Sheriff says investigators believe the family was taken alive from their home.
MOBILE, AL — A 31-year-old man has been arrested and charged with three counts of first-degree kidnapping as authorities search for a Theodore mother and her two children who vanished after neighbors last saw them in late January, the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office said.
Investigators say the case quickly turned from a missing-person report into a major criminal investigation after deputies found blood inside the family’s home, a mattress missing from a bedroom and the victims’ cell phones left behind. Sheriff Paul Burch said the top priority is locating the family safely while federal and local agencies continue searches and analyze evidence tied to a black van that officials believe was used in the abduction.
Authorities have been looking for Aurelia Choc Cac, 40, her daughter, Niurka Zuleta Choc, 17, and a toddler identified by officials as Anthony. The family was reported missing Jan. 31 by a neighbor, and investigators have said the last confirmed sighting was in the afternoon of Jan. 30. Burch said evidence suggests the family was taken from their home on Ben Hamilton Road in Theodore. He said investigators believe the victims were alive when they were removed from the residence.
Juan Carlos Argueta-Guerra was booked into the Mobile County Metro Jail on Feb. 10 on three kidnapping counts, according to jail records. Investigators said Argueta-Guerra came under scrutiny after deputies and federal agents spent days reviewing surveillance video and building a timeline around a suspicious black van seen near the home in the early hours of Jan. 31. Burch said investigators connected the van to Argueta-Guerra after what the sheriff described as nine days of combing through camera footage and other information. “We’re hoping that someone will tell us where they are,” Burch said at a news conference. “Our main goal is to find them safely and bring them back home.”
In court filings and testimony described by investigators, authorities said cell phone data placed Argueta-Guerra at the Choc family’s home on the day they disappeared. Investigators said he borrowed a black van from his employer and made three separate trips to and from the residence in the early morning hours of Jan. 31, then the family was reported missing a few hours later. Officials have said they have not found a prior connection between Argueta-Guerra and the family, and they said he has refused to cooperate when asked about their whereabouts.
The investigation has unfolded across Mobile and Baldwin counties, with deputies describing a custody encounter that ended in Bay Minette. Investigators said a traffic stop was conducted after multiple warrants were executed, and Argueta-Guerra ran from the vehicle and fled into the woods. He was later found hiding under a house, and a police dog helped officers pull him out, authorities said. He was taken to a hospital afterward, officials said. Investigators said his sister was also in the vehicle when deputies tried to stop it.
Authorities said a black van believed to be linked to the case was recovered during a search warrant at a home on Clearview Drive and was sent for forensic work. Investigators have also returned to mobile home parks off Old Pascagoula Road, including areas near Azalea Grove Mobile Home Park, as the FBI and local detectives executed additional searches. Burch has said investigators are using specialized methods and federal resources to process evidence, while the sheriff’s office continues to interview people connected to the victims’ work and social circles.
Investigators have said evidence inside the home raised urgent questions about what happened after the family’s last known movements. Deputies said they found blood in the residence and determined that a master bedroom mattress was missing, along with a laundry hamper, while the family’s phones were left behind. Authorities have not publicly said whose blood was found or how much was discovered. They have also not disclosed whether any weapon was recovered from the scene. Officials have said they are continuing to follow leads and have not ruled out additional suspects or motives.
The case has also drawn attention to the challenges of gathering information in a community where many relatives, friends and co-workers speak Spanish and may fear contact with law enforcement. Burch has urged witnesses to come forward and said the investigation is focused on the missing family, not immigration status. District Attorney Keith Blackwood echoed that message, saying the goal is to find the family safe and bring them home. Authorities have pointed to a federal U visa program that can provide protections for certain victims and witnesses who assist in serious criminal investigations, while stressing that such decisions are made by federal officials.
Investigators have described overlapping ties among people connected to the case through painting jobs, but they have said those ties do not yet explain why the family vanished. Burch said a second man, Silverio Garcia, was arrested Feb. 3 on an illegal gun possession charge and remained in the Mobile County Metro Jail. The sheriff described Garcia as the mother’s employer and said he had been dating one of the woman’s adult daughters, but officials said Garcia has not been charged in the kidnapping case. Burch said investigators initially looked at other potential links, including the toddler’s father, but authorities said he has not been charged and was later cleared as a suspect in the disappearance.
In a court appearance described by officials, Argueta-Guerra pleaded not guilty through a translator during what was described as his second court appearance of the week. Authorities said his preliminary hearing is expected in March. Meanwhile, the sheriff’s office confirmed that Argueta-Guerra’s sister, Gloria Estefany Argueta-Guerra, 23, was arrested in Baldwin County and charged with attempting to elude a law enforcement officer. Burch said she remained at the scene when her brother ran and hid, and deputies said she had been dating a man who loaned the van allegedly used in the abduction. She was being held on a $10,000 bond, officials said.
Family members and friends have told local media they want answers and the safe return of the missing mother and children, while investigators keep details of the evidence close as they press for cooperation. Authorities have said they are still searching for the victims and are continuing to process the van and other items collected in search warrants. As of mid-February, officials said no one had been found and the investigation remained active, with more interviews and forensic results expected before the next court hearing in March.
Author note: Last updated February 15, 2026.