Right 2 images are age progressed.
Right 2 images are age progressed.
Name: Rene Layja
Case Classification: Endangered Missing
Missing Since: April 23, 1994
Location Last Seen: Mesa, Maricopa County, Arizona
Date of Birth: March 9, 1961
Age: 33 years old
Race: Hispanic
Gender: Male
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 240-250 lbs.
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Brown
Nickname/Alias: Unknown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: He is mentally challenged and has a large gap between is two front teeth.
Dentals: Available
Fingerprints: Available
DNA: Not Available
Clothing: Blue t-shirt, gray pants.
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Black shoes.
Rene Layja, a mentally challenged 33-year-old, was visiting his mother on a medical visa from Mexico. He had come to Mesa to have medical testing when he went for a walk from his family's home in the 700 block of South Parsell Circle on April 22, 1994. When he didn't return home, his mother reported him missing.
The next day, Layja knocked on a stranger's door in Gilbert. The homeowner called Gilbert police. Layja appeared to be disoriented and dehydrated so Gilbert police took him to the Maricopa Medical Center in Phoenix for treatment.
After getting re-hydrated, Layja met with social workers who tried to figure out who he was and where he lived. In Spanish, Layja told them he lives in Sonora, Mexico, and wanted to go there. So the social workers bought him a bus ticket and took him to the Greyhound bus station.
A bus driver told police he remembered Layja got off the bus in Nogales. He has not been seen again.
Agency Name: Mesa Police Department
Agency Contact Person: Inv. Laura Colon
Agency Phone Number: 480-644-2014
Agency E-Mail: laura.colon@mesaaz.gov
Agency Case Number: 94-1120564
NamUs Case Number: 1062
NCIC Case Number: M-729477000
Added: Prior to 2011; Last Updated: 11-13-2021 - By: Htmlcnvtr
Questions or comments? Please contact appropriate member of the Area Team
** Listed information is from the time of disappearance.
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