The Missing: Houston mom wants answers about her missing son
HOUSTON - A Houston mom now has to refer to a calendar to describe the last time she saw her missing son.
"Everyday I wake up I wonder if I'm going to get a phone call that they found his body," says Conception Moreno. Way back in April 2021, is the last time Conception Moreno saw her 19-year-old son, Alexander Silva III.
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"Every time I turn the news on, and they find a body in the bayou or in the water, I'm thinking oh my God, is this my child?" Moreno says.
"The last few days of my nephew's life, as we believe, were the 14th through the 17th. That's when everything kind of goes down. On April 14, his ankle monitor turns off for some reason. Looks like there was some tampering," says Silva's uncle, Paul Vasquez.
Silva was wearing an ankle monitoring device for a retaliation charge, which his family now knows went offline for two days in 2021 before he disappeared.
"It comes back online and its traveling to a warehouse in an area of Houston, an area known for sex, drugs and child trafficking," Vasquez explains. He says after two days at that warehouse, the ankle monitor on his nephew shut down for good.
Vasquez says the family found witnesses who saw the 19-year-old there, and they've hired a private investigator.
"They sent cadaver dogs out to the spot where the eyewitness put him. Cadaver dogs did a full alert for the presence of human remains," explains Vasquez.
Moreno says they also received demands for money.
"Eight or ten of my family and friends, we all got a ransom text message. I believe in my soul those ransom messages were absolutely real," says Vasquez.
The family feels no one is looking for Alexander except them. They say they're now also fighting for social justice for others.
"Primarily Black and brown families of missing and murdered loved ones, getting their stories out," Vasquez explains.
"Regardless of what he did in his life, you know this and that, he's still a human being. He still needs to be looked for," Moreno adds.
If you have information about what happened to Alexander Silva, you're asked to contact the Houston Police Department.