Bronx woman 'with mind of 9-year-old' missing for weeks, family says

MORRIS HEIGHTS, the Bronx (PIX11) -- The sisters of a missing Bronx woman with intellectual disabilities said they had to wait two days to file a report, after Milagros Torres Gutierrez disappeared on Nov. 10, more than two weeks ago.

"She's 27 years old, but she doesn't have a regular adult mind," said Jessica Segarra, the missing woman's sister. "She only understands short sentences. She has the mind of a young child, you know, 9 or 10 years old."

The family claimed when a relative called 911 on Nov. 11, "she was informed that she had to wait 72 hours to file a missing persons report." The relative said she tried telling the operator her sister has disabilities.

Segarra said police didn't show up at the family's home near Montgomery Avenue and 176th Street until 3:30 a.m. on Nov. 13.

Torres Gutierrez lives there with one of her sisters, who didn't want to be identified. She was reportedly last seen Nov. 10 by a home aide who stays with Torres Gutierrez every day from 3 p.m. until 8 p.m. The young woman's sister came home late that night and, when she checked Torres Gutierrez's room, she was gone.

"She didn't leave with a backpack with clothes. She left all her personal belongings at home," Segarra said. "She only left with her cellphone and her charger, so — in her mind — she must have thought she was coming back."

Segarra is worried her sister is being held against her will. "She could be held captive. She could have been kidnapped," Segarra said.

Torres Gutierrez normally attends the Harris Hands Day Hab on Bruckner Boulevard on weekdays, getting transportation to and from the center.

"She's sweet, outgoing, she's like a social butterfly," Segarra said of her sister. "She can be shy."

But Torres Gutierrez's other sister, her housemate, said men used to contact Torres Gutierrez on the phone.

"They try to convince her to meet at a location," the second sister said, who added that she had put restrictions on Torres Gutierrez's apps and didn't allow her access to Wi-Fi.

"I got into her Apple ID," this sister said. "She's not using her cellphone."

Yet the sisters received information that Torres Gutierrez may have been using computers at the local library and also communicating on FaceTime, possibly using someone else's phone.

The case was originally handled by the 46th Detective Squad, but it's been transferred to the Missing Persons Squad in Manhattan. Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Michelle Ghonz at (212) 694-7781.