Alma Del Real, 22, has been missing since around 3:30 a.m. on April 12, 2015, after leaving a local night club with a friend. According to authorities, her cellular phone last sent out a signal on that Sunday morning, resulting in the final ping police could document. The search for Alma Del Real has been an ongoing mission for many residents within the Michiana area, which comprises South Bend, Mishawaka, and Elkhart in Indiana, as well as Niles, Edwardsburg, and Dowagiac in Michigan, to name a few cities. Volunteers in the search effort has increased since Del Real’s photo went viral on the internet, as individuals lend their support in physical searches, as well as displaying flyers in windows and sharing her likeness on social media.
According to WNDU TV , flyers have been passed around with both English and Spanish details listed on them, hoping to get the word out to as many individuals as possible. However, her image has been most noticeably shared upon social media where friends, family, and complete strangers have taken it upon themselves to get her image out to as many people as possible, hoping someone recognizes Alma Del Real and notifies the authorities of her whereabouts, hopeful for a safe return.
A friend of Del Real shared that the search has continued nearly every day since her disappearance, as hope remains that she will be returned to the safety of her home.
“We’ve been out here, me along with many people that are here to help, just out here every day since, just searching different areas of South Bend, trying to find any source of evidence.”
Cantu feels that searching for Del Real is the least he can do to help. He was sitting just a couple of bar stools down from Del Real the night prior to going missing. He noted that she had too many drinks that night and left with a male friend. Little information has been shared about the male friend, although some commenters on social media have shared his Facebook page and warn that he may know something about her disappearance.
ABC 57 shared that Crimestoppers is offering a $5,000 reward to information about the whereabouts of Alma Del Real. Cindy Kilgore, with CrimeStoppers, is proud of the work the community has done to get word out about Del Real’s disappearance.
“People really spreading this word on a national level and in fact international down into Mexico so we are getting ready for that contingency that we may need to really step up our effort to be able to communicate with that population.”
If you have any information about Alma Del Real’s whereabouts, please contact CrimeStoppers at 1-800-342-STOP.
[Photo Courtesy: NBC News ]
