$5,000 reward being offered for information in disappearance of Warner Robins man

A $5,000 reward is being offered in the disappearance of a Warner Robin man more than a month ago.

The GBI suspects foul play.

Jesus Mancilla-Velez, 35, was last seen leaving his Warner Robins home the Saturday morning of Sept. 5 in his 2015 Chevrolet Tahoe by a neighbor washing their car.

The Tahoe was found abandoned the same day, pulled up in bushy overgrowth near the trees of a wooded area leased for hunting off a dirt road in Crawford County.

“Where we will pay the $5,000 is that if we receive information that leads to the individuals responsible for him being missing,” said Warren Selby Jr., board chairman of Macon Regional Crimestoppers. “That’s what we’re looking for, what’s occurred, that type of information.

“We just hope that maybe this reward money will help encourage someone to call us,” Selby said.

The reward would be paid out upon the arrest of those believed responsible — not conviction, he said.

“The good part about our program is that tipsters can remain anonymous,” Selby said. “If someone wants to provide any information, they can certainly call our tip line, or they can do it on our web-based crimestop.us.”

Vanished

Described as a kind, beautiful soul by his friends and family, Mancilla-Velez, a native of Mexico, has worked as a server at El Jalisciense Mexican Restaurant on Ga. 96 in Kathleen for the past 10 years.

The popular server at the Mexican restaurant vanished before Labor Day.

His small dog, Missy, was found inside his Red Fox Run mobile home, along with the clothes he had been wearing when with friends in Macon the Friday night before he went missing.

A gold chain with a Virgin Mary pendant that he often wore was also found inside, and candles were still burning, said his brother, Leo Mancilla.

“I hope somebody say something,” said Mancilla, who noted that not knowing what has happened to his brother is heartbreaking and agonizing for family and friends.

He and other family members expressed heartfelt gratitude for friends who stepped up and submitted $3,000 anonymously to Crimestoppers, which is putting up the remaining $2,000 of the $5,000 reward.

“We really appreciate that,” said sister-in-law Lizbeth Mancilla, who noted that the family has been picking up Mancilla-Velez’s bills, including a $1,000 a month vehicle payment.

“We’ve been waiting over a month,” she said. “Up to this point, we have hope, but it’s very, very low now.”

Mancilla-Velez may have had more than a $1,000 in cash on him the Saturday morning he vanished, including the vehicle payment and money for a planned trip to Savannah with close friend Ursula Lunce.

She became worried when she didn’t hear from him and couldn’t reach him that Saturday, which was not like him.

Mancilla-Velez was seen getting into his Tahoe and driving away from his mobile home between 9 and 10 a.m. and his abandoned Tahoe was first spotted in the grassy area off Rowland Road at 11:30 a.m by a resident, according to a timeline developed by the GBI.

The timeline includes a Tahoe making its way Saturday morning down Russell Parkway near the Red Fox Run mobile home park in Houston County to Interstate 75 south to the Byron exit and onto Ga. 49 in Peach County and then onto Ga. 42 in Crawford County. That route would take just under 30 minutes to drive, according to Google Maps.

Although the driver and license plate cannot be seen, the timeline suggests that the vehicle is likely Mancilla-Velez’s Tahoe, according to Todd Crosby, special agent in charge of the GBI’s Region 13 Office in Perry. Crosby heads a task force of multiple law enforcement agencies investigating Mancilla-Velez’s disappearance.

If Mancilla-Velez left his home closer to 9 a.m., there’s more than an hour that the Tahoe is not picked up on any surveillance video, Crosby noted.

Also, there’s an hour-long gap between when the Tahoe passes Spring Hill Community Church at 12114 Ga. 42 and when it’s first seen abandoned about 3.6 miles away from the church, according to the timeline.

Additionally, the task force released photos of a black Q-See brand security video camera that was found in the Tahoe that Mancilla-Velez’s friends don’t recall seeing the night before he went missing. His family also has no idea where the camera came from.

Appeal for help

The GBI continues to appeal to the public to help solve the disappearance of Mancilla-Velelz, having also reached out to Crimestoppers about offering the reward, Selby said.

“We’re still encouraging the public to call us,” said Rhonda Daniel, assistant special agent in charge of the GBI’s Perry office. “They can call the GBI. They can call Crimestoppers.

“We’re still trying to get more information, so we definitely welcome that — even if it’s something they think is insignificant, just call us and let us know,” Daniel said.

If anyone has any information related to Mancilla-Velez’s disappearance, please contact Macon Regional Crimestoppers at 877-68CRIME, or at crimestop.us, or the GBI Tip Line at 1-800-597-8477 or https://gbi.georgia.gov/submit-tips-online.

This story was originally published October 23, 2020 at 5:00 AM.