VILET TORREZ-38 yo- (2012)- Miramar FL

Miramar Police need the public’s help to find a
mother of three who has not been seen or heard from since last Friday
evening, when she had dinner with a co-worker friend.

Vilet Torrez, 38, didn't
show up for work at Bath Fitter in Doral over the weekend and on Monday,
when her family reported her missing. Her van was found at her home.

“It’s a big concern. This
is very uncharacteristic of her,” said Miramar Police Detective Jonathan
Zeller at a press conference Wednesday.

Torrez separated from her
husband Cid Torrenz a few months ago, police said. He tells NBC 6 he
last saw his wife Friday afternoon when he picked up the children for
the weekend.

“I’m extremely worried. I
don’t know where she is. This is completely uncharacteristic of her,”
said Vilet Torrez’s brother Javier Blanco. “She’s extremely responsible.

He added that her children are extremely close with their mother.

“Everything has been
ordinary until Friday,” said Blanco, who acknowledged his sister had
some marital issues. “We’re destroyed."

He described his sister as a happy, extremely religious and loving mother.

Police say they are looking into possible surveillance video, credit card transactions and cell phone records.
Mrs. Torrez is 5-foot-3, weighs between 125 and 130 pounds, and has black hair and brown eyes.

The Miramar Police Department is asking anyone with information on her whereabouts to call (954) 602-4000.

http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Missing-Miramar-Womans-Family-Pleads-For-Public-Help-146194725.html

The children of Vilet Torrez have been removed from the care of their father nearly a week after the mother disappeared.
During a custody hearing Friday morning, Vilet’s parents were given
custody of the three children. The father, Cid Torrez, will have
supervised rights.

The kids were removed Thursday night after a confidential call was
made to the Department of Children and Families that said Cid reportedly
said he was going to get a gun and end it all.

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported the couple had an on-and-off
relationship in recent months and that Cid sometimes lived elsewhere.




The move came on the same day that police may have found new evidence
in Torrez’s disappearance. Police executed a search warrant on Torrez’s
home Thursday. CBS4 cameras showed investigators photographing strange
marks on bricks surrounding a flower bed.

The marks were so concerning, police decided to take the bricks for
further examination. On the front door, you can also see faint stains or
smears.

Torrez lived in Miramar and left behind her children, her family, and all of her friends.

During a Wednesday press conference with Miramar Police, new pictures
of Torrez were released showing the mother with a big smile on her
face. Her family said that how she always is at home.

Investigators told CBS4 they’re checking to see if her credit cards
have been used. The last time anyone saw her was Friday, when she had
dinner with a friend. Now, cops are following every lead and scrape of
information they receive.

If you have any information, call Miramar Police at 954-602-4000 or Broward Crimestoppers at (954)-493-TIPS.
http://miami.cbslocal.com/2012/04/06/dcf-removes-kids-from-home-of-missing-miramar-mom/

Vilet Patricia Torrez Missing: Miramar Police Confirm Suspicion Of Foul Play, File Search Warrant For Husband's DNA


Police believe a woman missing for nearly three weeks has been a
victim of foul play -- and have filed a search warrant seeking DNA from
her estranged husband.


Vilet Patricia Torrez, a Miramar mother of three, was last seen leaving a friend's house the night of Friday, March 30.
Her company car was found in the parking lot of her apartment complex,
but the 38-year-old University of Miami grad didn't show up for work at
Bath Fitter in Doral over the weekend and never made contact with
relatives.


"We are going on record," Miramar Police spokesperson Tania Rues confirmed. "Foul play is suspected."


Police have already searched Torrez's Toyota Sienna, a 2009 Jaguar
registered to husband Cid Torrez, and the family's Miramar townhouse. A
fourth warrant has been filed allowing investigators to obtain DNA and
fingerprints from Cid Torrez, who picked up the couple's three children
the afternoon of March 30 and then reported his wife missing three days
later.


Recent court documents obtained by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel
show police removed several items from Torrez's home, including
bathroom towels and ladies shorts with what may be blood stains.
Detectives were previously spotted inspecting and then removing and bagging bricks from around her front door on April 5.


Both born in Nicaragua, the former Vilet Blanco reportedly began
dating Cid Torrez at Miami Springs Senior High School and married in
1998 after he served in the U.S. Marines. The couple separated about two
months ago, with Cid Torrez admitting to "little differences right at the end" but insisting the couple closely co-parented despite the crumbling relationship.


Their three children were removed from Cid Torrez's custody after an
anonymous call April 5 to the Florida Department of Children and
Families. CBS Miami reports the caller told authorities Cid Torrez had a gun and was threatening to "end it all," which his attorney dismissed as hearsay.



Though investigators didn't find a gun in Torrez's home or car, a judge ruled the children would stay with Vilet Torrez' parents and have supervised visitation with their father for the time being.

Family members, meanwhile, continue to care for the children and hand
out missing persons flyers in the area, hoping for any information on
Torrez' whereabouts.


"I want her to be found," brother Javier Blanco, a local lawyer, told NBCMiami. "At the end of the day, closure means the world."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/18/vilet-patricia-torrez-missing-miramar-cid-person-of-interest_n_1434675.html

Vilet Torrez Case: Police Cadaver Dog Searches Miami-Dade Canal For Missing Miramar Mom (VIDEO)

Posted: 04/30/2012 2:19 pm Updated: 04/30/2012 4:47 pm

Video link: http://miami.cbslocal.com/latest-videos?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=7092105

A cadaver dog was spotted searching a Miami-Dade canal on Monday for the body of missing Miramar mom Vilet Torrez.

Police officers from Miramar, Davie, Miami-Dade County, the Palm Beach Sheriff's Office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement were on scene at the C-9 Canal -- also known as Snake Creek Canal -- in an area where it cuts through the southern end of Miramar.

The officers are members of Miami-Dade Fire Rescue's multi-agency Urban Search and Rescue Florida Task Force 1, of which a Miramar officer and his cadaver dog are members. A police diver was seen on board a Davie police boat with the cadaver dog, which is trained to find submerged or buried bodies.

"They're trained to find the odor and then alert to it when they smell it," Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office K-9 handler Julianna Martinez told Local10. "The odor, when it's underwater, it's gases, so it rises to the top, so they can smell it on the top of the water. The same with underground: it will come through whatever the medium is that it's under, rocks or dirt or whatever."

The department is conducting similar searches using dogs in other locations, according to CBS Miami, and Task Force 1 told HuffPost Miami that 2 of their dogs were currently assigned to searches in Miramar.

Investigators believe Torrez, who was last seen March 30, has been the victim of foul play and describe her estranged husband Cid Torrez, from whom she separated three months ago, as a person of interest.

The couple's three children have remained in the custody of their maternal grandparents since April 5, when a phone call to the Department of Children and Families reportedly suggested Cid Torrez was threatening to "end it all."

Cid Torrez, who reported his wife missing three days after picking up the children for the weekend, has denied any involvement and suggested his wife may have run off -- a charge her family counters, saying the devoted mother would never have left her children.

"Finally my sister was moving on, being proactive and changing her life and this is what happens," brother Javier Blanco told HuffPost Miami. "It all sort of points to him. I'm worried he's still out there."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/30/vilet-torrez-missing-case-cadaver-dog-canal_n_1465666.html

Person of Interest in case of missing Miramar mom to be given children

May 29, 2012
Cid Torrez, who as been called a person of interest in the
disappearance of Vilet Torrez from Miramar, Fla. is scheduled to have
his children returned to him today.

After an investigation by DCF, they determined the children were not
in danger with their father, Cid Torrez and they intended to turn them
over to his care, Richard Della Fera, Cid's attorney told CBS news.

The children who were being cared for by Vilet's mother, Gladys
Blanco and family, received an unexpected knock on the door from the
Department of Children and Families (DCF) on Saturday and were told they
were there to pick up the children and deliver them to their father,
Cid Torrez, Vilet's estranged husband.

The Blanco family stated they will not turn over the children unless they receive a signed court order by a judge.

Before this, the children, Vilet, 13, Cid, 8, and Marcus, 5, were
living with their mother, Vilet after they were taken from their father
days after she disappeared on March 30, 2012.

http://www.examiner.com/article/person-of-interest-case-of-missing-miramar-mom-to-be-given-children?CID=examiner_alerts_article

Police release video of mother before disappearance

Posted: Today at 6:10 am EDT
Last Updated: Today at 6:41 am EDT

VIDEO: http://wn.wsvn.com/global/video/flash/popupplayer.asp?vt1=v&clipFormat=flv&clipId1=7362507&at1=News&h1=Police&rnd=75236160

MIRAMAR, Fla. (WSVN) -- Police are hoping a new clue can help them solve the case of a mother's mysterious disappearance.

Vilet Torrez has been missing for over two months.

So far, police have been unsuccessful in their search for the Miramar mother of three. On Monday, however, authorities released a piece of video evidence that shows the 38-year-old driving her minivan to the entrance of her gated community, at around 5 a.m., on March 31.

Vilet can be seen using a key card to try to gain access to the Harbour Lakes community. When the card did not work, the video shows her driving her vehicle to another lane to punch in a code into the keypad.

That was the last time Vilet was seen, and police are trying to figure out what happened next. "What happened after that, that's the big question," said Tania Rues of the Miramar Police Department.

Miramar Police have named Cid Torrez, the missing woman's estranged husband, a person of interest in the case. Detectives said Torrez was at home Saturday morning, the morning of Vilet's disappearance, but he claims he last saw her on Friday, March 30. Rues said, "We really can't explain that. What we do know is that she entered the community. What happened afterward, that's the big question."

Torrez is not being called a suspect in the case, and a court recently returned custody of his and Vilet's three children. Torrez temporarily lost custody of the children shortly after Vilet vanished.

Since Vilet went missing, Miramar Police have been canvassing the area surrounding her neighborhood and even employed divers to search a nearby canal for any signs of the missing mother to no avail. "We're able to place Vilet back into the community," said Rues. "What happened after that, we just don't know."

According to detectives, Torrez is not cooperating with authorities.

If you have any information on Vilet's whereabouts or her disappearance, call Broward County Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a reward.

Read more: http://www.wsvn.com/news/articles/local/21007654420391/police-release-video-of-mother-before-disappearance/#ixzz1ww8FAqmo

Vilet Torrez: 911 Call From Missing Florida Mom's Estranged Husband Released

By ALYSSA NEWCOMB (@alyssanewcomb)
June 5, 2012

The estranged husband of a missing Florida mom told a 911 dispatcher that he "definitely did it" before changing course in an April 2 call to report his wife's disappearance.

Under Florida law, police could not release the identity of the caller, but Cid Torrez, the estranged husband of Vilet Torrez, 38, has previously told ABC News he was the person who reported her missing Monday, April 2.

The recording was released by the Miramar Police Department today.

"I don't know. Saturday, she wasn't here, all right? And, Friday, [unintelligible] Saturday morning or Friday night, she didn't come to sleep, and then I don't know about Saturday, and now Sunday, I definitely did it, so ..." the caller said.

"You did what?" the dispatcher asked.

"I mean, um, it was 1 o'clock and she didn't show up either," the male voice said.

"OK, so she's been missing since Friday?" the dispatcher asked.

The caller said he guesses that is the case.

Police have called Cid Torrez a person of interest but have reiterated Cid Torrez is not a suspect and has cooperated.

Richard Della Fera, Torrez' attorney said the statement that he "definitely did it" was made during a time when his client was distraught and trying to recount the calls he made to Vilet and her mother that led to the 911 call.

"Around 1 a.m., he called Vilet's mother for the first time to explain that he had not heard from Vilet all weekend. This was a call he did not want to have to make," Della Fera said in a statement issued to ABC News' Miami affiliate. "In listening to the 911 call, it is clear that Cid was recounting for himself and the officer his efforts to piece together the whereabouts of Vilet for the prior few days and what he had been doing to locate her."

Tania Rues, spokeswoman for the Miramar Police Department, declined to discuss what the caller could have meant.

"I can't speculate as to what the male caller was intending to say. I think the 911 call speaks for itself," she told ABCNews.com.

On Monday, Florida police released a surveillance video from March 31 at 5:17 a.m. that showed the missing mom made it inside her gated community.

What remains unclear, however, are the crucial few minutes after Vilet Torrez was seen on the tape.

Phone records obtained by ABC News' Miami affiliate show Torrez called her estranged husband, Cid Torrez, twice at 5:19 a.m on March 31. Torrez was reported missing on April 2.

Detectives told the station they believed Torrez needed someone inside the house to unlock a security latch so she could enter.

The missing woman's brother, Javier Blanco, described Cid Torrez as "jealous" and said he hadn't slept over at the family home in months.

"The one day he decides to sleep over, I can assure you it was a surprise to her, she was missing," Blanco told ABCNews.com.

The missing mom had recently separated from Torrez, her husband of 15 years, Blanco said.

Blanco said his brother-in-law was jealous and controlling,to the extent they worried about their sister's safety.

"We had been fearing for her life for about a year already," Blanco said. "Her family had been warning her, friends, marriage counselors. We were all urging her to get out, and she was [finally] transitioning her life."

Police executed search warrants on Vilet Torrez' home and car, as well as her estranged husband's vehicle. Cid Torrez has also provided police with hair and saliva samples.

No suspects have been named.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/vilet-torrez-911-call-reporting-missing-florida-moms/story?id=16501076#.T86PZNX5DO8

Miramar Police Search Home Of Missing Miramar Mother Again

June 07, 2012
MIRAMAR (CBS4) – Miramar Police served another search warrant
Thursday at the home of a missing Miramar woman as they try to figure
out what led to her disappearance.

Police would not confirm what — if anything — they found in Vilet
Torrez’s home. But CBS 4 cameras did see a security employee walking out
of the house with a box.

Vilet’s family and friends confirmed that Vilet had an alarm system
in the home but no cameras. Her best friend — Clarissa Garcia —
speculated police might have been trying to find out whether Vilet
actually made it home in the early morning hours of Saturday March 31.
“Maybe they’re trying to confirm that she in fact did get into the
house or that the alarm was on when she got home at that time,” Garcia
told CBS 4′s Carey Codd.

The search comes just days after Miramar Police released surveillance
video showing a woman who police believe is Vilet arriving at her gated
community after 5 am that Saturday morning.

However, police say her husband Cid told investigators she never made it home that morning.

Police told us earlier this week that’s been part of the mystery to solve.
“We know that she got very close to her home,” Miramar Police
spokesperson Tania Rues said. “However, what happened after that, that’s
the question.”

Vilet Torrez was last seen on Saturday, March 31.

Police say her husband Cid is a person of interest in her disappearance and investigators believe foul play is involved.

His attorney Richard Della Fera was at the home Thursday and said Cid had nothing to do with Vilet’s disappearance.

“Cid’s story has been the same since day one,” Della Fera said.

Earlier this week, police also released the 911 call that Cid’s attorney said Cid made two days after Vilet disappeared.
On the call the caller admits to doing something.
CALLER: “And now Sunday I definitely did it.”
911 OPERATOR: “You did what?”
CALLER: “I mean um it was 1 o’clock and she didn’t show up either.”

Cid’s attorney told us Cid was referring to calling Vilet’s mother.
The attorney said it had nothing to do with being involved in the
disappearance.

Vilet’s family and friends say the 911 call, the surveillance video
and the latest search show that police are making this case a priority.

“I’m very glad that they’re putting some pressure and trying to get
it out there and find out what happened,” Garcia said. “Something
happened to Vilet. She just didn’t disappear.”

http://miami.cbslocal.com/2012/06/07/miramar-police-search-home-of-missing-miramar-mother-again/

Police Probably at Dead End in Vilet Torrez Case, Experienced Investigator Says
She was last seen 2½ months ago

By Diana Gonzalez
Monday, Jun 11, 2012
Updated 10:32 PM EDT

In just the last week, Miramar Police released surveillance video of Vilet Torrez arriving at her gated community before she disappeared, and made public the 911 call Cid Torrez made reporting his estranged wife missing. And on Thursday, detectives returned to Vilet Torrez’s home with another search warrant.

Those new developments show that police don’t have much to go on, says Wayne Black, who has been an investigator in the public and private sectors for more than 30 years.

“And when they start releasing the information they’re releasing, they're probably at a dead end. It's a shame but these cases are tough,” said Black, who worked for the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office, and on the case of Tiffany Sessions, who is still missing after more than 20 years.

Black said the police moves and resulting publicity could stimulate activity from people who know what happened.

“Someone that may have information and maybe they’re coming forward. It’s really a good move on their part,” he said.

It has been two and a half months since Vilet Torrez has been seen. Authorities suspect foul play and named Cid Torrez as a person of interest, though he has said he did not see or have contact with his wife on the early morning she disappeared.

A recent police press release still referred to her as missing.

“But I think they’re treating it like a murder,” Black said. “They say foul play but, you know, the M word isn’t coming out yet.”

The only time it has was on a warrant filed just a few days after her disappearance, which sought evidence of murder in the first degree.

The victim’s brother, attorney Javier Blanco, has made it perfectly clear what he believes happened to his sister.

“I think he killed her. I think he choked her,” Blanco said last month outside a Broward County courtroom.

When the 911 tape was released last Tuesday, Cid Torrez’s attorney Richard Della Fera sent Blanco a letter in which he wrote, “I therefore demand that you cease and desist from your public comments declaring my client guilty of murder. This case may never go to trial. However, if it does, your comments are contrary to the presumption of innocence and the right to a fair trial.”

Blanco wrote in response, “It is with great irony and sadness that I now find my gifted profession being used against me in the most trying time of my life.”

Meanwhile, police detectives continue their investigation. The office of State Attorney Michael Satz will make the ultimate decision, Black noted.

“And they'll file charges only if there's a substantial likelihood of a conviction. But now there's no rush,” Black said.

He added, “There really is no rush at this point. I mean if they haven’t found the body, they take their time and gather the evidence and do their work.”

http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Police-Probably-at-Dead-End-in-Vilet-Torrez-Case-Experienced-Investigator-Says-Story-158514435.html

View more videos at: http://nbcmiami.com.

http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Miramar-Police-Divers-in-Vilet-Torrez-Case-Have-Difficult-Task-164077436.html

New Billboards Feature Missing Miramar Mother

Friday, Aug 10, 2012
The family of missing Miramar mother Vilet Torrez is stepping up the search with a pair of billboards seeking information on her disappearance.
The billboards, which are courtesy of
ClearChannel, went up at Okeechobee Road just west of the Palmetto and
Southwest 8th Street west of Red Road.
Torrez, 38, hasn't been seen since March 31, and Miramar Police and her family have spent the past four months searching for her.
Authorities suspect foul play and
named husband Cid Torrez a person of interest, though he has said he did
not see or have contact with his wife on the early morning she
disappeared.
Miramar Police divers have been searching local waters
for any sign of the mother of three, but haven't had any luck so far.
Her family is hoping the billboards can shed some new light on the case.
Authorities suspect foul play and
named husband Cid Torrez a person of interest, though he has said he did
not see or have contact with his wife on the early morning she
disappeared.
Miramar Police divers have been searching local waters
for any sign of the mother of three, but haven't had any luck so far.
Her family is hoping the billboards can shed some new light on the case.
The billboards feature a photo of Torrez and ask anyone with information to call Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS.
http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/New-Billboards-Feature-Missing-Miramar-Mother-165713566.html

Husband of Missing Miramar Woman Vilet Torrez Arrested, Charged With First-Degree Murder For Her Homicide:
Wednesday, Nov 21, 2012

The husband of Miramar missing mother Vilet Torrez was charged with first-degree murder in her death, authorities said Wednesday.

Miramar Police said Cid Torrez was arrested just after 8 p.m. at his parents' Miami Lakes home and did not speak to detectives at the time. He was with his children, who were subsequently taken to their maternal grandmother, according to the Torrez family.

Police said the arrest was the result of a "meticulous" investigation that lasted over seven months.

"I don't think that there was one piece of evidence that really put him behind bars, it was a variety of things," officer Tania Rues said at a press conference Wednesday.

Still, authorities said, no body has been found.

"I just want him to talk. I just want my mother to know where she is," Vilet Torrez's sister Nayiva Blanco said Wednesday night.

She struggled to fight back tears.

"We couldn't believe it in the beginning, never expected it to happen a day before Thanksgiving," she said. "We've been thinking about them a lot. My mother has been crying since this morning, knowing it was going to be our first Thanksgiving without her."

Richard Della Fera, attorney for Cid Torrez, spoke with NBC 6 South Florida and said he belives there is no new evidence that came forward that could have caused this conclusion before the holiday.

"The timing was very suspicious," he said, maintaining his client's innocence.

Della Fera plans to be at court Thursday and will read the findings of the investigation.

"If they decided to charge my client now, after 8 months, they are doing so only with circumstantial evidence, and circumstantial evidence cases are very difficult to prove," he told NBC 6 South Florida.

Authorities continue to ask people with information to come forward.

http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Police-Arrest-Husband-of-Miramar-Missing-Mother-Cops-180452201.html

A lot of people have been waiting for this one to become official. I hope they get an intelligent jury, and also actually find her, for her family's sake. The police did a good job on following up on this case!