After body found in Tri-Cities, the family of another missing person hopes for answers

When an unidentified body showed up in a remote area near Pasco last weekend, the family of a missing Tri-Cities man started seeing the notifications, but days later they still don’t have any answers.

Several comments posted on Facebook said they hoped that it wasn’t 33-year-old Dagoberto Galvez, of Pasco, who disappeared five months ago.

His family members are reeling after Tuesday’s news that Franklin County sheriff’s deputies are investigating the death of a man discovered north of Pasco. They don’t know if the person found Oct. 5 is Galvez, and are waiting for answers from sheriff’s officials.

“The unknown is the worst thing ever,” a family member told the Tri-City Herald. “I would never wish this on anyone. It’s just terrible.”

But they hope this new mystery will give more attention for the disappearance of Galvez, a father of two, who despite years of being in and out of trouble with the law, never stopped contacting his family — until May 10, his family member said.

“We’ve been tagged in texts. People have been sharing the post with us,” the family member said. “We don’t know what’s going on. We don’t know ourselves.”

Galvez vanished after leaving a family member’s home , getting into a pickup and driving away.

The truck was tracked driving through Othello and Connell before finally turning up at the end of a driveway at a vacant farm in the tiny rural community of Lind.

Since then, there has been no sign of Galvez. A family member speaking anonymously out of safety concerns, said Galvez would never disappear for months without contacting his family.

Galvez loved music, reading and working out, and had promised that he was turning his life around after his release from prison in February. He was searching for a job, was renting a room at a Pasco hotel and regularly meeting with his community corrections officer.

There was no reason for him to run away, his family member said.

Disappearance

For more than a decade, he was in an out of jails and prisons. He promised that his last case in Benton County in 2023 would be the end, family members said.

He was released in February and had been following treatment and other requirements. And there was no sign that things were going poorly for him.

He drove away from his sister’s home Pasco shortly before 2 a.m. May 10, according to a post on the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.

When he didn’t show up for his daughter’s soccer game, family members became extremely worried.

“DJ would not just disappear,” his family member said. “He wouldn’t miss his daughter’s soccer game.”

Search

Family members filed missing person reports and worked with the Adams County Sheriff’s Office and the Pasco police to look for him.

They’ve also searched the rough farm terrain surrounding the home where the truck was found. They’ve enlisted the help of other people in the area to help drive the land and talked with crop duster pilots about what they’ve seen.

A police dog tracked an apparent human scent about a mile into the surrounding field, but it’s not clear if it was Galvez.

Relatives have found no one able to offer any information about seeing him.

Recently, they started a Facebook page with information about him, hoping to reach people outside their normal social circles.

But as weeks have dragged into months, they feel despondent.

“We’re shattered and devastated. People start blaming themselves. What did we miss? What could we have done? What happened? Why? You just pray to God. You want him to be alive,” his family member said.

Pasco police Lt. Tom Groom told the Tri-City Herald they are continuing to investigate the case.

Galvez is described as 5-foot-11, 170 pounds with brown eyes and brown hair. He has a tattoo above his left eyebrow and one on his neck. He was last seen wearing a light blue sweater, dark jeans and black boots. Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 509-545-3421.

Even if the Franklin County death doesn’t turn out to be Galvez, his family is hoping another family will get answers about their missing loved one.