Summary based on the NamUs case record (MP96671)
Jose Antonio Avila was 34 years old when he was last seen on June 19, 2019, in Nashville, Tennessee. The Hispanic man had been staying with his cousin in the 100 block of Gatewood Avenue when he reportedly left the residence to make what should have been an ordinary trip to a store. He drove away in a dark green 2007 Jeep Wrangler bearing Tennessee license plate 9P23X1, but he never returned.
No confirmed communication from Jose was reported afterward, and neither he nor the Jeep was publicly documented as having been located. A routine errand had become an unexplained disappearance, leaving those who knew him without answers about where he went or what happened after he drove away.
At the time he disappeared, Jose was described as approximately 5 feet 1 inch tall and weighing about 160 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. Records identify him as Jose Antonio Avila, although he was also known by the names Jose Avila-Zamudio and Arturo Flores. Those aliases became an important part of the case because people who encountered him in different places or circumstances may have known him by different identities. He was not a United States citizen, and public case information notes that he had previously been arrested in Illinois in 2017 under the name Jose Avila-Zamudio. That earlier arrest does not explain his disappearance, but it provides investigators with another name and jurisdiction through which they may attempt to trace his history, relationships and movements.
The period immediately before Jose vanished contained at least one detail that complicated efforts to understand his intentions. He was reportedly dating a woman who knew him as Arturo Flores rather than by his legal name, and he had told her that he planned to move out of state. It is not publicly clear whether this statement represented a definite plan, a possibility he was considering or an explanation offered for some other reason. Authorities have not publicly established that he left Nashville voluntarily, nor has publicly available information confirmed that he reached another state, began a new life elsewhere or arranged to abandon contact with his cousin and other people who knew him. His disappearance therefore remains suspended between several possibilities, with too little verified information to determine whether he intended to leave, encountered trouble after departing for the store or disappeared under circumstances that have never been uncovered.
The Jeep remains one of the most significant identifying elements associated with the case. A dark green 2007 Jeep Wrangler is conspicuous enough that a remembered sighting, old photograph, repair record, parking citation, impound record or vehicle transaction could potentially help reconstruct Jose’s route after he left Gatewood Avenue. The Tennessee plate connected to the vehicle was 9P23X1. Public descriptions do not identify a confirmed final sighting of the Jeep beyond the account that Jose was driving it when he left, and no detailed timeline has been released showing where his phone, vehicle or financial activity may have last been detected. The absence of such publicly disclosed evidence has left a substantial gap after the moment he departed, with no documented destination beyond the reported store trip and no established explanation for why he failed to return.
Jose’s disappearance is investigated by the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department under agency case number 2019-0490968, and it is recorded in the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System as MP96671. The publicly available case information continues to classify him as missing and does not report that he has been found. Anyone with reliable information about Jose, the aliases he used, the woman he was dating, his stated intention to leave Tennessee, or the location and movements of the Jeep is encouraged to contact the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department at 615-862-8600. The department also directs people with information about missing-person cases to its Crime Stoppers line at 615-742-7463. Even after years without a confirmed sighting, a seemingly minor memory could provide the connection investigators and Jose’s loved ones have been missing. Overall, the case centers on a 34-year-old man who left his cousin’s Nashville residence in a distinctive Jeep on June 19, 2019, reportedly intending to visit a store, and then disappeared without a verified trace, leaving an unresolved story defined by aliases, uncertain travel plans, a missing vehicle and the enduring need for truthful information.Last Seen: Jun 19, 2019
