A distraught father is pleading with the community to help bring an end to his ‘nightmare before Christmas’ by finding his missing daughter, who disappeared in Texas two weeks ago.

Twenty-four-year-old Sydney Marquez was last reported seen on December 11 in the southwest part of Houston. She was walking near the 9100 block of Bellaire Boulevard, close to Ranchester Road, as per information from the Houston Police Department.

“I’m pleading with the community; if you see my daughter or if she’s in danger, please don’t remain silent,” expressed Raul Marquez, Sydney’s father, during an interview with KHOU11.

“If you witness anything or have any information, please speak up. I miss my daughter dearly. She needs to come home,” he added.

Raul Marquez also noted that the southwest Houston neighborhood where Sydney was last seen is quite diverse. He mentioned that some people might be hesitant to approach the police due to concerns about their immigration status.

The family described the past two weeks as a ‘nightmare before Christmas.’

A missing persons flyer created by Texas Equusearch, a nonprofit search-and-recovery organization, reported that Sydney was last seen near a shopping center in the Asiatown neighborhood of Houston.

Surveillance footage obtained by KHOU 11 shows the missing girl walking northbound along the sidewalk on Ranchester Road on the last night she was seen.

Sydney Marquez, 24, was last seen on December 11 in southwest Houston walking near the 9100 block of Bellaire Boulevard

Raul Marquez, her father, is begging the community to come forward with any information that will help end his ‘nightmare before Christmas’

‘It didn’t look like she was in distress, like a normal walk, not running, not staggering, it certainly appeared to be a normal, normal walk,’ Tim Miller with Texas EquuSearch explained to the outlet.

He added that the area has been thoroughly searched and that they are continuing to pursue other leads.

‘She suffers from mental illness, which makes finding her quickly even more urgent,’ EquuSearch wrote on December 22 in an updated post.

‘No parent should ever have to spend day and night searching for their missing child—but this family refuses to stop hoping, and neither do we.’

The family said that Sydney had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and added that she was not on her medication at the time of her disappearance.

Marquez noted that Sydney had wandered by herself before and that she was visiting her friends in Houston the night she went missing.

Marquez noted that Sydney had wandered by herself before the night she went missing 

Sydney snuck away with a friend’s car for several hours, drove it to a parking lot, left it running with her belongings inside, then got out and walked away alone, according to the father.

Sydney, the youngest of four daughters, grew up in El Paso and graduated from Texas A&M with a degree in neuroscience in 2023.

‘Sydney was very driven,’ her older sister Kayla told KBTX.

‘She really remained focused on her studies, and even though she picked a really tough course workload, she stuck with it.’

Clarissa, her other sister, said, ‘She would advocate for everyone. She was just a really great person.’

She was last seen wearing gray pants, a gray hoodie, and tennis shoes.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Houston Police Department at (713) 884-3131, the Houston Police Missing Persons Unit at (832) 394-1840, or Texas EquuSearch at (832) 394-1840.