Long Beach police following new lead in woman's 2000 disappearance

LONG BEACH, Calif. (KABC) -- Long Beach police are following a new lead in the cold case of a woman who went missing 16 years ago.

Diana Rojas, 27, was last seen in 2000 at her Long Beach apartment in the 5500 block of Ackerfield Avenue before she and her truck vanished.

Rojas was separated from her husband at the time of her disappearance. She does have a child.

Detectives say they diligently searched for the victim and her truck for years, but every lead turned cold. They say based on a recent tip they are re-opening the case and now suspect foul play in the woman's mysterious disappearance. They do not consider her husband a suspect.

"We are investigating this missing person's cold case as a murder case, and we will conduct an excavation tomorrow," said Long Beach police Sgt. Megan Zabel.

Detectives say based on the tip they'll focus their dig in the Ridgecrest area nearly 200 miles from where she was last seen.

"My sister has been missing for 16 years," said Solomon Cortex, the missing woman's brother. "That's something that me and my family have dealt with for a long time. We are here today looking for closure for my family but most importantly for my sister Diana."