Parents of Reny Jose, a Rice University student who was reported missing March 3 while in Panama City Beach for Spring Break, have received assistance from the Bay County community in form of search crews and a $15,000 reward for information as to his whereabouts to no avail. Now they are asking for the community’s support in a petition to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder asking for federal involvement in the case.
“To-date as we are approaching June in our search for Reny, we are pleading assistance from your office to seek help from federal agencies (
Jose was last seen by friends he was staying with, who told the Sheriff’s Office that Jose had taken LSD and talked about suicide before he disappeared. Deputies found his clothes, wallet and cellphone the next day in a trash can near the
Since Jose disappeared, numerous divisions of the BCSO have searched the area near the house, including the gulf waters in the area. Various other state and local law enforcement agencies also have been involved in the search for Jose.
BCSO and FSU dive teams also formed a special unit to search areas of the
“A missing person case never closes until they are found,” said Ruth Corley, BCSO spokesperson. “We have not forgotten Reny Jose. His case remains open and we follow up any lead we get.”
The parents of Jose have placed an website petition at ipetitions.com that had just below 3,000 signatures of the requested 30,000 as of Thursday afternoon.