Without a trace

Thursday, March 3, 2005

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Joe Zelaya uses the computer to look for his brother.

The computer is a tool of hope in Joe Zelaya's search for his missing 61-year-old brother, Skip.

Skip Zelaya's disappearance, while unrelated to the Jessica Lunsford case, has some striking similarities in the eyes of investigators.

"Usually, you find some kind of evidence that they might have did something bad to themselves or they just moved away and wanted to go on with their life," said Gary Atchison with the Citrus County Sheriff's Office. "This is kind of like our case here with young Jessica, [in] that there's no evidence or either that he did something terrible to himself or that he went off and wanted another life."

Several days after his Jan. 13 disappearance, Skip Zelaya's car was found abandoned outside the Publix grocery store in Homosassa.

Skip's ex-wife, Paula Zelaya, says they were living together, trying to reconcile. She admits they still had some problems, but were also still very much in love. His disappearance is very upsetting to their five children.

"Oh, they're devastated," said Paula Zelaya. "They don't think he would just up and leave and really, I don't either. But I don't really know what to think anymore. He sent everything. To his brother, his license. That's when I thought he probably killed himself. He sent him his license and gave him some checks and told him to deposit them into his account. He left all his clothes, left all his vehicles, left all his belongings."

Click here for an enhanced image of the flyer.

Skip Zelaya's children live out of state, but have visited Citrus County to speak to local law enforcement. They insist their father is a family man who would never disappear without a trace.

Zelaya is described as a clean-shaven white male with brown eyes and brown hair, 5 feet, 9 inches tall and weighing about 130 pounds, according to the Citrus County Chronicle.

Anyone with information about Zelaya's disappearance is asked to contact the Citrus County Sheriff's Office.

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