Kathleen Rodriguez has put thousands of miles on her truck, driving through some of the toughest neighborhoods in Dallas, hoping to catch a glimpse of her 15-year-old daughter, Maria Elizalde.
“I drive everywhere all day long, just looking,” Rodriguez tells PEOPLE. “I’m in areas I shouldn’t be in, but I don’t care.”
On Nov. 25, 2015, the day before Thanksgiving, Maria went outside with her two younger siblings while their mother made tamales for the holiday. By nightfall, Rodriguez’s other children returned — but there was no sign of Maria.
Rodriguez began frantically searching for Maria. She ran outside and screamed her name. She jumped in her truck and drove around the block. She checked out the nearby train station.
Still, nothing.
“She just vanished,” Rodriguez says. “It’s hard to talk about because I miss her so much.”
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Each year, hundreds of families unknowingly experience similar moments: the last time they see a loved before they disappear. In 2017, The National Center of Missing and Exploited Children reported approximately 325 cases of children taken by a stranger.
Although Maria had run away in the past, she always came back, Rodriguez says. There has not been a single sighting of her, not even in surveillance video checked by officials.
Rodriguez cries when talking about her daughter. She says she no longer enjoys the holidays.
“I used to love Thanksgiving,” she says. “Now I’d rather just stay in bed. It’s not a happy time of the year anymore.”
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Since Maria vanished, Rodriguez says it can be hard to get out of bed, but she credits her faith for keeping her going on her most difficult days.
“I just have to hang on to hope,” she says. “Every night I pray for her. There’s never a day that goes by that I don’t think about her.”
Anyone with information on Maria’s whereabouts is urged to call Dallas police at 214-744- 4444.
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