NEED TO KNOW<\/p>\n
A 24-year-old woman has been missing for over a week after she was last seen visiting friends in Houston<\/p>\n
Sydney Marquez was last seen on Dec. 11 on the 9100 block of Bellaire Boulevard, police said<\/p>\n
The missing woman’s dad said she was recently diagnosed with a mental illness, and had not been properly taking her medication lately<\/p>\n
A search is underway in Texas for a missing woman who was last seen visiting friends.<\/p>\n
Sydney Marquez, 24, was last seen on Dec. 11 on the 9100 block of Bellaire Boulevard in Houston, Texas, according to a bulletin<\/a> from the Houston Police Department\u2019s Missing Persons Unit, shared by the nonprofit Texas Center for the Missing.<\/p>\n The young woman, who is from El Paso, was visiting friends in the Houston area when she disappeared, according to FOX affiliate KRIV<\/a>.<\/p>\n Raul Marquez, Sydney\u2019s dad, said the car his daughter was driving was found abandoned along Bellaire Boulevard on December 11, with the keys still inside.<\/p>\n The young woman left behind her phone, something family said was out of character for her, per KRIV. Family members have now traveled from El Paso to Houston to assist with the search.<\/p>\n “It\u2019s been a nightmare ever since we found out my daughter was missing,” Raul said. “It\u2019s been tough for the whole family.”<\/p>\n Family reported Sydney may be experiencing a mental illness and has expressed concern for the missing woman\u2019s safety, according to the Texas Center for the Missing.<\/p>\n Raul described his daughter as \u201ca bright young lady\u201d who was diagnosed with late-onset bipolar schizophrenia about a year ago, KRIV reported. He said she was recently not taking her medication, which impacted her behavior.<\/p>\n The dad believes his daughter may have boarded a METRO bus the night she disappeared, but noted that the bus\u2019s camera systems were not working properly at the time.<\/p>\n “The best Christmas gift in the world is just to bring my daughter back,\u201d Raul said, according to KRIV. \u201cThat\u2019s all I want for Christmas.”<\/p>\n