SOUNDVIEW — The family and friends of a beloved Bronx librarian have banded together to search for him after he went missing roughly two weeks ago.
Javier Horta of 1480 Washington Ave. was last seen on March 25 around 11:45 p.m. leaving 1420 Noble Ave., police said.
He was in the area hanging out with his friends after work and went to hail a cab with one of them but then realized he did not have his wallet and cell phone with him, according to his brother Hector Horta.
"So he tells his friend to get in the cab. He can go home. He has to go back for his stuff," Hector said, "and that’s the last time he was seen because he never made it back to the building."
Officers described Javier as a 34-year-old man with brown eyes and long straight black hair who stands about 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighs about 150 pounds.
He was last seen in black sneakers, a black hoodie, black jeans and a black t-shirt, and he has several tattoos, including an arm breaking through a grave, a rose and an Incan warrior on his upper left arm, as well as a beer bottle and Homer Simpson on his legs, police said.
Javier works as a librarian at the Jerome Park library, while Hector works at the Soundview library. He said both of them were interested in working at libraries because they enjoy helping their communities.
He described his brother as a loving and caring man who adores his 3-year-old daughter and rock music, noting that he plays the drums in a band called Face Bacon.
Hector said he has no ideas or theories about what has happened to his brother, which is one of the things that worries him most about the case.
"I have as much information as I did from day one, and that’s what really concerning to us, is basically we have no new leads, no new information," he said. "It’s such a mystery right now."
Police said detectives are continuing to actively investigate the case.
Hector described the community support for finding Javier as "amazing," saying that there would be a candlelight vigil at 1420 Noble Ave. on April 9 to help make sure that people do not forget about his disappearance.
They have also started a GoFundMe page that Hector hopes will help raise enough money to hire a private investigator who can track Javier down.
The page has so far raised $8,031 of its $20,000 goal over two days.
"That’s our hope at least," Hector said. "Raise enough money to hire a private investigator and just see if maybe that helps with our efforts to bring him home."
