SURPRISE, AZ (CNN NEWSOURCE/WFLA) — After leaving a friend’s home in Arizona Monday, a United States Marine never reported for duty at Camp Pendleton.
Lance Corporal Job Wallace, 20, was home on leave last weekend visiting friends and family. He left Monday night in his truck headed back to Camp Pendleton in San Diego, but his sergeant told Job’s family he never showed up.
Job Wallace’s parents Stacy and Justin Wallace are absolutely devastated, but refuse to give up hope that their son will be found safe.
“At this point its about his return, it’s not about the what-ifs, it’s not about what happened. I’m focused on getting him back,” Stacy Wallace said. “Obviously as a mother, my mind went into a million different directions. My first thought, ‘he’s in danger or something, an accident.’”
The Wallace family insist their son loved serving the country and would never go AWOL. They say he was looking forward to going back after being promoted.
“It’s not like him. None of this is like him,” Stacy Wallace said. “Not one indication that he didn’t love being a Marine; It was his childhood dream.”
So far, no one has reported seeing the missing Marine, but his Ford Explorer pick-up truck was spotted by a border patrol camera Tuesday morning headed eastbound on I-10 near Fort Hancock, Texas. The camera was unable to see the driver.
“Every eye matters. Every person matters. Every flyer matters, every Facebook share,” Job’s mother said. “I believe that we will find him safe.”
Wallace’s vehicle is a 2004 silver Ford Explorer Sport Trac pick-up with an Arizona license plate.