A WOMAN who was found dead after a week and a half had dinner with a friend who dropped her off at her apartment before she disappeared, her heartbroken family has said.
Madeline Pantoja, 21, was last seen at her Midland, Texas, home on May 10 before she vanished, leaving behind her dog, cell phone, and keys.
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Her body was discovered on Saturday, May 20, 2023.
Before her body was found, her brother Christian stressed that this behavior was out of the ordinary.
"She was doing perfect," he said of her behavior before the disappearance.
Christian said that the two had recently chatted to plan a celebration for his upcoming graduation from Texas Tech University.
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"It was Wednesday when she disappeared, and on Saturday was my graduation from Tech," he said.
"We were texting on how excited we were for us to celebrate that day.
"And when we found out that she was missing... [it] broke my heart.
Madeline was dropped off at around 10.30pm local time by a friend after the two were out enjoying a meal together.
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Neighbors said that they heard shouting from her apartment in the middle of the night while surveillance footage captured a pickup truck driving away at around 1am, Christian said.
The following day, her friend alerted Madeline's other sibling that she wasn't responding to any texts or calls.
The sibling arrived at Madeline's apartment and knocked on the door, but no one answered.
They called the police, who broke into the room and found Madeline's phone, car keys, and dog all unattended.
"She loves her dog very much," Christian said.
"It's like a daughter to her. So it's extremely irregular for her to just leave everything behind."
The Midland Police Department stressed to The U.S. Sun that this is a very active case, but could not provide any details.
Christian said that cops didn't call his parents until about three or four days after she was found to be missing.
"I would understand not calling or not giving information out to the public to keep everything secure," he said.
"However, they never contacted the parents for around three days of her missing until people got upset and they started realizing 'We need to contact the parents.'"
MPD told The U.S. Sun that they were working to keep the family updated with their findings.
"They've said that they're trying and I am sure that they are trying. However, there's no leads or nothing," Christian said.
Family and friends gathered together to pray for Madeline before her 21st birthday passed on Thursday.
"We're just very desperate, we're just begging God to help us get her back home," Madeline's good friend Karen Ramos told NBC affiliate KWES-TV.
"We're just doing whatever we can to just get the most help we can from anywhere."
Mario Juan Chacon, 24, was taken in after the 10-day search for Midland, Texas, woman Madeline, 21, came to a tragic end on Saturday.
Midland police discovered the remains in a rural area outside of the town early Saturday morning and notified her family, local NBC affiliate KWES reports.
Chacon was arrested and charged with murder of the first degree, according to a City of Midland press release seen by the local outlet.
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Her cause of death remains unclear and an autopsy will be performed in Dallas County, the station reports.
Madeline's family said that Chacon was Madeline's ex-boyfriend, and the two had broken up just before she disappeared, ABC affiliate KMID reports.
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