SAN ANTONIO — Natalie Vargas gained an education she never wanted when her grandson Joshua Davis vanished 10 years ago, from crying endlessly at the Heidi Search Center, learning from advocates what to do in cases where loved ones are missing and even creating events to highlight faces who have not come home.
"For families going through this, time stands still because it feels like it was just yesterday," Vargas said.
Davis vanished at a New Braunfels mobile home in February of 2011. New Braunfels Police have not located the child, but intimated his parents knew more than they were saying.
The two never faced any criminal charges.
"New Braunfels (Police) did their own perspective, and I don't agree with them," Vargas said.
Since his disappearance, Vargas is his voice and face in public. She said her daughter, who now has four other children, does not have the strength to speak out in the ways Vargas has as a grandmother.
"Because he was missing, you go through trauma; you go through the ups and downs of grief," she said. "You go through depression. You go through shock. I mean, every emotion you can feel. And it doesn't go away."
She said his siblings pray for their brother all the time as the family looks for answers. They believe he is alive.
"Until somebody sits me down and proves that to me where I can't deny it anymore...I'm not even going there," Vargas said.
Her unwavering zeal to find her grandson connected her to Gaetane Borders. The Atlanta-based nonprofit leader said she fell into advocacy for the missing, especially children of color whose cases were underrepresented in the media.
"Because most people want to help, right?" Borders said. "But they have to know that help is needed. And that's the problem when it comes to missing persons."
For 14 years, Borders's work through Peas in their Pods connected her to Vargas even though they are nearly 1,000 miles between them.
The two are also working together on a new app for the missing called "DeEye."
Vargas is testing the app out for the Utah-based company that developed it. Borders is the company's chief marketing officer.
"The app itself is an interactive tool where verified information about missing persons can be entered onto the app and can be shared instantaneously," Borders said.
The DeEye app is launching on May 25, National Missing Children's Day. It allows users to post and create fliers for the missing, interact with others for tips, work with advocacy groups for support and get proximity alerts when the unthinkable happens.
"Within a 50-mile reach, you'll be able to know if someone is missing in your local area," Borders said.
According to the DeEye CMO, future versions of the app will include options for private investigators and even facial recognition. The app will give users the ability to snap a picture and works towards verifying if someone in their view could be a victim of abduction, sex trafficking or is missing.
"It'll be able to target features of the face to say that's a 75% match or that's a 99% match," Borders said.
Vargas said since they've searched for her grandson, this application is unique.
She said the app is free to download and provides a chance for more eyes to see the missing, including the face she hopes will finally come home.
"Eventually, we're going to know what happened," she said.