Photo by Paula Merritt / The Meridian StarVianey and Ezequial Villegas hold a picture of their daughter, Jael, seen in the foreground photograph, who has been missing since June 14.

The last time they saw their daughter, Vianey and Ezequiel Villegas let her sleep in on Wednesday, June 14 instead of asking her to help out at La Tienda Mexicana, their small grocery store in Meridian.  

But their anticipated call from 16-year-old Jael (pronounced Hi-Elle) asking her parents to pick her up from home never came. When she didn’t answer her phone, the couple searched the area, thinking she may have gone to the movies. 

The next day, the Villegas asked the Meridian Police Department for help. Language barriers and confusion over the process led to frustration.

The Villegas are legal immigrants and have lived in the United States for two decades, but they avoid speaking English, preferring their native Spanish. Jael, who speaks Spanish and English, provided most of their day-to-day translations at the store, helping with accounting and permits. 

The Villegas said they felt uneasy speaking to the police because of their heritage. They hesitated to reach out because neither speaks English confidently, but found an English-speaking friend to translate at the police station.

Still, they didn’t think the police took their request for help seriously. The Villegas said an officer asked about their immigration status, not their daughter, and didn’t immediately set up an Amber Alert to help find Jael.

The Villegas said the Meridian Police Department treated their daughter like a runaway, something they say Jael would never do. They said someone told them, “Let me know when you find her so I can stop looking,” adding that Jael would show up in a few days “because that’s what Mexicans do.”

The Villegas said they believe someone took their daughter, but police haven’t reached that conclusion.

Meridian Police Department spokesman Sgt. Dareall Thompson, who was not the investigator on the case, said the confusion over legal status may stem from the detectives’ request for a social security number.

“Everything we do is based on a social security number,” said Thompson.

In Mississippi, law enforcement officers can legally ask about a resident’s legal status, but Thompson said detectives asked for a social security number because it’s required to put out an Amber Alert. The alert was delayed, Thompson said, because police needed to find other numbers related to the family’s immigration documents to replace the social security number.

“We can’t say she was taken,” Thompson said. “We can’t assume. We have to go off facts.”

Though the Meridian Police Department has a few Spanish-speaking officers, Thompson said neither the first nor second detective assigned to the case spoke Spanish. A Spanish-speaking juvenile investigator spoke with the family, but wasn’t assigned to the case.

Detective Kevin Boyd now oversees the case, but Thompson speaks on behalf of the department. 

‘Every database in the nation has her face’

The Villegas said a detective – possibly a family friend in another jurisdiction – had heard from another department about a girl who had escaped from traffickers and claimed she saw Jael in captivity. Vianey Villegas remembered a man filming Jael while she worked a few weeks before she disappeared, something that made her suspicious.

Thompson said Meridian police would have communicated directly with another agency, if that were the case, however, he wasn’t aware of any such communication. 

Thompson said when police suspect human trafficking, they reach out to two organizations: the Dallas Police Department, which specializes in human trafficking because of its location, and F.R.E.E. International, an organization dedicated to rescuing victims of human trafficking. 

Jody Dyess, the student outreach and awareness director of F.R.E.E. International, works with first responders across the country and trains them to recognize human trafficking victims.

“A lot of the victims we find come from even smaller towns than Meridian,” Dyess said. “They’re just looking for easy pickings.”

Dyess said trafficking could look like a runaway case because traffickers may attempt to lure someone away by playing off of self-esteem issues.

“If he has done his job she would run to him thinking he loves her,” Dyess said. “That’s why it’s important for parents to know who their kids are talking to.”

The Villegas said Jael left with her cellphone and Apple Watch, something law enforcement could use to see if someone had groomed her for human trafficking.

Dyess, who familiarized himself with Jael’s case for the interview but hasn’t formally investigated Jael’s disappearance, recommended police search through phone records to determine whether or not a missing child, or runaway, could have been recruited through texts or phone calls.

Otherwise, police have a difficult time proving someone lured Jael away.

“The rule of thumb on the national scale… is even if it is a runaway, within 48 hours they will be approached by someone who intends to exploit them,” Dyess said. “If the parents think it could be exploitation, we should think about it from every angle.”

Something that made Dyess pause was the report that someone may have been watching and taking video of Jael.

“If they feel that person is taking pictures or communicating with her enough those are red flags for me to think about it,” Dyess said.

Dyess warned, however, that human trafficking victims are typically runaways, not kidnap victims.

“A majority aren’t abducted, but it happens,” Dyess said. “With human trafficking, there’s usually a grooming in place.”

No matter the circumstances, Dyess offered the services of F.R.E.E. International to the Meridian Police Department and the Villegas, distributing Jael’s photo and information nationally through social media and missing posters in areas where they suspect human trafficking.

“Every database in the nation has her face,” Dyess said, encouraging the family to continue reaching out and pursuing the case.

‘They ask for her’

Meanwhile, Jael’s family and friends miss her.

Because of her English and Spanish fluency, the Villegas and many in Meridian’s small Spanish-speaking community depend on her for translation help. 

“They ask for her,” Vianey Villegas said.

The Villegas live at the Mar-Ray Apartments, just off North Hills Street, a 5-minute walk away from their store on 4916 Poplar Springs Drive. The Villegas said Jael didn’t walk between their home and store. In fact, she never walked anywhere alone, they said.

“She’d call and say ‘Papa, I’m ready,’ ” Ezequiel Villegas said. “And I’d come pick her up.”

“She’s my daughter,” Vianey Villegas said, between tears. The mother pulled out a cellphone and scrolled through photos of Jael, a teenager who takes selfies with different makeup and hairstyles. She has a big, easy smile.

The Villegas said Jael would come straight to the store after school. Jael, in the 10th grade, then did her homework at the store and helped out.

“She was always very sweet,” said family friend Jeannette Thomke, who assisted with much of the translation for this report.

“She was very happy in the store,” Vianey Villegas said. “She was always here.”

Vianey Villegas slips into a soft, clear voice when she speaks English, usually for something related to her daughters. She said Jael liked chicken, tacos and science. At the store, she helped with the accounting and sent money to family in Mexico. 

The parents said they haven’t told Jael’s little sister, six-year-old Camila, about Jael’s disappearance. Vianey Villegas said Camila has acted out in school because she misses Jael. They told Camila that Jael goes to school in Alabama and is too busy to talk or doesn’t have WiFi to message through WhatsApp.

Vianey Villegas said Camila didn’t believe her.

” ‘She’s the goddess of WiFi,’ ” Vianey Villegas said Camila told her. Vianey Villegas said Camila asked her, ” ‘When is she coming back?’ “

Note: Reporter Whitney Downard speaks some Spanish but Jeanette Thomke, a friend of the Villegas, provided much of the translation. 

How to help

Those who know anything about Jael’s disappearance should call Crimestoppers at (855) 485-8417 or the Meridian Police Department at (601) 485-1837. To see and share Jael’s missing poster, visit www.missingkids.com/poster/NCMC/1300896/1/screen.