John Fernando Romero Yadaicela was 15 when he left Ecuador to join his parents and two younger sisters in the United States. He traveled through Peru and Mexico and is recorded as last seen in Tucson, Arizona, with an official missing date of July 20, 2019. Described as Hispanic with black hair and brown eyes, more detailed accounts place him in southern Arizona near Arizona State Route 86 around mile marker 126 or 127 while attempting to reach Tucson.

Family reports say John had been traveling with an uncle and a cousin but became separated from them and continued with people his relatives did not know. During a phone call to his parents he sounded frightened, said he had no money, food, or water, and mentioned traveling through the desert toward Tucson near a location described as Alta Sonora; the call ended as his phone battery died.

The Tohono O’odham Nation Police Department is listed as the investigating agency and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children case number is 1364524. John’s grandparents appealed for help determining whether he became stranded, reached a shelter or detention facility, encountered harm, or suffered an emergency along the route. If anyone has information about John’s movements in southern Arizona in July 2019 or recalls seeing him along Route 86, please contact the Tohono O’odham Nation Police Department at 520-383-3275.