ABOVE: Pauline del Mundo, photo courtesy Yolanda del Mundo.
TAMPA | Family members and detectives are continuing their search for Pauline del Mundo, a 59-year-old Tampa resident and transgender woman last seen at the Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) International Airport on Sept. 14.
“We want all the support from the public, most especially the LGBTQ community,” Yolanda del Mundo tells Watermark. “My sister’s life is at stake in Dallas and it seems authorities are slow in providing updates on her whereabouts.”
According to Yolanda, Pauline may have been traveling under the names Paulino Norberto del Mundo Jr. or Paula del Mundo. She was en route to Cozumel, Mexico via American Airlines but never boarded her connecting DFW flight. Instead, she contacted another sibling for help returning to Tampa because she wasn’t feeling well. Her phone died shortly thereafter.
“It was such a nightmare for our entire family because she was the kind of person who is bubbly and loves her trips documented,” Yolanda explains. “Unfortunately, we never heard from her since then … It was so frustrating.”
Pauline is described as a naturalized American citizen of Filipino descent. She has brown eyes, a medium build, stands 5 feet 6 inches tall and is one of 12 very close siblings. Yolanda notes that her sister works as a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) for the veterans’ hospital in Tampa, adding that she recently suffered an injury that impeded her work. She says this led to a state of depression, potentially impacting Pauline’s judgment.
“We feel she is not in her right frame of mind,” Yolanda says. “She was on the verge of desperation and we are so worried.”
Pauline’s family has been traveling between DFW and Tampa since Sept. 20 to work with police at the airport and in Hillsborough County. DFW released terminal surveillance imagery of Pauline on Sept. 24.
DFW police are also investigating additional surveillance footage and consulting with local ride-sharing services to determine if Pauline left the airport. Yolanda is hopeful that her sister’s bank and phone records will be reviewed and notes that her family is particularly concerned with the area’s record of anti-transgender violence.
According to the Human Rights Campaign, more transgender people have been killed in Texas than in any other state. Dallas police arrested a suspect Sept. 25 who authorities say repeatedly shot another transgender woman five days prior. The hate crime followed three fatal attacks on transgender women in Texas this year alone, two of which also occurred in Dallas.
“We hope and pray that all necessary concerted efforts be made to search and find her as we are nearly losing hope to get her back,” Yolanda says. Photos of Pauline courtesy of her family can be seen below.
Family members ask that anyone with information regarding Pauline del Mundo’s disappearance call DFW Airport Detective Sgt. Karl Ross at 972-391-7221.
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