DALLAS — Marisela Botello Valadez, of Seattle, has been missing for more than a month and the Dallas Police Department urges the community to assist in its efforts to bring her home. On Thursday, the Dallas Police Department hosted a news conference regarding the upgrade of 23-year-old Valadez’s case from “Want to Locate” to “Endangered Missing.”

“Right now, we’re just working on trying to locate Ms. Botella,” said Lt. Eric Roman, of Youth Operations and Missing Persons. “We want her to either contact us. If you happen to know anything about her current whereabouts or you were in that area that night and happen to have a picture taken with her or you were speaking with her, please give us a call and let us know. We would like to talk to her and talk to anybody else that has any information for Youth and Missing Persons.”

What You Need To Know

  • Marisela Botello Valadez, 23, of Seattle, has been missing for more than a month

  • Botello was last seen Oct. 5

  • Police said Botella traveled to Dallas from Seattle

According to police, Valadez traveled to Dallas from Seattle, Wash., to visit a friend. As part of their investigation, authorities determined that Valadez went back to her friend’s residence and also to Deep Ellum where she visited businesses in the area. She was last seen Oct. 5. Roman said her disappearance combined with her not contacting family and friends or the use of social media led them to change her case status. But, they remain optimistic in her return.

 

Press conference regarding Marisela Botello case.

Posted by Dallas Police Department on Thursday, November 5, 2020

“We know based on our investigation and from talking to people who spoke to us, that she ended up meeting a secondary person and leaving the location,” said Roman. “Based upon video, we were able to determine who that person was and we are currently asking for the public’s help and for anybody who was in the area during the weekend of Oct. 5-6 if you saw Ms. Marisela Botello, please assist us because we do need more information regarding her safe return at this time.”

The person was identified as Charles Beltran. Dallas Police issued a “Help Locate Person of Interest” bulletin on Oct. 29 for Beltran. He was last seen driving a black 2014 Audi A6 with Texas license plate MJG3114 the morning of Oct. 5, per police records. Both Beltran and the vehicle haven’t been seen since that time.

“He is not a suspect,” said Roman. “He is just currently a person-of-interest regarding this case, because we know that he was the last person to have been seen with her and speak with her.”

Anyone with information regarding the case is urged to contact the Dallas Police Department Youth Operations at 214-671-4268 or by email at missingpersons@dpd.dallascityhall.com.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story used Botella instead of Botello. It has been corrected.