The Tribune

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS

Tribune Staff Reporter

lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

TODAY marks a month since Daniel Padilla, Jr, went missing.

His mother, Ulean Mitchell, has been emotionally unstable since he disappeared, unable to eat and sleep. Sometimes she feels like she can’t breathe.

“Please, I just need my Daniel,” she said yesterday in a tearful interview. “Oh, please if I could only see him now, I miss him so much, you wouldn’t believe it.”

Ms Mitchell recalled her last interaction with her son, her only child.

Mr Padilla, 29, was last seen on October 2 in a grey Ford Fusion, license plate number AX5837. He was wearing long dress trousers and a navy and white striped button-down shirt.

Ms Mitchell said she saw her son around midday. He was expected to go to the barber, then to Fusion Superplex for a meeting.

“He was supposed to come back to me because he was travelling the next day, that Tuesday morning,” she said. 

She realised something was wrong when his girlfriend called to say he failed to pick her up from work.

“I know that’s not like Daniel,” she said. “He would never ever be late or would not call if he is running late. If he is running late, he would call and say, ‘I am running a little late.’”

“I started calling him like crazy, but his phone kept cutting off and wasn’t answering at all.”

“Daniel is the sweetest, kindest, trusting person you could ever meet. He is such a loving person, soft-spoken, you can’t hear a loud sound come out of his mouth. He is so quiet sometimes you have to ask him if he could repeat himself because he is so quiet spoken.”

The family has launched search efforts and obtained video footage from Fusion Superplex.

Stephen Sands, Mr Padilla’s uncle, said police had questioned people about the matter, and investigations are ongoing.

The family is keeping faith.

“We are a praying family,” Mr Sands said. “We are a well-knitted family. We are a well-rounded family. We prayed to the lord. We have a praying issue.”

“We believe that God does all things well and whatever God does is well. We ask God to bring him back safely.”