Jose Alberto Ramirez

• Missing Since 08/06/1989
• Missing From Brownsville, Texas
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Male
• Race Hispanic
• Date of Birth 11/23/1970 (54)
• Age 18 years old
• Height and Weight 5'8, 150 pounds
• Clothing/Jewelry Description A red tank top and gray shorts, no socks or shoes.
• Associated Vehicle(s) Gray Chrysler New Yorker
• Distinguishing Characteristics Hispanic male. Brown hair, brown eyes. Ramirez has a mole on his neck. His nickname is Albert.

Details of Disappearance

Ramirez was abducted at gunpoint from his family's residence in the 300 block of Fern Drive in Brownsville, Texas on August 6, 1989.

Two armed men, posing as police officers with badges, forced him into the back of a gray Chrysler New Yorker. The abductors told Ramirez's parents they would take him to the local police precinct, but when his parents contacted law enforcement they discovered their son wasn't in custody. He has never been heard from again.

Investigators determined that Juan Garcia Abrego, the head of the Gulf Cartel, had orchestrated Ramirez's abduction and murder in order to avenge the murder of his girlfriend's son. He hired Daniel Rodriguez, Julio Gonzalez and Feliz Moyet Sanchez to commit the crime. They regularly ran drugs from Mexico to the East Coast of the U.S. A photo of Garcia Abrego is posted with this case summary.

Rodriguez was arrested in 1999, when he arrived in the United States from Colombia. He was ultimately convicted of capital murder and aggravated kidnapping in Ramirez's case, and sentenced to life in prison. Gonzalez in Colombia, fighting extradition to the United States. Sanchez's whereabouts are still unknown.

Garcia Abrego was convicted of numerous drug trafficking and money laundering charges in 1996 and sentenced to eleven life prison terms. He has never been charged in connection with Ramirez's case, although Ramirez's parents won a $6 million settlement from him in February 1996. They received the award after accusing Garcia Abrego of ordering their son's kidnapping. Officials do not believe Ramirez's parents will receive the payment as the result of minimal funds.

Investigators believe Ramirez was wrongfully targeted by Garcia Abrego. He was a quarterback on the football team at Hanna High School and planned to become a sports coach after graduation, and his parents don't believe he was involved with using or selling drugs. Foul play is suspected in Ramirez's disappearance due to the circumstances involved.