Jose Joaquin Mendoza Valenzuela, also known as Jesús Joaquín Gutiérrez Valenzuela, was 22 when he was last seen on July 22, 2009, in the area of Lukeville, Arizona, near the U.S.-Mexico border. He was reportedly attempting to cross the border and vanished somewhere in the desert region between Lukeville, Sonoita, Arizona, and San Luis Río Colorado, Mexico.

He is described as Hispanic and Caucasian, between 5 feet 7 inches and 5 feet 10 inches tall, 165 to 185 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. Distinctive marks include a teardrop-shaped mole at the left side of his mouth, a horizontal scar on the right side of his face, scars behind his head and right ear, a vertical scar on the right side of his neck, and a coin-size mole or birthmark on his right hip. At disappearance he wore a long-sleeved dark blue Flexing Date denim shirt over a red extra-large shirt with a white collar, beige Fubu pants size 32, black undershorts, white socks, Ferrato white or brown shoes with dark brown laces, and a red cap with a navy visor.

The Pima County Medical Examiner’s Office holds the file on his case. Few details are known about what happened during that crossing; any eyewitnesses or information about his movements that day could help the family. If anyone saw Jose around Lukeville or along the route between Lukeville and San Luis Río Colorado on or around July 22, 2009, please come forward.