A man who went missing for five days has been found alive inside a wrecked vehicle in a wooded area in Texas, authorities said.
Jose Velazquez, 32, disappeared Tuesday, June 25, after having drinks at a bar with his fiancé in downtown Houston, reported KTRK.
When Velazquez failed to show up to work the following day, his family reported him as missing.
I never imagined i would ever have to post anything like this, but i’m reaching out to all of y’all asking for y’all to please share this and be on the look out for our cousin Jose Velazquez. He was last seen in downtown Houston on his way to Freeport on Tuesday night. please rt. pic.twitter.com/sQ1Lzb0UiF
— naomi raye (@NaomiMataa) June 29, 2019
“He never does that. He is always letting us know where he is going and when he is coming,” Velazquez’s father said, according to KTRK.
“There’s no trace of him. There’s no trace of the car,” Velazquez’s fiancé Chanel Nelson told the news outlet. “I just want to know he’s okay.”
Five days later, just as volunteers with the Texas EquuSearch team were about to give up, someone saw the missing car inside the woods.
“HELP ME!” – Alex Ybarra describes the moment he heard a man yell for help in the woods. Houston, can we thank him and the 8 Texas Equusearch volunteers who helped find Jose Velazquez? ???? Details here -> https://t.co/5ysgE9RciB. #BREAKING #abc13 #hounews pic.twitter.com/tqtCWLKdTh
— Steve Campion (@SteveABC13) July 1, 2019
“The car just plunged into the woods and nobody could see it if they were driving by,” David White, of Texas EquuSearch, told Houston Chronicle.
The car was so deep inside the woods that first responders had to cut away at the surrounding brush to get Velazquez out of his wrecked car.
Investigators said Velazquez was most likely heading north on the 242 when he drove into a wooded area and the car flipped over, according to KPRC.
HOUSTON! Can we make some noise for Texas EquuSearch? ???? Volunteers found a man in the woods FIVE days after he went missing! He had no food & no water. Jose Velazquez is now recovering in the hospital. Details here -> https://t.co/5ysgE9RciB. #BREAKING #abc13 #hounews pic.twitter.com/p0WpHspcwl
— Steve Campion (@SteveABC13) July 1, 2019
Despite being in the woods for five days, Velazquez was still conscious and able to talk when first responders found him, according to Houston Chronicle. He was transported to Memorial Hermann hospital to receive attention for severe dehydration and possible bone fractures, according to officials.
“He’s laughing and making jokes,” Velazquez’s cousin, Tony Velazquez, told the Houston Chronicle.
“We’re thrilled, excited and give thanks to our god for allowing us to have our cousin back,” he added, according to KPRC.
As for Texas EquuSearch founder, Tim Miller, he is mystified as to how Velazquez managed to survive for five days.
“I don’t know how he (survived) the initial wreck, let alone as bad as he was injured five days later… to still be alive… that’s why we do what we do. We believe in miracles and here was one today,” he told KTRK.
‘He’s alive. He was alive,” Tim Miller of Texas EquuSearch says after they found Jose Velazquez who had been missing for almost five days. https://t.co/abslj1asFB
— ABC13 Houston (@abc13houston) July 1, 2019
Authorities said they were able to track Velazquez by his phone.
“That’s how we located him,” White said, according to the Houston Chronicle. “The pings stayed in one place until the phone died.”
“Jose was badly injured and trapped in the woods for five days without food or water. Thankfully, he has been found alive, and we hope he will now have the opportunity to live another day, and many more years,” Texas EquuSearch wrote in a post on Facebook.
“Nothing but God,” ABC13 News reporter Stephania Okalie wrote on Instagram about Velazquez’s story.
“This man survived THIS crash… then nearly 6 days alone in the woods, hurt, with nothing. I can only imagine what it felt like as a loved one to get that call that he’s okay. Reminder to always pray and trust god in situations,” she added.
