UNSOLVED: Kimberly Avila

Just before 3 a.m. on May 13th, 2017, Ivon Rodarte dropped off her sister, 32-year-old Kimberly Avila, in downtown Brownsville, Texas. She never saw her again. Kimberly was a transgender woman and a sex worker in a town that held their religion and traditional values closely.

Though Kimberly’s family immediately accepted her for who she was, others believed her lifestyle and choices led to her disappearance. The LGBTQ+ community rallied around the Avilas while they searched and pleaded with the public for answers, but none came.

Now, eight years later, Kimberly remains missing, but her story and her face has helped inspire change in her town, change that her family hopes she may one day be able to see.

Photos of Kimberly

imberly was last seen just before 3:00AM in the 1200 block of E. Washington Street in Brownsville, Texas. She was on foot and wearing a black wig, a black short sleeve dressy blouse, a black skirt, fishnet pantyhose, and high heel stiletto shoes. She has brown eyes, but was wearing grey contacts. At the time she went missing, Kimberly was between 5’8 and 6’0 and weighed between 200 and 220 pounds.

If you have any information about the disappearance of Kimberly Avila AKA Ramiro Avila, please contact the Brownsville Police Department at (956)548-7000.

Resources

• Disappeared, “A Vanishing on the Border”; Season 10, Episode 6

• https://namus.nij.ojp.gov/case/MP39128

• https://rrunrrun.blogspot.com/2025/05/eight-years-later-kimberlys-family.html

• https://charleyproject.org/case/ramiro-avila-jr

• https://www.facebook.com/kimberly.avila.779/photos

• https://www.thebody.com/article/pride-month-lgbtq-latinx-problems-u-s-mexico-border-covid-19-trump-immigration-politics

• https://www.facebook.com/poderososborderland

• https://www.valleycentral.com/news/local-news/956-vanished-kimberly-avila/

• https://reports.hrc.org/an-epidemic-of-violence-2024#epidemic-numbers