A few days before Christmas, a middle-aged couple has disappeared, and their children ask the public for help in an increasingly frantic search.
The case has been unfolding in San Diego's San Ysidro neighborhood since Wednesday, when Melissa and Johnny Soto suddenly went missing. Ringcam footage captured last week added to the mystery, as it emerged that Melissa's car mysteriously pulled into her husband's driveway the night they disappeared.
It starts at 8:51 PM and within an hour and a half the mother of three's car leaves the driveway and then reverses to park again.
Another neighbor's surveillance camera shows the garage door and trunk both opening six minutes later. Nothing remained inside. Meanwhile, Johnny's truck has gone missing and footage appears to show him returning for a work holiday party.
It is believed that Melissa hooked up, but the couple somehow never made it.
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Melissa and Johnny Soto disappeared from their home on Wednesday and their three children are now asking the public for help. The couple, seen at left, recently divorced and their relationship was rocky, but were last seen leaving Johnny's San Ysidro home together
Ringcam footage captured last week added to the uncertainty when it showed Melissa's car pulling into the couple's driveway the night they disappeared. It starts at 8:51 PM and within an hour and a half the mother of three's car leaves the driveway and then reverses to park again
“It felt like a normal night,” son Vincent, the last person to see the couple, recalled in an interview NBC San Diego Tuesday.
'[My dad] was just sitting here watching TV like he always does. And my parents, they always talk.
“He asked me, 'Hey, Vinny, can you step away for a minute? We're going to talk.'
“So I left the house without taking anything,” he said.
He went on to describe how he left the couple's home for about an hour and a half – before returning and receiving a text from his father saying they were gone and the coast was clear.
However, neither he nor his sisters Alexia and Elise have heard from him since. The couple also failed to show up at the aforementioned holiday party and their respective workplaces.
A search has since taken place, with the siblings saying it is not up to their parents to leave and not come back.
“He and my mom love to talk and get together,” Vincent told ABC 10 — while also revealing that while still living under the same roof, the couple had a somewhat rocky relationship and recently broke up after 20 years went together.
“So while they were talking, they happily took the truck,” he continued, noting that it was not unusual for the couple to leave in his father's silver Tacoma truck.
'[Johnny] called me, he said, “Hey Vincent, we're going to the truck,” he further recalled.
“That's the last time I heard from him.”
Another neighbor's surveillance camera shows the garage door and trunk both opening six minutes later. Nothing remained inside. Meanwhile, Johnny's truck has gone missing and footage appears to show him returning for a work holiday party.
Melissa – seen here with her three children – is believed to have joined, but somehow the couple never made it
Vincent, above left, was the last person to see the couple, recalling on NBC San Diego on Tuesday how he left the couple's home for about an hour and a half so they could be alone – before returning and receiving a text from his father. My father said they were gone and the coast was clear.
Since then, neither he nor his sisters have heard anything from then. The couple also failed to show up to the holiday party and their respective workplaces after reportedly driving away
The family has since filed a report with the local police, and so far the only real clues are the surveillance camera footage.
The family has since filed a report with the local police, and so far, a week into their investigation, the surveillance camera footage is their only real lead.
In it, a man believed to be Johnny is seen getting back into his silver Toyota after performing the parking maneuver in Melissa's car. – and drive away around 10:33 p.m
In this video, Melissa – who is believed to have left with her husband almost two hours earlier – is noticeably absent, even though her car has been in the driveway for about 15 minutes.
DailyMail.com, meanwhile, has contacted San Diego police for an update on their investigation after family members revealed Melissa left her phone and wallet behind.
“My dad had his phone and his wallet, but my mom didn't have her phone, wallet or keys,” said Alexia Soto, the eldest.
“Even though they were divorced, there were no issues between them at all,” she added of the couple's strained relationship, which she and her siblings said took a turn for the worse in July.
“They were still in touch,” she said, citing the fact that her mother still regularly visited the couple's old home.
'They were still talking. She would come by [to Johnny’s house] and talk.'
DailyMail.com, meanwhile, has contacted San Diego police for an update on their investigation after family members revealed Melissa left her phone and wallet behind