost contact with him in 2010. One of Hernandez's sons died in 2010 and his wife believes he may not know. His case remains unsolved and his whereabouts are unknown.

Investigators:

• El Paso Police Department: (915) 832-4400; (915) 872-3656
  Reference Case Number: 04079099

• Texas Department of Public Safety - Missing Persons Clearinghouse: (512) 424-5074; Helpline: (800) 346-3243
  Reference Case#: M0404001

NamUs Case Number: MP960
NCIC Case Number: M-373974903

1898DMTX - Samuel Lee Hernandez
TxDPS Missing and Unidentified Persons Online Bulletin
Samuel Lee Hernandez – The Charley Project
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

 

[John/Jane Doe]

1898DMTX - Samuel Lee Hernandez

 

[spartanx]

If he's classified as disabled, surely if he's still alive, he's homeless... but why wouldn't his wife and children want to talk to him? Would they think he'd run off with another woman? Or was he giving them a hard time? And if his sister had contact with him until 2010, then he really did run away from home...
Whatever the case,
Rest in peace