Family hopes T-shirts will aid in finding missing Hermiston woman
Published 12:00 pm Friday, September 18, 2020
- Garcia
HERMISTON — Family members of Graciela Garcia, who went missing from Hermiston in November 2019, are ramping up their efforts to help locate her.
Gabriela Bautista, Garcia’s daughter, said the family has created T-shirts and bumper stickers that have Garcia’s photo and details, such as her eye color and height, in hopes that the items will help keep Garcia’s case fresh in community members’ minds and possibly spur a tip that will finally lead to new information. People can also purchase a bracelet with the letter G on it in her memory.
Bautista said her family is desperate for information about her mother, but have not received any new information from Hermiston Police Department in months. She said proceeds from the sale of the item will be used to aid in the family’s search.
“We’re looking to hire a lawyer, an investigator, whatever we need to figure out and do,” she said.
The items are for sale until Oct. 31 and will be shipped immediately after. Bautista said the family plans to hold a candlelight vigil for Garcia sometime after that and hope people who purchased shirts and bracelets will wear them to the event.
The last confirmed sighting of Garcia, a hair stylist, was on Nov. 8, 2019. She was reported missing on Nov. 11, and the Hermiston Police Department has stated her cellphone and other possessions were left behind. According to a news release, the department “considered her disappearance suspicious from the time of the initial report, and immediately opened an investigation” aided by Oregon State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Bautista asked anyone with information about Garcia’s disappearance to call the Hermiston Police Department at 541-567-5519. Items sold by the family can be found online at etsy.com/shop/JusticeForGraciela.