WOODBRIDGE, Va. — The family and friends of Jose Guerrero, 20, have been searching day and night for him since he went missing on December 21.
"We're out here all day, all night," said Sheila Perez through tears. Perez is his girlfriend and the mother of their 10-month-old daughter, Avery.
She told WUSA9 that Guerrero left their home on Lynn Street in Woodbridge, around 8 p.m. on Wednesday.
"We had plans to go on a date. We were going to go watch Christmas lights, go ice skating. He said he was gonna be right back," said Perez.
When he still hadn't returned 20 minutes later and after trying to get a hold of him, she called his mother, Andrea Salgado.
Salgado had been getting ready to head over to babysit the couple's daughter.
Perez told WUSA9 she began tracking his phone, but around 8:40 p.m., his phone shut off. She says the last location it showed was on Route 1 in Woodbridge. It was then that she called Prince William County Police and filed a missing person report.
Friday, nearly 48 hours later, Perez told WUSA9 her stepmother was driving along Bel Air Road when she spotted the car Guerrero had been in.
Perez and other family members rushed to that spot and called the police.
In a tweet, Prince William County Police say Guerrero is missing "under suspicious circumstances".
Perez says the officers told her "this is more than just a missing person. They said there's a big amount of blood in the backseat of the vehicle."
She says police had the car towed and told her they were going to search it for more evidence.
The family returned home with few answers about the missing 20-year-old. Their Christmas was ruined, as they held out hope.
"His baby's first Christmas was without her dad," said his mother, through tears.
His family told WUSA9 Tuesday that they believe someone hurt Guerrero and that he would never leave his family, especially his daughter, like this.
"Why, why, just why," Perez said through tears. "He would never hurt anybody," she said.
His family is begging anyone who knows anything to come forward and speak up.