Jan. 30--Vicente Mundo was last seen when he left a friend's Champaign apartment Sunday evening to meet friends at his apartment for dinner and a movie.
"His friends showed up, but he never showed up, and that's not like him," said his sister Victoria, 27.
Police have been searching for Mundo, a 20-year-old University of Illinois junior from Chicago, since he was reported missing. University of Illinois police on Friday announced that his family is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to his return.
"We figure that money is a good incentive for anything, so we thought maybe that would make people want to tell us anything," his sister said.
Mundo's wallet and phone also are missing, along with his car, a 2006 Acura TL with a special edition Bears license plate No., 2557, according to campus police. Mundo's sister said the car has tinted windows, black tires and black rims.
At 1 p.m. Tuesday, Mundo's phone pinged a cellphone tower near Mahomet, Ill., a town of 7,700 people about 11 miles from Champaign. After that, his cellphone appears to have gone dead, his sister said. The family does not yet have information about which towers the phone may have pinged before Tuesday.
There has been no activity on Mundo's bank account, according to his sister, which makes her suspect he did not disappear voluntarily.
"There's no money withdrawn, there's no stopping for coffee, there's nothing; like he disappeared from the face of the earth," she said. "If someone wants to go missing, that's fine, but they're going to withdraw money."
On Thursday, Victoria as well as her husband and mother went through Mahomet looking for any sign of the student.
"We combed through the town, we went street by street, highway by highway," she said. "We searched, and we couldn't see anything."
The sister, who is staying at a hotel in Champaign, said her family is printing flyers to hand out on campus and post around town.
Mundo is described as 6 feet tall, 140 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a navy down coat, a red backpack and a red Blackhawks baseball hat.
Anyone with information is asked to call the U. of I. police at 217-333-1216 or Champaign police at 217-351-4545. Those who wish to remain anonymous can call 217-373-8477 or text the information along with "CCTIP" to 274637.
mcrepeau@tribpub.com
