WILMER, Texas — Dozens gathered in Wilmer Thursday night along Oakdale Street outside the home of 10-year-old Ian Aguilar to pray for the boy's safe return after being named in an AMBER Alert Tuesday night -- and now missing for two full days.
They also gathered to mourn his mother, 48-year-old Zuleika Lopez, who police say was slain before little Ian was abducted.
Lopez's daughter and Ian's sister, Zuri Lopez, asked that her brother's picture continue to be shared far and wide. She is also raising money for Lopez's funeral if you want to help.
"I need my brother back as soon as possible," Lopez said. "It is urgent that you all share my brother's face. Everyone keeps asking how they can help, and that's the only thing I can think of."
Aguilar was last seen at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 14 per police in Wilmer. In update Friday afternoon, Wilmer Police Chief Victor Kemp said their investigation has led them to believe Ian is with a family member in Mexico and no longer with his father, Juan Aguilar-Cano. Aguilar-Cano is the primary suspect in both the boy's abduction and Lopez's murder.
"While communication with family members is encouraging, and we now have hope and reason to believe Ian is okay, our investigation continues, and will continue, until we have absolute verification Ian is not in danger," Kemp said in his Friday update. "It would be our hope that Ian will be united with family members here, sooner than later, so that we can actually see him and know he is safe with family and in familiar surroundings."
Ian is autistic, family members say, and was very reliant on his mother.
The vehicle police believed the pair left in was found abandoned at a bus station in Houston on Wednesday off of Airline Drive. That bus company, Tornado Bus Company, frequently makes trips to Mexico. Zuri Lopez told WFAA Thursday night that Aguilar-Cano has ties to Mexico and has family in Houston.
The bus company hasn't responded to an email for comment from WFAA.
"This man was born in Mexico, so I'm worried that he's trying to get there," Zuri Lopez said. "My brother Ian hates his father with all his heart and soul; he shouldn't be with that man."
Zuleika Lopez was a longtime employee with the city of Dallas, working 19 years with development services. Coworkers told WFAA she cared deeply for her team and was beloved in the office.
They got worried and notified Zuri Lopez when her mother didn't show up to the office on Tuesday morning. Zuri Lopez also said that Aguilar never made it to his school in Wilmer. She told WFAA that an officer with Wilmer PD admitted to her that he had been by Lopez's house around 7:30 a.m. Tuesday after a relative of Aguilar-Cano reported a troubling phone call from him to 911.
"He called a family member and told them he did something bad and that he should kill himself," Zuri Lopez said. "That family member reached out to 911. I knew something awful had happened."
Yet, Zuleika Lopez's body wasn't discovered in the home until her daughter arrived there at 5 p.m. attempting to get inside.
Police eventually made their way in and found Zuleika Lopez. That night, the AMBER Alert went out at 9:03 p.m.
Zuri Lopez fears this: because officers didn't enter the home until she arrived, Aguilar-Cano got a considerable head start.
"I had to find my mother," Zuri Lopez said. "This man had a lot of time to run with my brother. Maybe the police wouldn't have been able to help my mom, but they didn't help Ian's plight."
Officials from Wilmer PD haven't officially addressed the specificities regarding the timeline of events on Tuesday.
They did tell WFAA Thursday that investigators with the Dallas County Sheriff's Office had been to the bus station in Houston to determine where the pair might be heading.
They've also worked with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to find Aguilar.
The Dallas County Sheriff's Office has been astoundingly quiet about this case -- the agency is working on the homicide portion.
But Zuri Lopez offered a possible motive to WFAA, saying Aguilar-Cano was not a good person to her mother.
"She was in a toxic relationship with this man -- she was fed up with him and wanted him out of her life. She finally had made plans to make that happen," Lopez said.
"The last thing she told me was that she loved me, and I told her I loved her back."