Mom: Sister of missing Diana Alvarez was threatened, afraid to tell truth

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FORT MYERS, Fla. There may be a possible eyewitness to sexual abuse on a 10-year-old San Carlos Park girl who disappeared more than a year ago.

Jorge Guerrero, 29, was found guilty of producing and possessing lewd images of Diana Alvarez on Aug 14.

Diana Alvarez

Guerrero, who was sentenced to 40 years in prison, also faces charges of molestation and battery in connection with Diana, but has never been formally charged in her disappearance.

MORE: Man linked to Diana Alvarez faces molestation, battery charges

Diana’s mother, Rita Hernandez, says her middle daughter saw Guerrero, who was a former family friend, inside Diana’s bedroom many times while he lived with the family.

“Every time I ask her, she just starts to cry,” Hernandez said in Spanish.

MORE: Suspect in disappearance of Diana Alvarez to appeal child porn conviction

Her middle daughter was afraid to tell anyone of what she had seen until after Guerrero was arrested, because he threatened to kill her mother and brothers, Hernandez said.

Hernandez was present at Guerrero’s case management hearing Wednesday morning hoping he would tell investigators where her once smiling daughter is now.

“It’s like she vanished off the face of the earth,” Hernandez said in Spanish. “I’m dying inside.”

Since admitting what she witnessed, Hernandez’s middle daughter has spoken to investigators and prosecutors. They plan to sit her down before Guerrero’s new trial, but it’s unclear if she’ll be called as a witness due to her age.

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