Maria Senorina Bolanos-Rivera

• Missing Since 08/26/2012
• Missing From Hillsboro, Oregon
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Female
• Race Hispanic
• Date of Birth 09/13/1956 (67)
• Age 55 years old
• Height and Weight 4'11, 135 pounds
• Clothing/Jewelry Description A lightweight sweatshirt or sweater, blue jeans and white Nike sneakers.
• Medical Conditions Bolanos-Rivera has diabetes and needs medication to control the condition.
• Distinguishing Characteristics Hispanic female. Black hair, brown eyes.

Details of Disappearance

Bolanos-Rivera was last seen leaving her home in the 500 block of southeast Walnut Street in Hillsboro, Oregon on August 26, 2012. She said she would be back, but didn't say where she was going. Bolanos-Rivera never returned home and has never been heard from again.

She left behind all her belongings, including her wallet and medication, taking only her cellular phone. Her six children stated she's a good mother who wouldn't have abandoned them.

Investigators stated they thought Bolanos-Rivera was in the company of Eloy Vasquez-Santiago, a coworker of hers who disappeared at the same time she did. They had been romantically involved, although Vasquez-Santiago also had a common-law wife and child. In late September, he was arrested in California and charged with Bolanos-Rivera's murder.

A photo of Vasquez-Santiago is posted with this case summary. He confessed to the crime, saying he'd stabbed Bolanos-Rivera after they took a trip into the mountains together and got into an argument over money. Vasquez-Santiago stated he dumped her body near Hagg Lake, then fled to Mexico. He was arrested about a month later after he decided to return to the United States and turn himself in to police.

Vasquez-Santiago told authorities he killed Bolanos-Rivera after she insulted him. Investigators searched the Hagg Lake area for Bolanos-Rivera's body, but found nothing of interest.

Vasquez-Santiago's father and brother were also charged with hindering prosecution, for helping Vasquez-Santiago evade police after Bolanos-Rivera's disappearance. The charges were dropped in May 2014; by then, they'd been in custody for a year and a half. They remained in jail on material witness warrants, however. A material witness warrant allows authorities to hold someone in jail for an indefinite period without charging them with a crime, if their testimony is crucial in a criminal trial and they're unlikely to make themselves available to testify.

Vasquez-Santiago's brother was held for 727 days until he agreed to give a deposition on video; their father refused to do so and was held for 905 days until he testified at the trial. Vasquez-Santiago was convicted of murder in March 2015 and sentenced to life in prison.

Bolanos-Rivera has never been found, but foul play is suspected in her case due to the circumstances involved.