It is a case that continues to haunt a North Texas Police Department: the disappearance of Prisma Peralta Reyes nearly two years ago.
The Mesquite mother was last seen in Old East Dallas on April 17, 2019. She has not been seen or heard from since then.
“I’m going to find my daughter,” said Lilia Peralta before breaking down in tears.
Saturday marks two years since Reyes vanished.
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The then 26-year-old woman was last seen at the Olympus at Ross Apartments in Old East Dallas.
Surveillance video released by police shortly after her disappearance shows the woman appearing to stumble around by an elevator in the apartment’s garage while on her cell phone.
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Reyes left her job in Dallas for lunch but never returned that day. She was reported missing after she failed to pick up her son from his babysitter’s home.
Mesquite police are investigating the case because Reyes lived in the city at the time.
Police released additional surveillance video from April 17, 2019, showing Reyes at a Tex-Mex restaurant near the apartment complex.
Reyes had lunch with her ex-boyfriend, according to police.
He has not been identified by police, as he has not been charged with any crime.
Surveillance video shows her ex leave the restaurant, but police say Reyes stayed and continued to drink at the bar.
There was an argument between Reyes and a staff member, and she was asked to leave, according to police.
Reyes was then reportedly involved in a road rage incident on the road.
Police were called but she left by the time officers arrived.
The investigation revealed Reyes appeared to begin to drive back toward the location of her job, but she then doubled back toward Old East Dallas and her ex-boyfriend’s apartment building: Olympus at Ross.
She was last seen on camera, pacing by an elevator.
“It is not often that a person vanishes without a trace like this but in this particular instance, that is exactly what happened,” said Lead Detective Dustan Barrett.
Two years into the investigation and police still do not know if Reyes ever left the apartments located along Ross Avenue.
“There were several exits not covered by [surveillance] video,” said Barrett.
Barrett says a witness saw Reyes get out of the elevator but will not say what floor it was given the ongoing investigation.
He also cannot say if Reyes exited the elevator on her ex-boyfriend’s floor.
The man was not home at the time and did not return for several hours, according to police.
He also provided a ‘very, very solid’ alibi to police, said Barrett.
There was no physical evidence of Reyes inside the building, neither her purse nor her cell phone was found.
Police are not discounting any potential scenario, including whether Reyes may have left everything to start a new life somewhere else.
There are no other persons of interest at the time who live or lived at the apartment complex.
Police canvassed the area on several occasions following her disappearance but are pleading for any present or former tenants who did not speak to police to come forward.
“I fully believe somebody saw something and I need that person to come talk to me,” said Barrett.
The detective says, as a father, he understands Peralta’s frustration at a lack of answers and vows to continue pursuing any new leads.
“I won’t give up, I can say that,” he said.
Reyes’ mother says every day is another day she suffers not knowing what happened to her daughter.
Her grandson turned 8-years-old last month. Peralta says he told her his birthday wish was to know what happened to his mother.
If you have any information about Prisma Peralta Reyes’ disappearance, you are urged to contact Det. Barrett at 972-216-6791.
