Update: Missing Man With Mental Illness Last Seen in Fremont Monday

Updated 5:25 p.m.

By Bay City News Service

Police and family members are concerned for the well-being of a San Jose man who went missing in Fremont on Monday afternoon, and are asking for the public's help in finding him.

Jessie Cuevas, 24, was last seen in the area of Decoto Road and Paseo Padre Parkway when he walked away from a landscaping job at about noon, Fremont police said.

Cuevas is described as a 190-pound Hispanic man who is 5 feet 9 inches tall and has brown hair, hazel eyes, and a beard. He was last seen wearing a white T-shirt, blue jeans, work boots and a white bandana on his head.

Police said Cuevas does not have a car or cellphone, and has a tendency to wander when he is off his medication.

Cuevas' sister, Isabel Sanchez, said her brother is schizophrenic and tends to go off by himself to quiet places.

"He's a harmless person, he just wandered off," she said today.

She said Cuevas was working with her uncle on Monday afternoon and was supposed to be mowing a lawn when he disappeared. She said her uncle saw the unattended lawnmower and went looking for Cuevas, driving up and down nearby streets.

Cuevas had still not been found this afternoon, and Sanchez said the family is very concerned.

He lives with his mother in San Jose's Silver Creek neighborhood, and Sanchez said the family is hoping he is simply walking home from Fremont.

Cuevas has wandered off previously -- he has climbed hills near where he lives to look at the stars -- but has never been gone for this long, Sanchez said.

Sanchez said the family is distributing fliers and making posters in the hopes that someone will have seen her brother.

"We just need help," she said. "We've never gone through this."

She said her brother tends to shy away from people he doesn't know. The family doesn't know whether he had any money on him when he disappeared.

Anyone who sees Cuevas is asked to call the Fremont Police Department at (510) 790-6800 ext. 3.