SAN ANTONIO – A year after 26-year-old Kate Vara was last seen, her family continues to search for answers — and justice.
On the one-year mark of her disappearance, loved ones gathered across the street from the Winnquest Inn, near Eisenhauer Road and Austin Highway, where Vara was last seen alive. They held a prayer vigil and balloon release in her honor.
“I’m not going to stop fighting, I’m not going to stop looking,” Valerie Mendoza, Vara’s mother, said. “I’m going to continue to keep searching for her and I’m going to bring her home — and I’m going to get her justice, however long it takes me.”
According to the San Antonio Police Department, officers responded to a 911 hang-up call on Aug. 6, 2024, which was traced to Vara’s phone.
Witnesses told police she had been at the location and was assaulted by another person. No arrests have been made, and police have not released additional details.
Mendoza, who organized Wednesday night’s remembrance, said she wants closure — no matter the outcome — for herself and for Vara’s 5-year-old son.
Mendoza has a message to those responsible.
“You’re cowards,” Mendoza said. “You’re cowards for what you did to my daughter. She didn’t deserve this.”
The family is urging anyone with information to come forward.
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