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E208: Prisma Denisse Peralta Reyes
4.4k Plays2 years ago
When Prisma Peralta Reyes left for her lunchbreak on April 17th, 2019, she drove to meet up with an ex-boyfriend. However, the day (already bad due to an argument with a coworker) got even worse when another argument ensued with her ex. Rather than go back to work after lunch, Prisma proceeded to make several subsequent decisions that were either out of character or unexplainable. It’s those choices that make those who knew her wonder WHY she acted in those ways. And now, even more importantly, WHERE the actions of that day led her, as Prisma’s whereabouts are still unknown.
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Transcript
The Unending Pain of Loss
00:00:00
Speaker
It's always the not knowing that lingers in unseen corners, waiting for the moment when you think you've moved on or that your heart has finally toughened so the pain isn't so debilitating. And then that's when it hits again.
00:00:17
Speaker
The only pain that compares to the loss of a child is that of not knowing what happened to them. Should you grieve and move on to spare others who need your attention and love? Or do you give in to the all-encompassing compulsion to keep looking and never to stop, no matter the cost?
00:00:37
Speaker
Those were the options on the table for the family at the center of our case this week, and various members made different decisions. Some have given up hope of a joyful reunion. Others, like Dan Fuchs, refuse to stop believing that that kind of joy of a child returning home is still possible. He won't stop believing that his stepdaughter could still be alive.
00:01:02
Speaker
and that what she would need is someone else believing in her ability to come back home.
The Case of Prisma Denise Peralta Reyes Begins
00:01:08
Speaker
This is the case of Prisma Denise Peralta Reyes.
00:01:48
Speaker
Welcome to Coffee and Cases where we like our coffee hot and our cases cold. My name is Allison Williams. And my name is Maggie Dameron.
00:01:57
Speaker
We will be telling stories each week in the hopes that someone out there with any information concerning the cases will take those tips to law enforcement. So justice and closure can be brought to these families. With each case, we encourage you to continue in the conversation on our Facebook page, Coffee and Cases podcast, because as we all know, conversation helps to keep the missing person in the public consciousness, helping keep their memories alive. So sit back, sip your coffee, and listen to what's brewing this week.
Collaboration and Coverage
00:02:25
Speaker
I am so excited to be collaborating this week with Sam from Key to the Case podcast. Welcome, Sam. Hi. Thank you, Alison. Yeah. Would you mind telling us just a little bit about yourself and about your podcast?
00:02:42
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. So as you said, my name is Sam. I started an Unsolved True Crime podcast called Key to the Case with my fiance Sean about four months ago. So we're still really new. But the presentation is similar to Coffee and Cases. Each week I research a different disappearance, unsolved murder or suspicious death. And then I share the case with Sean and we discuss it.
00:03:10
Speaker
We really try to focus on lesser known cases, cases that are underreported. And we've actually had several listeners tell us that they haven't heard of many of the cases we have covered. So definitely check out Key to the Case, wherever you listen to podcasts. A couple of episodes that could be a good starting point, I think would be episode 15, the Diane Wolf case for episode 12, the Lisa Grary and Brandon Rumbaugh case.
00:03:40
Speaker
those I think are definitely on the lesser-known side. Yeah, I've never heard of either one. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
00:03:48
Speaker
And definitely feel free to start anywhere. But Allison, I really want to thank you for this opportunity to discuss Prisma's case with you. I love copying cases, and I think you and Maggie are a wonderful team. Plus the research you guys do is top notch. Oh, thank you. Thank you. Yeah. So, uh, sleuthounds, the way this will work, Sam will actually play the role of Maggie, even though it was actually Sam. She doesn't know all the details of the case, but
00:04:16
Speaker
Sam is the one who gave a few case suggestions for this episode. And actually, I don't know if I told you this, Sam, but as soon as I started researching, I knew that this was the one that I needed to cover. Because just recently, I covered the case of Lauren DiBolo. And when I covered that case, I said that when I had started researching it, I felt like I was kind of led by fate to cover it because Lauren and
00:04:46
Speaker
Another case that we had covered Andrea can able which that was a local case another one that we've covered on the show both of those women appeared on the same people magazine cover for missing moms and Guess who else was on that same? Oh my gosh
00:05:04
Speaker
Prisma was also on that cover. So as soon as you suggested it, I was like, OK, this is it. Yeah. And it's one of those cases that sticks with you. I don't even remember how I heard about it years ago, but I did. And I just could not forget it. And it's just so startling, the whole case. So I'll get into all of that. Yeah.
Prisma's Early Life and Ambitions
00:05:27
Speaker
And I actually had the pleasure of receiving additional information
00:05:32
Speaker
in document form from a private investigator in the case and to speak with Prisma's stepfather, Dan Fuchs, in preparation for this episode. So, just like I try to do, interspersed throughout, you will hear segments of that interview. Prisma Denise Peralta Reyes was born in Veracruz, Mexico. According to The Crime Wire, Prisma's father actually died not long after she was born.
00:06:01
Speaker
And after that, Prisma lived with her grandmother, while Prisma's mother, Lilia, cared for her other children. Prisma was four when her mother, Lilia, met an American named Dan Fuchs. This was around 2000 or 2001, and the two began a relationship. And during their relationship, Dan recalled to me the first time he met Lilia's mother and Prisma.
00:06:29
Speaker
they had actually taken a bus ride for the trip. And he recalled seeing Prisma standing there with her grandmother waving as they exited the bus. And when it was time for Dan and Lilia to return home, he remembered Prisma wanting to go with them, but that her grandmother didn't want to let her go.
00:06:50
Speaker
Oh, I know. Can you imagine having to say no? I know. I know. It was actually about six months later, Dan told me that Prisma called her mom and said again that she wanted to come and live with them. So Dan convinced Lillia that Prisma joining her siblings would actually be for the best. And they went to go pick Prisma up, but she didn't know they were coming.
00:07:20
Speaker
Oh, that's sweet. So they surprised her. Yes. Prisma's grandmother's voice actually echoed through the open doorway when they arrived telling Prisma what to get at the store. And the front tire of Prisma's bicycle peaked out the door. But when Prisma actually spotted the pair, she dropped her bike, she dropped everything she was carrying, and she came running into her mother's arms.
00:07:44
Speaker
Oh my gosh. Well, I can imagine that was a good feeling for her mother. Yes, yes. That was when she learned that she was actually going to be going back to Juarez with them. They enrolled Prisma in local schools in Juarez. And within a few months, Stan told me they were actually able to get the paperwork approved for all of them to move back to the states.
00:08:06
Speaker
So it seems like it moved pretty quickly once they got Prisma. Yeah, that's good because I imagine it doesn't always move that quickly. I would think it is very slow.
00:08:17
Speaker
So Prisma was still very young when the family moved to the United States. And when they arrived, they were enrolling the children, obviously in school here. And the school actually wanted to hold Prisma back a year, not because she tested at any level or anything like that. But they said that, this is what Dan told me, that the schools in Mexico weren't as good as the schools in the United States. So they wanted to hold her back a year.
00:08:46
Speaker
And Dan told me that Prisma's mother was actually going to listen to them, which I get, you know, if you've got a school telling you this. But Dan stepped in and he asked that they just give Prisma a shot before making that judgment. And Sam, to show how bright Prisma is, according to Dan, he said that Prisma learned English in one summer.
00:09:11
Speaker
Wow, that's really impressive. I have been doing Duolingo Spanish for almost a year and I can probably say about 50 words.
00:09:24
Speaker
So I mean, I took all throughout high school. I took Spanish. Even in elementary school, we took Spanish classes and I just I did not pick it up as quickly as she did English. Yeah, that is impressive. And English is harder. Yeah, exactly. Kudos to Prisma. But not only did she do that, she actually received a scholarship. I read in one article to a math and science magnet school called Kemp High School. And she graduated high school a year early.
00:09:54
Speaker
Good for her. Yeah, she had joined the National Guard and become a private first class and she had gone to Kaplan to become a paralegal. So this girl has her act together. Yeah, definitely. And that's an interesting transition too from National Guard to being a paralegal.
00:10:17
Speaker
Yeah, so I'll get to all of the jobs that Prisma held here in just a second. She was quite busy with all of her jobs.
00:10:25
Speaker
And obviously, as you can tell by her drive, Prisma was determined in everything she did. She was headstrong and she was forthcoming. Here is what Dan told me when asked about her personality. Very giving, very intelligent. She didn't take flack from nobody. She didn't like to take flack from nobody. She would tell you what she thought when she thought it.
00:10:54
Speaker
very outgoing. Very, very outgoing. It seems that because she was so headstrong, she did sometimes butt heads with her mother. I have a teenager. I totally get this. The butting heads. So not long after Dan and Lilia actually ended their relationship, Prisma ran away from home.
Relationships and Challenges
00:11:18
Speaker
because again, she and her mom butted heads. Dan came back to help look for Prisma and he actually found her and brought her home. And he told me that when he did, he said something to the effect of, because she was out of high school at this point, you're an adult now. If you don't wanna be here, you can tell us that you don't wanna be here. Go through the door, don't go sneaking through the window.
00:11:42
Speaker
Yeah. And as hard as that is to hear sometimes when you're that age, I think if she had time to think about it, I'm sure she thought, OK, I respect Dan and my mom and I shouldn't have done that. And maybe she wouldn't have liked it in the moment, but I definitely think it would have resonated with her. Right. Yeah. And she actually did move shortly after that. And when she did, she met and began a relationship with a man named Arturo.
00:12:10
Speaker
This was while she was going to school at Kaplan to become a paralegal when she was dating Arturo, that she found out that she and Arturo were expecting a child together. She gave birth to a son, Dominic, in 2014, who quickly became her world. Aw.
00:12:32
Speaker
Sadly, before Dominic's birth, about six months into the pregnancy, Arturo kicked Prisma out of the apartment that they shared at the time. By the time that Dominic was born, Prisma was a single mom. And she wanted to be the best mom that she could be and provide everything for her son, but obviously now she was having to start at square one.
00:13:00
Speaker
Right. And do we know if there was kind of a history between Arturo and Prisma throughout their whole relationship, or was it more so toward the end that things started going awry? I got the feeling that it was more toward the end of their relationship. And if you recall, Sam, how I just mentioned Prisma's drive, you could also see it in the fact that Prisma held down multiple jobs at any given time.
00:13:28
Speaker
She took being able to provide for herself and Dominic as her personal mission. Asked how Prisma was as a mother, Dan told me the following. She always tried to move forward, do better for herself so by doing better for herself she did better for her son and that was her whole goal to make his life
00:13:52
Speaker
because she just wanted to have a good, easy life. To do so, Prisma worked many, many jobs. One of those jobs was selling insurance. Yet another was at a gentleman's club. One was in the cafeteria at her son Dominic's school. And still another that she had at one point was at a used car dealership. And she began that last job in 2018.
00:14:21
Speaker
and was holding it when the incident that we are going to explore today happened. So I know I jumped through several years there from 2014 through 2018, but during that time, nothing really seemingly eventful happened, just her grinding away to make a good life for Dominic.
00:14:44
Speaker
So at the time when our case takes place, Prisma was living in Mesquite, Texas, a city of roughly 150,000 that is part of the Dallas-Fort Worth region and situated just east of Dallas. Now I need to backtrack a little bit, Sam, before continuing to introduce another character who entered Prisma's life in 2016
00:15:12
Speaker
but who was back in her life in 2019. You see, Prisma began dating a much older man in 2016 named Ryan. Dan told me that Ryan was roughly 12 to 14 years Prisma senior.
00:15:32
Speaker
Unfortunately though, Sam, similar to Arturo, Prisma and Ryan also had a turbulent relationship. Even in the first year of dating, police were called about a domestic violence issue involving Ryan and Prisma.
00:15:50
Speaker
As a result, Ryan was charged. This was based on the bruises covering Prisma's body with assault. Wow, that's terrible. Yes, he actually received a lesser charge, but that incident effectively ended their relationship and both of them began dating other people.
00:16:11
Speaker
In February 2019, however, Prisma and Ryan began talking again. Do you know who started the relationship back up or who reached out to who? I do not know whether it was Prisma trying to rekindle or Ryan trying to rekindle.
00:16:34
Speaker
I do know that there were some family members like Dan who were completely unaware that the two began dating again. In fact, Dan said that he never even met Ryan when they previously dated nor in early 2019.
00:16:55
Speaker
Yeah, not a great sign. And I definitely think if they started rekindling, maybe she wouldn't want to tell her family that because they if they knew about what happened before, even if they hadn't met him, if they knew about what happened before, they're not going to support
00:17:13
Speaker
that relationship and that is a hard conversation to have. Right. And Dan told me as well that Prisma was actually very selective about whom she brought around him because he's her her dad figure. You know, she called him dad. So what Prisma had told Dan about this was about a month before she went missing. So now we're in March 2019. So
00:17:41
Speaker
Prisma and Ryan started to talk again February 2019. In March 2019, right before Prisma went missing, she felt like she was being followed by someone or stalked by someone. Did she give any details to anyone? She did say that whomever was doing it kind of left
00:18:06
Speaker
the quote unquote message that she was in danger by slashing her tires. I mean, yeah, I would be terrified, but I'm a scaredy cat. And are we blocking like all four tires or slash? Yes.
00:18:21
Speaker
Wow. Well, one, that's scary. Two, that's irritating. Now you have to get all new tires. Which are expensive. Yes. I'm seeing dollar signs just thinking about that. And here you're a single mom working multiple jobs just to provide a good life.
00:18:38
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. Not a bill you want. In some of the cases we've covered, I think maybe two, we've talked about someone who felt like they were being followed, but then they didn't really have any evidence, I guess, to explain why they felt that way. Well, in this case, you have Prisma, who her tires were slashed. That's an intentional act likely done by the person who was following her. Yes.
00:19:04
Speaker
Now, I'll give you a little teaser here. I'll get to it in a minute. We think we know who slashed the tires. Oh, OK. But Dan spoke with Prisma on March 20th, which was her 26th birthday. OK, that's my birthday. I didn't really think you shared a birthday. Wow. Yeah, that's funny. Yeah, he texted her and she texted back. Love you too, dad. And miss you too.
00:19:33
Speaker
And although her texts today were normal, Prisma's birthday present for herself wasn't a typical one. Due to the tire slashing, Prisma had decided to purchase herself a gun.
00:19:49
Speaker
While she told Dan that she bought the gun only because it was her constitutional right as a United States citizen and that she wanted one, she had told others that it was for protection because she was being stalked. Yeah, so it sounds like the anxiety was pretty heightened at that point. Do you know if that was the first time she'd ever owned a gun?
00:20:14
Speaker
I know that she had shot guns before because, number one, in her experience with the National Guard. And number two, Dan told me that she would kind of come out to his property and they would shoot guns together. So she knew how to handle a gun, but I don't know if she owned a handgun prior to this.
00:20:40
Speaker
OK, I was just thinking of this. It's even worse if this is the first time ever that she's owned one personally. Right. Yeah.
The Day of Disappearance
00:20:50
Speaker
So now, Sam, we have arrived at the day upon which every detail hinges, the day that Prisma disappeared, April 17th, 2019. So we're not even a month after she had bought the gun for herself for her birthday.
00:21:10
Speaker
According to all accounts, Prisma arrived early that morning for her job at the car lot. It was called 123 Texas Auto. But that choice to arrive early actually ended up leading to some problems.
00:21:27
Speaker
She had taken a prime parking spot since she got to work early enough, but she ended up getting into an argument with a co-worker who accused Prisma of stealing her parking spot, though obviously no parking spots were assigned at the lot. Yeah, that's incredibly weird to me. I do remember this detail of this story
00:21:53
Speaker
I just don't understand getting so worked up over a parking spot. And I think it's a terrible way to start your day off, right? First of all, having conflict with someone you worked with is never ideal, but over something so small, something that I can't imagine ever getting mad over. I know. So irritating. Parking the spot beside of it. I mean, it's five feet further. Yeah.
00:22:19
Speaker
So after the argument, Prisma told her supervisors about it and went back to her normal work. When Prisma left the car lot for lunch between noon and one, she actually did so with a purpose, Sam. She was going to meet someone. So on her lunch break, she headed to E-Bar
00:22:43
Speaker
Tex-Mex restaurant in the 1900 block of Haskell Avenue in Dallas. She went there to meet her ex, Ryan. And at this point, they'd kind of been talking. Right. Up to this. Right. OK. She called him on her way at 112, and she arrived at E Bar sometime around 130. While at the bar, this is about to get really weird.
00:23:13
Speaker
Ryan, who had arrived almost an hour earlier before Prisma got there, had actually given the bartender a fake name, telling them that his name was Matt.
00:23:26
Speaker
Why is he even telling them his name in the first place? I don't know. I'm trying to think like, OK, if I go to a bar, I don't feel like I typically give my name out. But right beside the point, that is strange in and of itself. Yeah, I had I had no idea the significance of that detail if there even is any. But I found it odd enough that I just wanted to have it noted.
00:23:52
Speaker
because it's so bizarre. Just file it away, Sam. File it away, yeah. Regardless of the validity of that detail, the lunch date between Prisma and Ryan did not go smoothly. Prisma is just having a bad day, even from the start. It seems that after Prisma took a phone call outside, that Ryan said something to the effect of,
00:24:21
Speaker
If we're gonna get back together, then you can't be talking to other guys. But I don't, I think that the call was for her work. Right. Yeah, they were probably calling her asking if, where she was, I would imagine. And he's already being possessive.
00:24:39
Speaker
So, the exact details of the interaction between Prisma and Ryan at the bar are a little fuzzy, but Ryan is seen, according to Mesquite Police Detective Dustin Barrett on the bar's camera footage, he is seen leaving the bar. Prisma, however, comes back inside the bar and stays for another three hours after Ryan left.
00:25:07
Speaker
Wow. Okay. So at that point, it seems like somewhere along the way, she made the decision to not return to work that day. Yes. Yes.
00:25:17
Speaker
And sometime while at the bar, whether this is before or after Ryan left, Prisma called her son Dominic's babysitter named Maria. Now, typically, when Prisma would call the babysitter Maria, based upon past calls, conversations with her would last, you know, five, 10 minutes.
00:25:41
Speaker
This particular phone call lasted 52 minutes, which was a stark contrast to the norm.
00:25:50
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, I would say so. And this was, you said, still at the bar, right? Yes, yes. And do you know, maybe I'll get into this, but do we know what they were talking about? Yes. So when Maria was asked what they talked about, she said, well, we just talked a little bit about what happened at work. We talked about the upcoming Easter holiday. And Prisma told me that she would be here at the normal time of 7.30 to pick up Dominic.
00:26:19
Speaker
which doesn't sound like it would last 52 minutes. No.
00:26:23
Speaker
No, I mean, you'd have to try really hard to make those topics extend out for 52 minutes. I mean, did she talk at all about the mood Prisma was in or kind of the state of mind at that point? Not, she will later, but still seemingly kind of downplaying it and making it sound like, you know, she was a little miffed about what happened at work, but
00:26:52
Speaker
other than that, you know, everything's fine. So Maria's child and Dominic went to the same school. So Maria would pick both the children up and then watch Dominic every day until 730 when Prisma could come and pick him up after work. And I asked Dan how Prisma knew Maria.
00:27:16
Speaker
And he told me that Maria and Prisma's mother had known each other, and that was how Prisma had met her. Oh, okay. After the phone call, Prisma re-entered the bar and had another drink. Eventually, something happens between Prisma and the bartender.
00:27:39
Speaker
Reportedly, the bartender refused to continue serving Prisma more drinks, and they had a verbal altercation, and Prisma, visibly upset, left the bar around 5 p.m.
00:27:54
Speaker
Do you know how much she had to drink while she was there? Like an estimate maybe? That is a great question and I actually asked that same question. We do not know. I have not seen it reported that the bartender, you know,
00:28:13
Speaker
gave a tally or anything like that. The first thing I'm thinking of is if she used her credit card or debit card there, that total should give you a cent of some sort. If it's really large for one person, I don't know, $80 to $90 or something, okay, then
00:28:32
Speaker
There's some concern there, but it also seems like if the bartender's cutting her off, then okay, she's probably had quite a bit to drink at that point, I would think. Right. And Sam, while I didn't see this in any of my research, a document that was provided from the private investigator notes that there is a possibility that, and this is another one of those odd details,
00:29:01
Speaker
I just want you to file away. There's a possibility that after Prisma left the bar, right around five, that she may have tried to hide behind some dumpsters near the bar before leaving the bar itself. Okay.
00:29:22
Speaker
So I will tell that away. That's interesting. Obviously, this behavior would have been very out of character for Prisma, according to Dan.
00:29:35
Speaker
And then I'll play an audio clip. He basically said he had gone to lunch or dinner with her so many times. And he was like, I'm telling you, she could handle her liquor. It was like, I have seen her drink very heavily before. So for her to get to the point where somebody's having to cut her off was not like her. I know for a fact she could handle our liquor. Because we've been out, you know, she used to come over, we used to go out to
00:30:07
Speaker
a couple of weeks. And I've seen her, you know, pretty heavily drinking before. And that wasn't, that just didn't seem right. You know, I mean, it just seemed to be as if she, something was definitely wrong with her.
00:30:29
Speaker
But I feel like I also know people who they can drink a lot, but then once they hit a certain point, they just totally kind of spiral. So they go from seeming so normal, but then they hit a certain point and then it's like a problem. But that is good to know, I guess, that she she could drink a lot and could handle her liquor. That's interesting.
00:30:56
Speaker
What happened next was even more unusual, given the person that Prisma's family knew her to be. After she left the bar near Haskell Avenue and Main Street at just after 5 p.m. Remember, she leaves the bar at 5. This was at like 5.06. Prisma was involved in yet another altercation.
00:31:20
Speaker
In the 100 block of North Haskell Avenue, three separate women made reports of a woman matching Prisma's description and a white Jeep matching Prisma's vehicle about a woman who pulled a gun on them during an incident of road rage. They even got her license plate number and it was indeed Prisma's license plate.
00:31:46
Speaker
Oh, OK. Super alarming. My first question is, so they all got out of the car and that's when she pulled the gun or was it from inside the car? Not that it makes it better, but I'm just curious. I will give you the complete description. Here we go. So before I do that, Dan actually told WFAA reporter David Goens, quote, I'm just really I'm at a loss. I don't know what was going through her head. End quote.
00:32:16
Speaker
So here is a narrative, Sam, from the statement that was taken from one of the people who made the report. Quote, Detective Jones spoke to Complainant McCray, who stated she was traveling on Haskell Avenue and the suspect's vehicle, meaning prismas, swerved into her lane. Complainant McCray stated she honked her horn and the suspect began yelling at her while driving.
00:32:45
Speaker
Complainant McCray stated they approached a red light and came to a stop. Complainant McCray stated the suspect almost hit the vehicle in front of her. Complainant McCray stated the suspect exited her vehicle with a handgun and approached the window while pointing the gun at her. Complainant McCray stated that she feared for her life. So she drove through the red light and several other red lights for safety.
00:33:14
Speaker
Complainant McCray stated the suspect appeared to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Complainant McCray stated the suspect was the sole occupant inside the suspect vehicle," end quote. A lot to take in there. Yes. Wow.
00:33:35
Speaker
I don't want to speculate too much, but you do wonder if, well, first of all, I think the alcohol is a factor here, but I'm also picturing, so this would be extremely out of character for her. I'm thinking if I did something like this, how confused my family would be. So I'm also picturing being Dan in this situation or any of her family members, how concerning this is and just perplexing like what is going on.
00:33:58
Speaker
I mean, I guess the alcohol could be a factor, but what else beyond that? You know, is there a chance she thought this was one of the people following her? Was she super confused? And then you also have to factor in the day's events already. Like we already have three
00:34:13
Speaker
right? Negative things happening that morning at work. And then she goes to the bar and has the issues with Brian and then the bartender cuts her off and it's all just adding up. Not necessarily like it adds up to where she ended up, but it just keeps piling up these like negative events. Yes. And you know, you said it's hard to imagine what Dan was feeling hearing. Yeah.
00:34:40
Speaker
that about this episode. And Dan actually gave me a very different perspective of Prisma to keep in mind. Again, this is his image of Prisma, but something very much at odds with the report. And I'm still, you know, like all those reports of, you know, her brandishing her hand, her hand, handgun, and everything in traffic. That kind of struck me as odd too, because she was not that irresponsible.
00:35:12
Speaker
do what it was meant to do. Right. Yeah, she wanted to just brandish it, just say, hey, leave me alone here. I want to show you this gun. Get away from me. She wouldn't have done that. She would have even gone through the military that she would have been trained and everything through them. She would have used it for its purpose. And, you know, she was very, she's been out here at my farm. Even when she lived here, she would go out and she'd, you know, practice, you know, practice shooting everything else.
00:35:48
Speaker
on it. So she knew that knows what it would do and what it was meant for. And I don't believe she would have just pulled it out just for the heck of it. That's a really good point. I didn't even think about that perspective of someone who has experience with firearm. Typically, you're not going to wield it around like that. Right. Yeah. Brandish it, you know, in the middle of an intersection. Yeah. Yeah. By the time police responded to the call, Prisma was gone.
00:36:16
Speaker
We know the following details because of information from Prisma's phone pings after the incident. Prisma had gotten back into her Jeep and headed back toward Mesquite and the car lot before turning around and heading back again toward Dallas. Even though she made some phone calls during that time,
00:36:40
Speaker
I actually haven't seen any details concerning whether Prisma told anyone why she decided to turn around. I mean, if I'm thinking logically, it could be what you referenced earlier that she just realized, you know, things are not going to be very pleasant if I return to the car lot after having been gone for so many hours when I really only left for lunch.
00:37:04
Speaker
That alone obviously would make me want to turn around and just, you know, call the job a loss at this point. Right. And the work day is probably almost over at that point. Right. Yeah. I obviously don't want to say that she turned around because of the road rage incident, because why would she drive back in the direction of the incident rather than away? So there has to be another reason, it seems to me.
00:37:29
Speaker
Fox 4 News reported that investigators for local law enforcement think Prisma was driving on I-30 before doubling back. They said, quote, she heads out toward White Rock Lake. We have her turning around near White Rock Lake and coming back this way. And then she ends up at the apartment complex over there, end quote.
00:37:52
Speaker
But when I spoke to Dan, he feels that since I-30, I don't know much about interstates in Texas, but I-30 is an elevated highway and the exits are quite some distance apart. He says there's no way Prisma was on that interstate. He believes instead that she was on a road that ran parallel to it and a road on which she, you know, the turnaround would have been possible.
00:38:22
Speaker
I also asked Dan because I was looking at a timeline of the day and I noticed that we have a gap between when Prisma leaves the road rage scene to the time that she is caught on cameras at the apartment complex that was mentioned in that quote from the detective.
00:38:47
Speaker
So I asked him about this gap because it was something like 35 minutes and a drive that should have only taken her eight.
The Mysterious Events at Ryan's Apartment
00:38:56
Speaker
Okay. So I asked him about this gap in time that didn't match up with how long it would have taken her to get back when she turned around.
00:39:05
Speaker
She actually did make some phone calls during that gap. She called her friend Juan at 5.25. She called Ryan at 5.27 and then she called Ryan again at 5.28. So I was talking to Dan and I said, you know, do you think maybe, cause we're trying to figure out what happened to her that day, right? Where she has gone. So I said, do you think she went somewhere else?
00:39:30
Speaker
Do you think she could have pulled over to the side of the road to talk on the phone? But Dan actually clarified for me. She made several calls at that time and she also turned around a couple of times in her driving pattern. She made a couple of rounds, you know, driving forward, turning back, driving forward, turning back, driving forward, turning back.
00:39:53
Speaker
Oh, that's so strange. Yeah. So whatever options she was weighing in her mind, she was clearly unsure of the right choice. But perhaps Ryan knows the reason that Prisma was indecisive and finally actually turned around towards Dallas because after she turned around
00:40:14
Speaker
She went straight to an apartment complex that was called at the time Olympus on Ross. It is now called McAllen on Ross, located in the 3,500 block of Roseland Avenue, which was Ryan's apartment complex. She arrived there, Sam, around 547. Okay.
00:40:41
Speaker
Now, again, she leaves the road rage incident. It's like 509. She gets to his apartment complex at 547. And like I said, it should have, according to calculations, only have taken about eight minutes to get there. But obviously there's a 38 minute gap. But I'm going to tell you more about what happens at the apartment complex here in just a minute.
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00:44:27
Speaker
Hours later, a 911 call came in to Mesquite Police around 9.30 p.m. from Dominic's babysitter to report that Prisma was at least two hours late in picking up her son. Officers arrived at Maria's home to take a missing persons report.
00:44:50
Speaker
The babysitter Maria told police that Prisma had called her earlier that afternoon, but that nothing major seemed to be bothering Prisma. However, she hadn't shown up to pick up her son and that was completely out of character. So the narrative of the incident report reads in part, quote, it was very unusual for Reyes not to pick up her child and that quote,
00:45:17
Speaker
they were worried that something had happened to her, and that was when the complainant called 911." So a detail that stood out to me, Sam, but I don't know what to do with it, is that the report says,
00:45:37
Speaker
The complainant stated to Officer Solano that she had been texting Reyes at around 1600 hours and that Reyes told the complainant that she was having difficulty with parking at work, end quote. Now, obviously, we know that the conversation was a phone call and not a text, but this could have just been miscommunication.
00:46:00
Speaker
since the original officer who arrived to take the missing persons report actually had to call in Officer Solano since Solano is a Spanish speaker and Maria solely speaks Spanish. So maybe he just didn't catch the mistaken detail in the narrative. Yeah, or I was thinking, I mean, maybe they did have the phone call and they texted about it. I don't know if that was an option, but something like that. Yeah.
00:46:29
Speaker
The next call related to Prisma came in the next day on April 18th about a white Jeep Wrangler blocking an alleyway. The connection with Prisma actually wasn't immediate, however, since the Wrangler was actually not registered to Prisma, but to the male
00:46:52
Speaker
Someone who had, according to Crimewire, been married for 10 years, but with whom Prisma was still in contact and had at one time believed that he was her boyfriend before finding out that he had a wife. This guy who she thought was her boyfriend had bought her a Jeep, but it was in his name.
00:47:18
Speaker
And then she finds out that he has a wife, but Prisma had, according to that same article in Crimewire by Jade Hasson Plug, called the man among the other calls that she had made just before she disappeared. So she's still in contact with him. Yeah. And do you know if he answered the phone call? I do not know, but I do know that during my discussion with Dan, Prisma believed
00:47:47
Speaker
that the person who had slashed her tires was this man's wife. So that obviously explains the tire slashing.
00:48:00
Speaker
Yes, that kind of threw me for a loop. Yeah, so. I mean, she would have motive to do that, right? Or just seek revenge if this person is, if her husband is still talking to Prisma, that I guess would make sense then. Yeah, right. Yeah. And remember, that's why because she thought she was being stalked that she had purchased the
00:48:26
Speaker
handgun for protection. And Sam, that handgun was still visible in the now abandoned Jeep. Okay, so when she got out of the Jeep, she just left it in there. So it kind of makes you think
00:48:41
Speaker
I don't know if it makes me think this, but kind of like she felt safe in that moment or she didn't feel the need to bring up with her or maybe she just forgot in the state she was in. I don't know that she was able to think 100% clearly at that point. So maybe it just got left behind. Right. So that obviously could be it. It could be the fact that she parked so haphazardly blocking a road.
00:49:09
Speaker
in addition to the fact that she left her protection behind, it at least indicated to her family that Prisma was either in a hurry when she got out of her Jeep or that she didn't think that she was going to be gone for very long. Yeah, both of those scenarios make sense. So, Sam, let's go through the details of what happened
00:49:32
Speaker
once Prisma arrived at the apartment complex that law enforcement have been able to piece together based upon phone calls and CCTV footage taken within the complex. So first around 547 Prisma abandoned her Jeep haphazardly and ran into the gated apartment complex behind a car that had just entered.
00:50:02
Speaker
So she wouldn't have been able to enter if she didn't do that. Yes. She immediately on CCTV footage turns toward the elevators where she was again caught on camera at 549.
00:50:19
Speaker
Prisma is seen on her cell phone and based on records, detectives were able to verify that many calls were made between 549 and 601 p.m. alone when Prisma was seen on the surveillance footage. So she's standing there for about 12 minutes.
00:50:40
Speaker
At least half of those calls were to Ryan, at least one to an ex-boyfriend, and one to a photographer friend. Nearly every call lasted three minutes or less with most right about one minute long.
00:50:59
Speaker
Two calls were made at 5.49, one at 5.54, one at 5.57, another at 5.58, one at 5.59, one at 6 o'clock, and one at 6.01. And it sounds like these are mostly being answered, is that right? Yes. Very short time. And near the end of that series of phone calls, Prisma was even confusing who she was speaking with.
00:51:28
Speaker
one caller, she continually called Ryan and kept demanding that he give her his apartment number. But the person she was speaking with was not Ryan.
00:51:39
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Dan told reporter Rebecca Lopez for WFAA.com, quote, she was confused. She didn't know what was going on. She thought she was talking to one person, but she was actually talking to someone else, end quote. And I asked Dan to whom Prisma was speaking when she said that she didn't feel right, because I had read in my research that she said to at least one person that she just didn't feel right, that something wasn't normal.
00:52:08
Speaker
And it was actually a friend who lived out of state who, when she said, you know, something is going on, I feel abnormal. He asked Prisma to drop a pen. This was very smart since he was out of state. Drop a pen and he would have someone come and get her to check on her. Yeah, that's really nice. Prisma, though, never got a chance to drop that pen.
00:52:33
Speaker
And not to assume, but maybe in her state, she wouldn't be able to do that quickly or like know how to do that. I'm even thinking right now, like, how do I drop a pen? Right, right. Do I know that? Oh, yeah. Yeah. So I'm like, honestly, it may have just gone. It's a great idea, but it may have gone past her. I don't know. But Dan also clarified for me that in nearly every conversation she had during that time, she indicated that something was wrong.
00:53:04
Speaker
So the comments to everyone that she spoke with and the fact that she had a friend who told her to drop the pin indicates to me that she was scared enough that she conveyed that she needed help. Right. And these conversations are all happening in front of the elevator, right? She wasn't going anywhere. She was just staying or she was stationary and then making these phone calls. Yeah, she's not going anywhere yet.
00:53:33
Speaker
The footage shows Prisma being very dramatic with her arm movements, kind of fidgeting with her lanyard and her keys. And it's actually an animated action that Dan said that he had seen before. I mean, I totally get this because I tend to be very animated when I talk, especially when I feel, you know, an extreme emotion. So I get it. But law enforcement have stated that she obviously appears intoxicated, which makes sense based on what we learned from the events at E-Bar.
00:54:03
Speaker
and that she was upset and crying. But Dan actually believes that she had more than alcohol in her system. I think she was drugged. She was roofied or something like that. Something was slipped to her somehow, some are another. And the detective said, no, there ain't no way. There's no way possible. It's the way possible.
00:54:24
Speaker
that she might have been doing that because everybody that I talked to, the people that she contacted and called, they all said she sounded very confused and not knowing where she was at, which could be here again, you know, if she was slipped or something like that, she would, you know, normally, you know, you would know where you're at. Yeah. So that's, what do you think about that? I mean, my,
00:54:51
Speaker
concern is like the video footage, wouldn't that have caught someone doing that? Because there's footage from the bar, right? There is, which I'm sure that law enforcement have seen the whole thing, but I know that the family hasn't, the private investigator hasn't, she's actually requested it and not received it yet. So yeah, that's a really good question. And I mean, obviously you don't want to believe that
00:55:20
Speaker
your daughter could act this out of character. So I totally get that. Part of me, and we'll get to it in the theories, wonders though if there is something to his gut feeling.
00:55:37
Speaker
I totally see where he's coming from because this is all really strange behavior and it doesn't make sense for her. I mean, it seems really extreme for someone who has just been drinking all day, but then I've seen people very intoxicated before too. So at the same time, I can see a scenario where it was just that. Right. So law enforcement
00:56:05
Speaker
have stated that they followed up with all of the individuals with whom Prisma spoke after leaving Ebar. And they indicated that Prisma was upset and police have actually said that they know what Prisma was upset about, but have declined to comment on exactly what that was, which is odd to me, Sam, because I feel like if it was just the argument at work that everybody already knows about,
00:56:34
Speaker
they would tell us that. Yeah, and even if it weren't, it's like what evidence are you holding back by not saying what she was upset about? I understand holding back information for the sake of the investigation, but saying what she was upset about, I really wonder why they would feel the need to hold that back, especially when they have given other information in this case that I think maybe they would hold back. Right. But they didn't.
00:57:02
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, it's interesting. Prisma's phone nor her debit or credit card were used after that day. Various agencies were brought in to aid in the search for Prisma and police explored all leads that the case brought in. But unfortunately, none of those leads seem to guide them to any solid answers. The last that Prisma was seen, she just saunters off
00:57:31
Speaker
to the side of the camera's view. But if she didn't take these elevators, though I don't understand why she wouldn't have since she's standing right in front of them.
00:57:45
Speaker
then I can only assume that she had taken stairs or taken another set of elevators in the complex's parking garage, neither of which have surveillance cameras, because someone reported seeing her in the parking garage. So why not take the elevators that are right in front of her?
00:58:09
Speaker
Yeah, that is strange. Seems very weird. We assume that she obviously got above the first floor somehow because, as reported by Luke Kenton from The Sun, Detective Barrett also stated that eyewitnesses reported seeing Prisma on both the fourth and fifth floor of the apartment complex's parking garage.
00:58:31
Speaker
In a until then never before seen video clip that was shown on ABC 8 news coverage by Rebecca Lopez of Prisma's Case that aired on April 18th, 2022, surveillance footage from the parking garage shows a woman dressed just like Prisma who off in the distance is walking across the screen before again disappearing.
00:58:58
Speaker
Did the people who saw her, did they talk with her at all or they just saw her? One did that I will tell you about in just a moment. So where she went this time after she exited the screen, we don't know.
00:59:16
Speaker
Detective Barrett did tell Maria Guerrero of the Dallas-Fort Worth NBC affiliate, quote, there were several exits not covered by surveillance video, end quote. So obviously this meaning somehow that either Prisma took one of those exits that weren't covered by surveillance video or that someone could have taken Prisma elsewhere without video surveillance catching them. But I wonder, I mean, if this is true,
00:59:45
Speaker
Obviously, we have to assume that whoever took her has a working knowledge of the apartment complex because I would imagine that if they knew where cameras were, then they had to have known more importantly where cameras weren't. Oh, so you don't think it could have been happenstance? Like you're thinking it would have been more intentional. Right. So if someone did take Prisma, no matter what
01:00:12
Speaker
theory, we believe, either Prisma willingly going someplace or someone taking her maliciously, it was done off camera.
Aftermath and Theories
01:00:24
Speaker
Right. So there had to have been a working knowledge of where the cameras were, which tells me it has to be somebody from the apartment complex or who visited there often. Yeah, that makes sense.
01:00:38
Speaker
A lady, now you asked me if anybody spoke with Prisma, a lady in the apartment complex stated that she had seen a woman matching Prisma's description standing near the back of a silver or gray car that had the trunk open and that the woman she saw was crying. This woman who spotted the girl who looks like Prisma asked if she was okay. She gets a nod and then the woman just continues on her way.
01:01:07
Speaker
And did she see anybody else? I mean, an open trunk to me implies that somebody else would be nearby. Right. And no one else was around. No. And I actually asked Dan because in several apartment complexes that I lived in a graduate school, they had assigned parking spots based on the unit number. Oh, yeah. Like if you're in this apartment, you park here. And so I asked him if this apartment complex had those
01:01:34
Speaker
assigned parking spots. But he said that in all the times that he visited he didn't see any designation of resident or non-resident parking and he added that he doesn't believe that police ever identified whose car it was.
01:01:52
Speaker
See, that's bothered them to me because think about it. I mean, if that were me, that was my car. And I hear on the news that maybe they didn't hear about it, but or from the apartment complex or here on the news that there was someone near this car and it matches my description. And I live in that building. I would probably reach out and I remember having my trunk open for a certain period around that time. Like I think it would be pretty easy for someone to know, oh, that was my car. And then they don't.
01:02:22
Speaker
Say anything? And at least give the family that answer, that it wasn't connected. You haven't seen her. Right. Right. Yeah. And since we don't know, we're just kind of left wondering, you know, what is up with the silver car? What was in the trunk? Does it have a link to Prisma? Was that even Prisma? Was she just completely disoriented? I mean, we have no idea. Yeah. And the only thing, not to harp on the
01:02:49
Speaker
trunk being open. It's just weird to me. I was thinking maybe they were taking their groceries in and they just were like, oh, let me leave my trunk open between, which I would never do, but yeah, but that doesn't make a ton of sense either. So it's just so strange. You think someone could identify who the owner of that car was and it just from the basis of, hey, did you see anything? Did you see her? Because probably would have been near your car at that time. Yeah.
01:03:17
Speaker
And we actually, from that moment, we have from 601, no further pings from Prisma's phone. And Dan was actually told that Prisma's phone had died at 601, but what Dan brought up, and I've never tried this, but I thought it was interesting, is he said that Prisma had a line on her cell phone plan for her Apple Watch.
01:03:45
Speaker
So even if her phone died, he wondered why she couldn't have called through her watch. Oh, and can you...
01:03:55
Speaker
track anything with the watch? I mean, I would think you could track activity. Did the watch activity stop at that point? She was wearing the watch, right? Right. Well, this is a point of contention, I think, because Dan said that she always wore an Apple watch because he was just mesmerized the first time she talked on her watch.
01:04:17
Speaker
and showed that to him. But he said he asked law enforcement that question and they were like, she didn't have an Apple Watch, she only had a Fitbit. But if they've never found her, how do they know? And he was like, no, she had a line on her cell plan. Okay, yeah, like I think he would know. Right. Cadaver dogs as well as search and rescue dogs were brought to the scene and swabs were taken. Though I didn't read if
01:04:46
Speaker
I didn't read any details of hits that the dogs made or follow-ups that were done, but I do know some of the items that were searched or swabbed were the trigger of Prisma's gun, the grips, a water bottle, stains were swabbed on the fifth floor of the garage, the fourth floor of the garage was searched, a vacant lot at Rosalinda McCoy was searched, and the fifth floor of the apartment complex was searched. But I didn't read
01:05:17
Speaker
any details about what they found, if anything. Oh, man, I would love to know, have that information right about if a tractor sent where it stopped, if it stopped somewhere, that could be really useful information or if they, you know, tracked it, as you're mentioning, where they search around the building somewhere. Yeah. Here's what I want to know, too.
01:05:41
Speaker
If she's in the parking garage, she could have easily been incapacitated and put in someone's trunk and they leave the apartment complex. So, were all of these cars that left shortly afterward checked? I don't know. Did you see her phone died at 601? That's what police told Dan.
01:06:04
Speaker
And then he was saying she should have used her Apple watch, but the phone we know did die because that part has always been so weird to me. Like the timing of it, it happens to die. But I mean, I can see why the battery would be drained, but then it happens to die and then she disappears at the same time. Right. At the exact moment.
01:06:22
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. Prisma's disappearance has been hard on all of her family, but especially so on her son Dominic. Dan told Andrea Cavalier from NBC Dateline, quote, he's so intelligent for a six year old, but he's having a hard time understanding what's going on.
01:06:41
Speaker
He keeps asking for his mother. He knows something's wrong, but we're trying to just keep everything as normal as we can for him," end quote. And sadly, Sam, I mean, here we are years later, and we still don't have those answers to give Dominic.
01:06:58
Speaker
I know. And it has to be so confusing as a child. It's confusing enough as an adult to even try to process these cases so I can't imagine as a child not understanding where your mom is. Yeah. What we do have are several theories that have been tossed around. So let's explore those a little bit now.
01:07:21
Speaker
Theory number one is that Prisma ran away. Most who are close to Prisma, they don't put much stock into this theory because they say there are two things that Prisma would never have abandoned. One is material and the other one obviously is much more meaningful, but they said she would have never left her Jeep abandoned.
01:07:43
Speaker
And I mean, this makes sense that they discount this theory because in my head, if your whole plan is to get away and to run away, why wouldn't you just drive the Jeep and get as far away as possible at first and then leave it somewhere?
01:07:59
Speaker
Yeah, and she managed to do this in such a way that she would never be found again, like so cleanly. And when she seemed confused and scared, like right doesn't make sense. Yeah. Now, some might argue that she was just involved in the road rage incident. And maybe she abandoned the car because she was scared of the repercussions of that incident.
01:08:22
Speaker
But the second thing that this theory would mean is that she abandoned something that can't be explained away because she would never have abandoned her son Dominic. Not for any reason. Here is what Dan had to say about this theory. And he says, well, this was not like her. A lot of people say, well, maybe she just left. I says, no, she wouldn't have just done that. She wouldn't have left Dominic all alone like that.
01:08:55
Speaker
In that same article, In the Sun, referenced earlier by Luke Kenton, Detective Barrett confirmed, quote, it would have been substantially out of her normal character to just disappear. We have a good read on her typical pattern of behavior and behavior changes later that evening, which leads us to believe something happens to her.
01:09:16
Speaker
As her family has said before, she would just never leave her son. He was her world," end quote. So even the police say, I don't know about this theory. Yeah. Theory number two is that Prisma committed suicide.
01:09:33
Speaker
This theory, too, obviously seems to be ruled out by most everyone for the same reason that the runaway theory is. And even though Prisma was extremely upset, just like everyone she spoke with that afternoon pointed out, Prisma doesn't have a history of depression. She doesn't have a history of mental illness. And I feel like she was definitely scared, but didn't seem suicidal to me.
01:09:59
Speaker
Oh, I totally agree. She wasn't saying anything. As far as we know, that would indicate that that was even a thought for her at that time. And the timing, whenever this theory comes up in cases we cover, sometimes the timing just seems so strange to me. Like after this, like I get she had this bad day, but that's not that doesn't equate to then choosing to die by suicide. I don't think there's much weight to this. And then also she hasn't been found. So right.
01:10:29
Speaker
Right. You can't hide your body. Right. Right. Yeah. Theory number three, potential suspect Arturo. Arturo, Dominic's father, was investigated in Prisma's disappearance, but he has been ruled out by law enforcement as a suspect. I think a lot of people wanted to point a finger at him because he did seek sole custody after Prisma's disappearance.
01:10:56
Speaker
But Lilia Peralta, Prisma's mother, also stated that she doesn't believe that Arturo was involved in any way. Leah McDonald from Daily Mail wrote an article that was published on April 21st, 2019, saying, quote, speaking in Spanish, Peralta said that the child's father lived outside of Austin and she does not believe he has anything to do with her, meaning Prisma's disappearance, end quote.
01:11:23
Speaker
So we don't really have a lot to go on with this theory, but people are like, Oh, he saw custody of Dominic, which I mean, would make sense for him to do. Yeah, I agree. But logistically, it just doesn't that theory doesn't work out at all. Yeah. Theory number four, potential suspect Ryan.
01:11:45
Speaker
Ryan was actually not home when Prisma arrived at his apartment complex and didn't return home until that evening. Now this is according to his cell phone pings. There are those, Sam, who do still believe that he may have
01:12:06
Speaker
additional knowledge or still be involved for several reasons. Number one, obviously it is possible that someone else had Ryan's phone and was using it, and that's why the cell phone pings are elsewhere. Number two, where Ryan said he was that evening, which is his alibi,
01:12:25
Speaker
was that he had a date, but that date was only about a 10 mile drive from his apartment complex. So it wasn't like he went very far away.
01:12:38
Speaker
Do you know if they corroborated that with the person he said he was on the date with or if there was any video footage of this? I am going to assume that they did because even though those who believe that Ryan was somehow involved, they point out those things. They also point out, which does look a little bit sketchy, that Ryan moved away shortly after.
01:13:02
Speaker
And, you know, they point out that Prisma and Ryan had gotten into an argument at the bar just hours earlier. They had been.
01:13:10
Speaker
in domestic violence situations before where Prisma had bruises. And so they wonder, could he have been angry? But the reason why I say it was probably corroborated is because with this theory, I do want to end by saying that law enforcement have not named him a suspect. And they have declared that his alibi up until midnight that night when he returned home was quote unquote solid.
01:13:39
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, you can't argue with that much. I'm sure they've vetted it. And if they could corroborate where he was, it really does make it unlikely that he could have been involved as appealing as it might be as a theory, considering she was last seen at his apartment and they didn't have the best history. You can't. I mean, if it just doesn't work out, if he was somewhere else, then that is what it is. Right, exactly.
01:14:09
Speaker
Theory number five is that Prisma was the victim of human trafficking. In the area surrounding Ryan's apartment complex were some not so safe neighborhoods. So some wonder, like Dan, if Prisma had been drugged at the bar and followed. In fact, Dan told me that around the same time as Prisma disappeared, two other girls with similar descriptions as Prisma had gone missing.
01:14:38
Speaker
in that same neighborhood. Now I'm going to admit to you, I know we talked about it earlier, that I'm a little bit inclined to believe this theory and here's why. I'll explain to you how my head is working. So one outlier detail in everything that I've told you about is a detail that was mentioned in a document that came to me directly from the private investigator hired by the family that I mentioned to you in passing earlier
01:15:06
Speaker
that it is believed that Prisma was hiding behind the dumpsters in the alley near the bar.
01:15:13
Speaker
Right. So that detail, it doesn't make sense to me unless she felt like someone was following her. So then in my mind, I'm thinking, would that explain why? And I know this seems crazy. This is a little bit off the wall. But could it explain why she maybe jumped from her car in the road rage incident? Because if she causes a scene, then maybe somebody who's following her would leave.
01:15:40
Speaker
I don't know. I didn't think about it that way. It could explain why she had doubled back to head to Ryan's apartment if it were closer than her work. It would explain her confusion on the phone with other people if she were drugged.
01:15:55
Speaker
And her kind of desperate need to find out from Ryan his apartment number. It would explain why her Jeep was left parked haphazardly why she ran into the gated community behind a car that was entering what it doesn't explain though Sam is why she didn't grab her gun.
01:16:12
Speaker
nor why she didn't mention her fear in her phone calls unless, of course, she did. Since law enforcement haven't revealed to the public what she was upset about on the phone that afternoon.
01:16:28
Speaker
Yeah, that's a good point. It could tie in that way. I would also wonder though, why she would just stand by that elevator for so long. That is true. Unless she thought she had escaped them by running through the gate. Yeah. I don't know. Maybe. Yeah. But also in the video footage, is she like looking
01:16:51
Speaker
out because I think it kind of looked like you could still see out on the street. Do we know if she was kind of looking around or was it from what I recall, she was just kind of on the phone. Right. But yeah, I don't know. I don't know either. And then I feel like. I don't know when we see her in the parking garage, she's walking, she's not running, so I don't I don't know.
01:17:17
Speaker
Theory number six is some other foul play. Now, this kind of could tie into the human trafficking. It might not. Strangely, between a year and a half to two years ago, Dan began receiving some rather off-putting phone calls that he still hasn't been able to explain. About a year and a half ago, I guess it was. About a year and a half, yeah. Between a year and a half, two years ago, I was receiving phone calls from Mexico.
01:17:52
Speaker
between the hours of 9 30 and 33 30 in the morning. Nobody ever said anything. I used her name, her given name, the name she liked. I call her Prisma, Prisma Denise, Denise, and Danica. You know, try to get any of those responses from those because that was her stage name when she was dancing was Danica. And
01:18:19
Speaker
Nobody ever said nothing. Nothing was ever said. And then all of a sudden I would hear a door open or something like that and hear some voices in the background. All of a sudden the phone went dead. Now to make a phone call from Mexico is not very cheap. And most of their phones then are all like prepaid, like prepaid phones. So there's, the number went nowhere. I try to look at it and it can only go so far and then you get no information.
01:18:48
Speaker
Oh, whoa. OK, that's a strange detail. Right. Do you know? So you said he hadn't received those types of phone calls until she disappeared. Right. And this was only about a year and a half to two years ago.
01:19:03
Speaker
that he received these. So well after she had been missing. Oh, okay. Okay. So it wasn't like right after, but it's still really bizarre. I've never experienced something like that. In fact, it would be so creeped out. I mean, at least if it's a call from Mexico, it's not, you know, right down the street, but still that's really strange and unsettling. Yeah.
01:19:27
Speaker
Additionally, Dan speculated what the babysitter may know about what happened to Prisma. So first, he wonders why, if Prisma knew the babysitter through her mom, Lilia, why didn't the babysitter try to call Prisma's mom when she was wondering where Prisma might be before calling 911? Yeah. That doesn't make any sense. And Dan also told me. She did make comment, I do believe. You don't know who these people are.
01:20:00
Speaker
that she made it really stuck with me. Okay, well that implies that she knows what, who is responsible. Yes. That's alarming. So Sam, what are your thoughts? That comment you just added in. Yeah, I know. I threw, yeah, I threw a curveball. Yeah. Threw me off. My initial
01:20:27
Speaker
thought theory wise in this case would be that this was a crime of opportunity. Someone saw Prisma to your point, it could have been they followed her to the apartment complex or someone who lived there or was visiting saw Prisma in the state she was in and maybe they tried or maybe she tried to ask them for help. Maybe she tried to engage them in conversation and it just happened to be someone with really bad intentions.
01:20:55
Speaker
The reason I kind of lean toward that is like never seen her leave, right? And I kind of think it could have been someone who lived in the apartment. But then a totally off the wall theory is that
01:21:15
Speaker
What if she were someone who's driving really quickly through the parking garage and Prisma's kind of darting around and she just comes out from in between two cars and someone
01:21:30
Speaker
hits her, then takes her. My problem with that is, first of all, then no one saw anything happen. I guess that's possible. But second of all, you would think there'd maybe be some evidence of that left behind, like physical evidence. But I just keep going back to the phone.
01:21:49
Speaker
kind of shutting off and dying right around the same time. It seems like she disappears. And what I keep thinking is that this was a crime of opportunity or an accident that turned into a crime or like you suggested, maybe someone had been following her. Right. OK, so what do you think? You always have the best theory. I still.
01:22:19
Speaker
I'm torn because now if she had been drugged, then it could explain why there are elements to her actions that don't fit because she's not thinking clearly. So it could explain why she ends up standing there because she doesn't realize how much time has passed or why she's not running because maybe she thinks she is.
01:22:44
Speaker
You know, and so I I keep in my mind, my gut going to that comment that Dan said. The babysitter made. About there being dangerous people, which does make me wonder, especially with. Two women with similar descriptions to Prisma going missing in that same neighborhood. Yeah, I feel like that's two.
01:23:14
Speaker
It's too much to be coincidence. Right. I really don't like that comment from the babysitter. Yeah. Like, what do you know? Right. Can you share what you tell us? I don't understand. Yeah.
01:23:28
Speaker
While Dan had been very active in his efforts to find Prisma, unfortunately, because he is not a biological relative, there are limits to what he can request.
The Call for Information and Justice
01:23:39
Speaker
For example, asking Texas EquiSearch to step in. After running into roadblocks, the family finally got some much needed help from a private investigator. The private investigator working with the family in Prisma's case recently requested several items.
01:23:54
Speaker
All CCTV footage and any other camera that was recording from the Olympus at Ross apartment parking garage from 2pm to 7am the following morning, April 18th, 2019. She requested the body cam footage for all officers and detectives from the Olympus at Ross apartments and the parking garage of the apartment.
01:24:16
Speaker
from e-bar as well, the footage, from canvassing, from searching the apartment and searching Prisma's Jeep, and any additional canvassing that was relevant to the case. She requested video of any potential witness statements throughout the first few days of the incident, along with any transcripts and audio recordings of any of the above.
01:24:38
Speaker
She requested any 911 calls made in regards to Prisma's disappearance, her whereabouts, and any other 911 call audio. She requested EMS transmissions and call logs in regards to those calls and the full e-bar video from the time Ryan got there.
01:24:56
Speaker
until the time Prisma leaves in her Jeep. And finally, she requested proof that the Mesquite Police Department has been actively working this case every year for the last four years that Prisma has been missing in order to consider it an actual active case.
01:25:15
Speaker
The response from the city attorney of Mesquite, Texas was the following, quote, it is the city's belief that the law enforcement exception permits the city to exempt from public the requested records in their entirety. Although the incident has been currently listed as inactive.
01:25:35
Speaker
The investigation has not been fully closed and is pending further leads. Therefore, the city wishes to claim an exemption under the law enforcement exception to the act, specifically under subsections 552.108A1 and or B1." So the city basically said, even though the case is inactive, they are refusing to turn over those pieces of evidence.
01:26:03
Speaker
My question is, did someone else in the apartment complex see something? Did they hear something? Is there someone who can fill in the blanks? Dan indicated that in one conversation with a detective, they insinuated that they only needed one more piece of information, one more key detail to fall into place before they could officially close Prisma's case. Are you the one who holds that answer?
01:26:30
Speaker
Prisma was last seen wearing a red polo with black stripes on the sleeves and on the shoulders, denim capris, black shoes with white soles, and carrying a black purse. She stands five foot two and weighs roughly 135 pounds. She also sometimes wore glasses. Anyone with information concerning Prisma Denise Peralta Reyes or her disappearance is asked to call the Mesquite Police Department at 972-285-631.
01:27:00
Speaker
And I'd like to end with Dan's please for your help. I just ask anybody who might be listening to this. No matter how small a tidbit of information might be, you might think it's unimportant. Please, any and all information if it triggers a memory or something like that or something of a such, please contact either our website, where's Prisma Reyes or contact the Mesquite Police Department.
01:27:29
Speaker
pass that information on. That one little thing is something I might think of, that might be the one little key thing we need to finish putting all this together to bring her home. I'm not asking for myself or her mother or anybody else, I'm asking for her son. Because he's unable to do that right on his own, because he's of course not old enough, but if you can think of anything, no matter how minuscule you think it might be,
01:28:03
Speaker
Again, please like and join our Facebook page, Coffee and Cases podcast to continue the conversation and see images related to this episode. As always, follow us on Twitter, at casescoffee, on Instagram, at coffee cases podcast, or you can always email us suggestions to coffeeandcasespodcastatgmail.com. Please tell your friends about our podcast so more people can be reached to possibly help bring some closure to these families. Don't forget to rate our show and leave us a comment as well. We hope to hear from you soon.
01:28:22
Speaker
Please give us all the information we're taking in any
01:28:33
Speaker
Stay together. Stay safe. We'll see you next week.
01:28:57
Speaker
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